advice needed on rear wheel bearing

[nissanJJ]

so ive been working through the 67patrol in attempts to get it running AND driving again. ignition is sorted out (just need to time it), carb was cleaned out and rebuilt (wow, sludge), brakes are good on all four. still need to deal with gas tank.

My question for you guys: The passenger side rear wheel bearing is not seating in the race . the result is when assembled the axel shaft has about 1/2 inch of play in and out.

It was this way when I brought it home. It came with a spare set of rear brakes, axel shafts and bearings. The current bearing itself visually checks out and was well packed with grease and appeared to be secured correctly via retainer nut and locking washer thing. I WOULD just take it completely apart and check, but I'm a little worried about ruining the outer grease seal.

Any thoughts or schematics on proper wheel bearing assembly would be greatly appreciated! Cheers!

[RiverPatrol]

Welcome to 60Patrol!

Here is a link to the most current service manual: http://www.60patrol.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1962
Its in 3 sections so download them all. There are detailed instructions for the rear axle bearings.

Im thinking that if the bearing isn't seating and you have a ½" of play that there is something wrong. Perhaps the axle is not correct? Ive seen that before. Even with a whole bunch of shims it will be hard to take up that much play.

[nissanJJ]

Hmm...wrong axel shaft could be a possibility. Visually it's the same as the spare. I'm thinking the bearing didn't get seated all the way or some one put a spacer in the wrong place
Thanks for the manual, very detailed and helpful.

[moore_rb]

Getting the lock nut on the rear axles torqued down to specs is a real pain, but if I had that much slop between the bearing and the race, I'd be checking that lock nut first.

Also, there is a spacer that goes in there between the inner grease seal and the bearing (number 27 in the diagram below) - if this spacer is missing, that could create some extra slop, too

PatrolRearAxle.JPG

[RMP&O]

Yup, my guess is no spacer, it is actually a collar for the seal to ride on. Over many years the seal creates a groove in the collar. Nissan designed it so you can replace the collar as they wear. Front axle has the same thing on the spindle. Very good design actually meant for very long life of the rear shafts. Most modern day axle shafts lack the collar so wear is on the shafts sealing surface, when it grooves you have to replace the shaft or it won't seal.

Here is my method and special tool I made for the job. If the lock nut is chewed up you can clean them up with a file.





I made a tool for torquing the lock nut down correctly



since it is off-set it requires a simple calculation



I also made a drift for driving on the bearings, the collar mentioned is below the bearing in this picture



using a spare rim and the drift in a press, the drift is flipped around and I am using a 2" piece of pipe to it's flange.



pressing the axle shaft out of the bearing cage/backing plate.



shimming it up



Not to long ago I had one that was seriously seized up, no amount of penetrating lube was going to do it. So I did this and it pop'ed right out.



To get the bearing preload correct you really need to measure rotational force of the axle. To do this, I use a cheap fish weighing scale bought at the hardware store, use the hook on it to check ft.lbs as it is rotated. Works great.

Cheers

[nissanJJ]

Nice fab work there. I was thinking a modified pipe would work to seat the bearing. Unfortunately I don't have access to a press. I do have a small sledge...but yikes, might work. Like I said I have two extra bearings but I do not have a extra outer grease seal, that's what I'm really worried about ruining and preventing me from just taking it apart to check.

Does anyone have a approximate measure from the bearing properly seated to the top of the threads? I was thinking that might help me determine if the bearing is fully seated.

Agreed regarding the quality of this method of bearing set up. I had a 67 Buick that chewed up about 4 axle shafts due to the bearing spinning on it. Irritating.

[RMP&O]

Harbor Freight has a press for $135, an invaluable shop tool.

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-sho ... 33497.html


I am just not the guy who will tell you ways to do it that I feel are not the right way. Lot's of people will tell ya to use a chisel and hammer to tighten down the bearing lock nut, I am not one of those people.

You can get the rear axle seal from Australia, search Ebay.Australia for G60 Patrol. Lot's of vendors on there have Patrol parts, just make sure you tell them it is for a G60 Patrol with the small C216 rear axle. Aus. got a lot of H260 rear axles and the parts don't interchange. I don't think the seal is available from Nissan anymore but the lock nut and lock washer are still available from Nissan. When you use a press you can easily tell when the bearing is seated all the way, all the sudden it just stops and you can feel the pressure in the hand pump on the press when this happens.

I am betting you are missing the collar or the bearing is simply not seat all the way. A 1/2" of play in the axle shaft is no good just like you thought. You drive it like that and you will waste the bearing, axle shaft and possibly the bearing cage too, not to mention it is dangerous if the axle lets go. I am sorry if it is not the reply you are looking for but I suggest you do it right and have the confidence it is good to go for years.

The tools were very easy to make, a grinder with a cut off wheel and some good measurements is all it took. Well ok I guess there was a little welding involved, a welding shop will charge ya about $20 to do that real fast if you prepped the pieces first.

I can probably take a measurement on the collar, but I don't want to press on the bearings until I am ready. I can tell you from looking at it, the collar is right around 1/2" thick.

Cheers

[nissanJJ]

Yup driving it like that is a bad idea. Rigs usually get parked for a reason and I'm thinking this is why this old girl got shut down. Everything else is just dirty, clogged, leaky, and rusty. A real head turner. Thanks for the help!

[Esteban]

Harbor Freight has a press for $135, an invaluable shop tool.

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-sho ... 33497.html

I am just not the guy who will tell you ways to do it that I feel are not the right way. Lot's of people will tell ya to use a chisel and hammer to tighten down the bearing lock nut, I am not one of those people...
.
.

Luckily you didn't mention my name...
Kidding aside, great comments. Sometimes we just get impatient and try to go the shortest route on fixing things. But there's always the proper way.

I've saved these aftermarket part numbers for the seals and bearings from old posts. All are from NAPA.
Bearing: ATM 959
Inner seal: ATM 2116213
Outer Seal: NOS-550225

And this is the base of the tool to be modified:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WMR-W1271

NissanJJ, try to post some pictures if you have a chance. It will help us a lot in getting a better understanding of your problem and possible solutions.

[jwgreen]

You can still buy new nuts for the ear axles for both the right and left hand threads. I have several spare left hand thread nuts if anyone needs one.