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Guide to BF bearings

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    Guide to BF bearings

    Hey all. I've heard way too many stories of bearing jobs gone bad on BF's, I figured I'd do a little guide. I'm not claiming this as the proper way to do them, there are some tools that will make it easier so take it as you may, YMMV. I used what tools I happened to have on hand.

    We'll start off with the knuckle removed. You should know how to get here, brief rundown: 2x 14mm caliper bolts. 1 1/8" axle nut (unstake first). 2x 17mm bolts on strut. 1x 17mm castle nut on tie-rod end, gentle heat to arm helps to free stud, don't mash the stud with a hammer. 1x 14mm balljoint retaining bolt. Think that covers it.

    You'll have something similar to the following picture, your rotors are probably different as I have done the Galant brake upgrade.



    Rotor removed. You can leave yours bolted to the hub.



    The hub should come out of the knuckle fairly easily. If not a socket and a few gentle taps from a hammer from behind should free it.



    THIS IS THE BEARING SPACER. DO NOT LOSE, SWAP, OR DISCARD THIS. The spacer determines bearing preload, and is matched to the hub. Without it, or with the incorrect one, the bearings will self-destruct.



    Moving on... I used a good flathead screwdriver to gently tap the old races out of the knuckle. If you use this method, keep the tip under control, don't score the bore.



    All the way out, flip over and do the other side too.



    Theres a couple ways to get this bearing off the hub, I decided to try a grinder. I ran out of grinding wheel so ended up using a propane torch to heat the race & a chisel to seperate it.



    Cage removed.



    Here's the race. Bearing seperator would work best if you've got one. (I need to get one!)



    Race on it's way off. Little tricky, don't damage the hub's shaft



    Install the new seal on the hub - don't forget it!



    Gently start the bearing onto the hub shaft



    I found a section of pipe to use to seat the bearing. Gentle taps! Use a press if you have access to one.



    Gently start the race into the knuckle.



    Send it home, gently, don't score the bore



    Install the race in the other side



    Pack the bearing, set into place. Install the axle seal, I used a flat piece of heavy aluminum to seat it.



    Reinstall the bearing spacer - don't forget it!



    At this point you can install the hub back into the knuckle. Pack the bearing...



    Flip over



    I had to gently tap the other bearing to get it to seat nice on the hub shaft



    Just about seated all the way



    Reinstall onto the car!



    Use the axle nut to tighten it down the rest of the way. FSM recommends torquing 116-174 ft-lbs, I dont think it needs quite that much, torque to your heart's content



    That should be it, I don't think I missed anything, hope this helps everyone

    -Rocketman
    Last edited by Rocketman; 04-01-2010, 01:13 AM.
    1991 Capri XR2 "GTXR2" BPT AWD Bastardization/conversion
    1991 Isuzu Impulse RS Turbo AWD

    Creator of the B6T Rocketchip
    www.werbatfik.com

    #2
    I am sorry man but there are a few things you don't want to do there...

    Your pipe installation tool looks to be on the cage of the bearing this is a huge no no! make sure what ever you use to install the new bearing you are only touching the inner race.. it is best while installing it if you use a press and and rotate the bearing by hand while pressing it together.. If you have to use a hammer and pound it together make sure you can rotate that bearing by hand while its going together.. It only take a little bit to miss form the outter cage and your roller bearing will fall out of place or fall apart completely... (I find the best way to install a new bearing is to take your old bearing race cut a slit in one side and use it to install the new bearing..)

    Hammering the new racing in with a flat head the way that you do runs the risk of denting the outter portion of the bearing surface.. Most of the time the bearing wont ride in this area but if it does it'll cause premature failure... (once again take the old race cut a slit in it and use it to drive in the new race.. make sure to press on only the outter edge.. Drive it in as straight as possible.. If it goes crooked it wont seat properly.. When the race is installed make sure to flip the hub over get a flash light and look to see if the race is seated all the way down... )

    The last seal you installed should be done after you have pressed the hub back into the knuckle..

    When pressing the hub back into the knuckle make sure you are supporting the bearing you are pressing the hub into.. (once again I like to use the old inner bearing race and then stack stuff under the knuckle so that everything is sitting on that inner bearing race.. from there I press the hub in.. That way the roller bearings them selves aren't being pressed on.. if you have enough room the knuckle should be able to rotate freely while you are pressing the hub together.. )

    Couple of tricks.. some times the inner race is a pain to get off.. when trying to pry it off with out a bearing splitter use 2 pry bars, get a helping hand and do it as straight as possible.. sometime with a little heat it will just fall off some times it wont..... Sometimes even with a bearing splitter and a press they still wont come apart if you have access to a welder you can weld a good thick bead on opposite sides of the bearing and use that to get a good bite with the bearing splitter...

    removing the knuckle I am not sure why you would undo the pintch bolt.. BF lower ball joints have 2 nuts that hold the ball joint and everything to the lower control arm.. makes undoing them a breeze it falls right off..

