replacing bearings on small trailer hubs?

When I packed or replaced boat trailer bearings every spring, I turned an aluminum mandrel to press or pound out the inner race from the inboard side of the hub. Still have the mandrel in my toolbox. I used aluminum because I didn't have any brass of large enough diameter.

Pounding with a brass drift works too, moving the drift after each hit. A full-circumference mandrel and press works best because it eliminates any tilting of the race.

Yes indeed. Except how do you get a full-diameter mandrel inside? The lip is inside, so you'd have to turn the mandrel smaller than the ID of the lip, which doesn't seem to work.

I've done a dodge before where I measured the OD as best I could, then turned a disc a coupla thou smaller than that diameter. Then I measured the ID as best I could and milled off two sides of the disc a coupla thou smaller. After deburring, that would slip inside the tube, inside the piece to press out, then you can fiddle with it until it sits flat. It doesn't bear everywhere since the sides are milled off, but it worked for pulling bronze bearings from something I was working on once. It's a lot of work, though.

Grant

You can get a "loaner" puller set at an Autozone and some other auto parts stores, just need to leave a deposit. HF sells essentially the same puller set as well.

Pete C.

On my hubs, once they were pulled from the spindle a bit of the inner race back was exposed to the rear or inboard side. Not much, but enough. That was true on two boat trailers and a tent camper, YMMV.

Usually just a simple piece of shaft will allow hammering on an exposed lip. Just move from one side to the other to work it out. However a simple trick is to weld a bead on the inside of the race. If you do it right the race will simply fall out when cooled.

I assume from the way you worded that , you mean the race on the spindle ? Split ring puller in that case , but usually that means the rollers are there too . Dremel the cage off , score the race deeply (at an angle to the spindle) and whacking it with a hammer and chisel almost always works . If you're talking about the inboard bearing/outer race in the wheel , run a bead of MIG or stick weld around the inside . Should all but fall out . I use this trick on aluminum motorcycle wheels . You weren't going to re-use it anyway ...

Second that on the weld trick. Works a treat.

Shawn

On most cast hubs, that lip was two slight indentations 180-deg apart. Just enough to let you get a punch behind the very edge of the race.

gary