I have mastered the technique of pulling and installing the races on the crank as I have done four of them so far (will share my technique below). However I have run into my first engine case that needs a new set of bearings and this takes a little more finesse. I have a bunch of ideas so there are probably several different ways to do it and was hoping that some people might share how they do it and everyone could learn.
Anyone smell another post to move to the knowledge base!
My technique for race romoval from the crank...
Harbor freight sells what they call a gear puller set #30305 I would call it a split bearing and gear puller. The price tag on the one I use is $31.99.
Make sure that the two halves of the bearing puller are good and sharp and have no burrs before you start. I use high pressure lube like cam and lifter lube on all of the surfaces that will see friction. You start out by squeezing the bearing using the ramp built into the puller to get the bearing moving and to get a real good bite on it. You can squeeze it together to where the bearing moves about a quarter of an inch or so. Stop there because you dont want to clamp onto the crank. Then you stick the two legs of the puller in and the cross bar on and it helps to put the nuts on the crank about two thirds of the way thru the nut. Then stick a small washer in there to keep from mangling the end of the crank and the nut keeps the forcing bolt from from walking off the crank. If it seems stuck then try tapping the pusher bolt on the puller, when things get loose the bearing has moved some. Extreme cases may need some heat on the race but I have never run into this, if you turn it blue it cannot be reused.
To go back on... put the crank in the freezer in a plastic bag overnight. I put the race in a preheated toaster oven set to 250 f for about ten minutes. You can use the big oven if you have to but get permission from the one that uses it the most first. Convince her that it wont stink up the house like the time you tried to save some money doing your own powdercoating! Have a couple of brass punches and hammer handy just in case you need to tap on it. Run from the freezer, crank in hand and stand it up in a vise. Run to your toaster oven with a pair of needle nose pliers (obviously the race will be hot) and sprint to your waiting crank and it will nearly fall into place as soon as it squares up. Big race goes to the side with the gear on it, the small one goes to the flywheel side. It is all in the timing, if it gets cocked or stuck you can try to tap it into place but dont wail on it. If the race becomes the same temp as the crank before it is all of the way down use your puller to pull it back off and maybe heat the bearing up a touch more next time and time it better.
Feel free to post your ideas!!!
Ray
Main crank bearing R&R techniques
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cannondale27
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- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
Nice write up!Only thing different I do is use a press for the bearing.Dont have to heat race then.BUT you have to have a cranksplitting jig to rest the crank on to avoid knocking the crank out of whack.Your method also works great for the bearings themselves just cant heat the crankplate up as much or the epoxy could come out.
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cannondale27
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- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
Another tip on subject.If doing a Falicon for some reason they made both races real tight.Stock dale crank the one comes off real easy.Thats the one you shim for endplay.For Falicon I took a old bearing race and turned down the inside too make it slide on and off easily.I use this to set the crankendplay.Used Dykum red on it so I dont forget its just for setting endplay.
So thats where you guys are doing the shimming for crank end play!
So far I have not had one out of spec but sooner or later I figured I would have had to either figure it out or ask!
Are you shimming just the races or behind the bearings too?
How tight are the bearings in the case? I was thinking of making an adapter from aluminum that will get in behind the bearing that will adapt to an old heavy duty diesel fuel injector remover slide hammer thing I made years ago. It uses about a ten pound wrist pin from a really big diesel as the hammer. Only problem I see with that is that the plastic cage may give out before the bearing moves, then I will be making another adapter to get behind that race.
Good input keep it coming! I was thinking of using heat too but did not think about the epoxy plugs in the cart plate. I wonder how hot you can get it before you would have problems with the epoxy?
Ray
So far I have not had one out of spec but sooner or later I figured I would have had to either figure it out or ask!
Are you shimming just the races or behind the bearings too?
How tight are the bearings in the case? I was thinking of making an adapter from aluminum that will get in behind the bearing that will adapt to an old heavy duty diesel fuel injector remover slide hammer thing I made years ago. It uses about a ten pound wrist pin from a really big diesel as the hammer. Only problem I see with that is that the plastic cage may give out before the bearing moves, then I will be making another adapter to get behind that race.
Good input keep it coming! I was thinking of using heat too but did not think about the epoxy plugs in the cart plate. I wonder how hot you can get it before you would have problems with the epoxy?
Ray
I use an arbor press for most case bearings but the flywheel bearing I carefully remove the rollers and the cage with a pick or grab them with a tiny channel lock pliars. Then slip a washer the size of the bearing journal in the race . You have to grind off 2 sides of the washer so it fits inside the race . Then pull the race out with a 2 jaw internal puller. That way the bearings can be reused if they are ok but I like to change the flywheel bearing most of the time. I had a post about it but the pics were lost.
I shim the crank with shims under the cartridge plate bearing race to keep the crank located in the case so it meshes with the counterbalancer correctly. I like to keep endplay at an absolute minimum to keep the flywheel away from the stator. I do many crank swaps into older cases where the stator mounts need to be cut down so clearance is a big issue. Yes the falicons are a pain about the shafts being to big. But thats just been one of the minor issues with those cranks.
I shim the crank with shims under the cartridge plate bearing race to keep the crank located in the case so it meshes with the counterbalancer correctly. I like to keep endplay at an absolute minimum to keep the flywheel away from the stator. I do many crank swaps into older cases where the stator mounts need to be cut down so clearance is a big issue. Yes the falicons are a pain about the shafts being to big. But thats just been one of the minor issues with those cranks.
Well the flywheel side bearing came out much easier than I thought it would! I took a pick and pried the rollers out of there and the cage came out in one piece. Did not know they would come out that easy either and there was some metal stuck in there from the crank bearing starting to go away. Glad I did because the race in there looked even worse than the crank race. Then I took a big flat washer about the inner size of the race and ground two flats on it to pop it in there and a few hits with the slide hammer and it came right out. Into the freezer with the bearings and let the case sit out in the sunlight on a near 100 degree day and it went right in there with a couple of taps. Had to scrounge around a bit to find a washer about 2 and a quarter od and will do the crank plate bearing when I get home.
So the moral of the story is not to be afraid of them bearings!
Thanks wistec for the washer idea!
Ray
So the moral of the story is not to be afraid of them bearings!
Thanks wistec for the washer idea!
Ray