Posted by David Sherman on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 at 10:52AM :
In Reply to: Do it right posted by Gordon Maney on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 at 9:31PM :
The bearings are too thin to be driven in without damage by a tool that doesn't fit right. If he can find a socket that's a smooth sliding fit in the bore, and attach washers to the back of it, I don't see why it wouldn't work. Likewise if any of the adapters in the Harbor Freight bearing/seal driver kit happens to be a correct fit, it should work, though they're kind of shallow to keep the bearing from getting cocked sideways. The big "if" is how well any of those "field expedients" actually fits. If I was doing it, being both a cheapskate for buying expensive tools I'll only use once, and a guy who's messed up expensive parts by not using the right tools, I would turn an properly-fitting bearing installer on the lathe out of a piece of pipe. I would want the "inside" part to go the full length of the bearing and I would want the "handle" long enough to make it easy to get the bearing headed in straight. I think that would be hard to do with a wheel bearing/seal driver.
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