Spindle removal woes - 79 Vette

[scheasbro]

Woe is me!

I cannot for the life of me remove the spindle from my 79 Vette. The four 9/16 nuts and cotter pin have been removed from behind (near the driveshaft). But, I'm told that removing the spindle via conventional means (tapping with a hammer) will cause damage to the spindle because the bearing, seal and spindle are bonded.

What are the consequences if I used a slide hammer with a plate that attached to the remaining two wheel studs and slap hammer it out using even pressure?

I cannot find any information that shows a diagram of the insides or an explanation of how to remove the spindle without damage.

Any help would be great. But, as for now, I've given up and given in for the night. The only thing I've gotten are greasy hands and a few less hairs on my head! *L*

Thank you in advance.

 

[ChuckG]

I don't think you can get it out with a slide hammer. You also have to remove the large 1 inch or so nut on the back of the spindle....the one that the cotter pin goes through. That nut is torqued to about 100 ft.lbs, as I recall.

The spindles are pressed in. Most shops use a 20 +/- ton press. I honestly think you'll beat and beat on the spindle for hours and won't move it.

The solution? Remove the entire trailing arm, and have the assembly pressed out. Might as well put new bearings in if you do this. The other solution? I've seen shops use a cutting torch to cut the rear bearing retainer, so they can pull the spindle. Every time I've gotten involved in rear wheel bearings/spindles, I've removed the trailing arms and farmed out the rebuild to a reputable Corvette shop. Hope this helps. Chuck

 

[scheasbro]

Hmm....

Yeah, I forgot to mention that I've already removed the 1 1/16" nut on the back of the spindle where the cotter pin is. Actually, my dad tapped the spindle assembly with a hammer for a few minutes and it did move about 1/8" -- which looked promising. We didn't know though if we continued to beat the spindle off of the axle, what the consequences would be internally (bearings, seals, etc.).

We have no reputable corvette shop in our area. I've talked to 2-3 shops in our little town and no one wants to play on a corvette. Haha.

Right now, since the car is torn down, it cannot be moved -- outside of a wrecker.

Wonder what today holds???

*L*

Sheila

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Sheila,

If it were me I would remove the trailing arms as ChuckG suggested and take them to a shop to have them pressed out.

Bob

 

[Blue82]

I asked the mechanic at Corvette Country awhile back if I could bring my trailing arms to him to have the bearings replaced and he said he keeps them on the car and uses a slide hammer and a torch to heat up the bearing. I think he said there was less chance of bending the arm that way.

Just HIS .02 worth!

 

[clar2001]

Don't remove your trailing arms unless you want to spend hours shimming them back in correctly and replacing the bushings.
Remove the calipor,rotor,emergency brake bads thats the hard part,the emergency brake under the pads you will see four 1/2" nuts and washers remove these now your bearing asb will with a little assistance will come off now you have more options replace the complete asb. with a rebuilt one $199 corvette america or purchase a spindle press about $50 and press them off or take to a shop to have done, very speciific tolorance on shims in your bearings if not done correctly you will have rotor run out witch will pump air into your brakes/calipors when driving messing up your braking system, I chose a bit more expensive rought of replacing with rebuilt asb. 4 $199 each and done to specs easy one piece replacemeant and gauaranted for one or five years cant remember ... c3 driver 75

 

[scheasbro]

Initial wheel stud replacement issue ALMOST solved!

Hey!
Well, the wheel studs are in now -- that's a trick in and of itself, but I didn't have to remove the spindle. Actually, my dad came up with a buddy of his that retired from a GM assembly plant that worked on Corvettes and later spent time working for a GM Dealer. He's worked on Vettes before, so it was quite an education sitting and watching him.

It looked like he took the trailing arm and spindle assembly off as one piece (but I could be stating this wrong because I'm unclear what a trailing arm looks like). From there, he laid the assembly on the back of his truck (there's a mobile workbench there!) and weasled the wheel studs in perfectly.

Now, the only problem left is getting the little spring that holds the parking brake shoe on to go back the way it came out. He put it in several times and within seconds, it popped back out. Then it broke.

Looks like we'll have to order a new spring because none of the parts stores around here carry it.

Got any ideas?

Thanks,
Sheila

 

[clar2001]

thought you were doing bearings ok studs in yeal that spring is a royal pain do the top one first then one side on the bottom and kind of just pull the other shoe out a little bit and use a good pair of needle noise plyers to set the spring making shure the end of the spring seats in the hole properly .Like I said the emergency brake is the hardest part...........
at least thats my garage method worked for me

 

[Larry82]

I asked the mechanic at Corvette Country awhile back if I could bring my trailing arms to him to have the bearings replaced and he said he keeps them on the car and uses a slide hammer and a torch to heat up the bearing. I think he said there was less chance of bending the arm that way.

Just HIS .02 worth!

This is EXACTLY what my mechanic did when I had my rear bearings replaced within the last 10 days. The slide hammer worked only so well. Needed the heating up and the slide hammer.