    Comment


      #3
      Why go through all this trouble when I'm sure the zx2/new escorts sealed bearing would fit right in. Hubs look identical anyways.

      Comment


        #4
        Not sure that would work, bearings are 3x as much anyways.

        Before I got a real shop press harbor freight sells a handy puller:


        Notice I put a bolt in the center of the hub so the puller could press against it.
        88 323 GT - 03 Protege5 - 07 Mazda 5

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by inis View Post
          Why go through all this trouble when I'm sure the zx2/new escorts sealed bearing would fit right in. Hubs look identical anyways.
          I'm sure they wouldn't because the knuckle has a 1/4" ridge in it that spaces the two outer races...

          Sethro, I'll look for one of those the next time I'm at HF...also need a steering wheel puller. Thanks-
          1991 Capri XR2 "GTXR2" BPT AWD Bastardization/conversion
          1991 Isuzu Impulse RS Turbo AWD

          Creator of the B6T Rocketchip
          www.werbatfik.com

          Comment


            #6
            Thanks for this thread. Mazda deserves a Rube Goldberg Award for this design. It was nice seeing the pictures before I dug in.
            1988 SOHC 5-speed Mazda 323 SE Hatchback
            1990 MX-6 (in repair)

            Comment


              #7
              No problem. There are a few things "Wrong" here namely the outer seal & how it's installed. My updated method is to install the full bearing & outer seal into the knuckle FIRST then press the hub into the knuckle.

              The method shown above does get the seal in, but it doesn't drive it in all the way. I've seen the Festiva guys do it this exact way but with a small piece of rope or twine under the seal, this pushes it in all the way and then you remove the twine.

              I have since bought most of the proper tools minus a press (Ford Special Service Tool Kit, bearing splitter, hub puller) because I was going a lot of these for myself & customers. Between maintenance and upgrading their brakes to the Galant setup. So I can properly set bearing preload, and the tools/jigs make the whole process a lot smoother.

              Come spring I'll probably be doing another set for my new XR2, I'll do a "proper" writeup then
              1991 Capri XR2 "GTXR2" BPT AWD Bastardization/conversion
              1991 Isuzu Impulse RS Turbo AWD

              Creator of the B6T Rocketchip
              www.werbatfik.com

              Comment


                #8
                Boy oh boy I sure don't miss those...
                '90 AWD Protege, full GTR drivetrain swap, ~320 whp daily driver, RIP, and
                '90 AWD Protege, yet another GTR swap, Open class rallycar with a Toyota GT4 gearbox swap, thus crossing the line between hobby and mental illness. And a Brabus E55 K8, removing all doubt.
                http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/vbpi...?do=view&g=110
                http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2599486

                Comment


                  #9
                  having bf bearings is like having a bad tooth.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Rocketman View Post
                    My updated method is to install the full bearing & outer seal into the knuckle FIRST then press the hub into the knuckle.
                    I caught this because of some other bearings I have done. A recent one had snaprings on both sides of a double row bearing so you had no choice in the matter.

                    I should have taken some pictures but, what can I say, I'm lazy. So again, thanks for making the effort. I have access to a press and a good assortment of bearing tools so my method wouldn't help most people anyway.

                    Now that the front bearing is fixed I can hear a rear bearing singing a little bit. It's not bad, yet. Around we go.
                    Last edited by Hatch; 03-01-2014, 09:40 AM.
                    1988 SOHC 5-speed Mazda 323 SE Hatchback
                    1990 MX-6 (in repair)

                    Comment


                      #11
                      yea I have replaced a couple of bearings on my BF GTX before, but I am hearing a decent howling noise coming from the rear right. It can't be the tire since I had to buy a new tire recently. I'm going to replace the bearings and hope this time I can do it with ease. I guess I am asking for too much LOL

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Im a newb on my GTX, this write up gave me a good starting point, thank you! I used a Hub Tamer to do most of the removal work, then a shop press to put it back together. by the time I got to the last 2 (yes, I did all 4) they were a breeze! thanks again.

                        Comment

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