Wheel Bearing Saga

[Megladon7]

I purchased my brothers '03 vibe for my wife to use as her commuter car. My brother is an engineer who faithfully records mileage, fuel usage, and changes oil every 3000 miles, so I figured this car would be in relatively good condition. It is, but after a couple years, I noticed a noise coming from the front left of the car, and did the 'ol swerve test to verify that it got worse when swerving right. Figured wheel bearing/ball joint/tie rod end or something of that nature. Put Vladimere, (my son names all our cars), up on stands and checked the driver side front tire, sure enough it wiggled just a bit. I proceeded to dissemble the front end, everything, and I mean everything, was harder than I was expecting. It didn't help that Vlad had spent the first 12 years of it's life in the mid-west and the winter snow/salt had taken it's toll. The only thing I was unable to remove was the retaining ring that keeps the bearing from being pressed out. I used penetrating oil, ring pliers, punches, swear words, and everything else I could think of with no luck. Eventually I broke off one of the ends, and the rest was still seized up, so I admitted defeat (not an easy thing for me) and purchased a used steering knuckle. I was smart enough to make sure I got one with the ABS hole, but I missed the AWD vs FWD spec. I have a FWD and the knuckle was for an AWD. I didn't notice the difference until I was re-assembling, and the tie-rod end is designed to attach from the top down on my replacement knuckle, and of course the FWD attaches from the bottom up. Ordered another knuckle. Anyway, my question is, is there a trick to getting that retaining ring out?

[vibrologist]

Briansmobile had a little fun with this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ly3pC8tzDc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Megladon7]

Enjoyable video, but doesn't really help with my problem. I was able to remove the knuckle from the car, and was able to press out the hub. What I can't do, because I can't get the blankety-blank retaining ring out, is to press the rest of the bearing out of the knuckle.

[gtv237]

An acetylene torch should do the job.

[Megladon7]

Here is the offending part.....

[Megladon7]

Second try at an upload......

[vibrologist]

The most effective penetrating solution is 50% Acetone and 50% tranny fluid (Grassroots Motorsports). The acetone will creep in to the smallest cracks and take along some oils. The acetone will evaporate. Of course that can take quite some time.

The other way is heat. watch some Youtubes on how to apply heat. I bet a shop would do it for you.

[bluneon]

that youtube video doesn't apply to press-in wheel bearings.

there really aren't any easy ways to deal w the corroded snap ring.

apply tons of penetrating oil
a chisel and a hammer and screwdriver to try to pound one end out
once you get an end loose and pried out you're home free, continue to pry out down the rest of the ring
chisel on the ring around it's circumference to try to break the corrosion
use a press and press onto an adapter that fits onto the ring towards the hub to try to break the corrosion, but do not bend the knuckle
use a die grinder and grind as much of the ring as possible to allow safe passage of the bearing during the press out then deal with the remainder of the ring

[jolt]

Use an air hammer or air gun, and penetrating lube. Hammer down on the face of the snap ring with a flat punch. It is the rapid hammering of the air gun that will vibrate the part and get the penetrating oil into the joints. You can then try to dimple the surface at one of the ends of the snap ring with a punch and regular hammer. Once dimpled, angle the punch to the inside of the bearing and hammer the snap ring to the center of the bearing. This should pull the snap ring out of the groove. You will destroy the snap ring but it will be out. Remember that it is vibration that will allow the penetrating oil to soak in past the rust. Freeing corroded, rusted parts is all about vibration and lube.

Cheap air hammers are not worth buying. They do not offer the trigger control or pounding force a high end air hammer has. Save yourself time and money by getting a good air hammer. Rusted nuts come off with ease by using an air hammer with a chisel bit on the side of the nut. Spit the nut or use a punch bit on the side of the nut and they spin off. I have not used a torch in years after getting a good air hammer $$$.