hit a snag replacing wheel bearings

[bettabruce]

I am replacing my wheel bearings on my 75 k5. I already did 1 side, but the front driver's side was where I had the original problem. That side's bearings, well there wasn't much left.
I am wondering if anyone has blown out a bearing as severely, and if it is possible for the threaded section of the spindle to get so hot that it expands.

I'm having trouble getting my rotor/bearings back on.

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[4X4HIGH]

See if you can measure the spindle diameter as there are two different sized spindles and wheel bearings. The cut-off year was mid 1976 but a previous owner could have swapped one spindle for a different one of a different size.

 

[Blue85]

The D44 small bearing ID is 1.78" and the large bearing is 2.00" or something like that. I doubt you could get any of the parts mixed up between them. It is possible that if you ran a bad bearing long enough to destroy it that the spindle needs replacement. The big bearing axle came in like 1976, but as mentioned somebody may have swapped if things broke before. It's also possible you ended up with some non-Chevy parts on there. Best to get some measurements and also take some pictures for us.

 

[bettabruce]

Thanks, guys! I finally got it on there. It must have just been my imagination.
I hope to be driving my k5 again soon. I still have some loose ends, but I got my wheel bearings/hubs replaced.

 

[diesel4me]

When I worked an auto parts counter,I recall selling a guy a wheel bearing for a large truck (oil tank delivery truck) that had a similar spindle on the rear like a front 4x4 truck had..

He called me back after the bearing was delivered--said "this is the wrong (censored) bearing,its center bore is way too small!..."I'll ruin the threads on the spindle,if I just drive it on with a mallet!"..

I had him read the part # off the old bearing,and it matched the one I had sent him...so I assumed it was "defective" and sent another one to him..15 minutes later,he's on the phone again--"same dam thing with this bearing too!--WTF?"..

I had no good answer for him,so I tried calling the Bower-BCA bearing "hotline" ,and a tech who answered told me to tell the guy to "put the bearing on a 100W droplight bulb for 15 minutes,and try putting it on "quickly"--that should solve the problem!"..

When I told the customer that,he was pretty disgusted,but said "Eh,what the hell--might as well try it"..

He called back a while later,all happy "Hey--that frigging bearing slid right on like nothing after I heated it up on the bulb like they said!--I NEVER had to do that before though,in 30+ years of working on vehicles....
All I could say was maybe they make bearings just a tad "undersized"?...
So,if you run into that again,it might be worth trying to expand the bearing by using a bulb to warm it up...

 

[paratrooper307]

The clearances tend to be tight, but I've only ever heated a bearing to make pressing them on easier. You learn something every day.