Rear Wheel Bearing Removal

With the hub nut removed it is fairly easy to use a puller to remove the drive flange. After this the driveshaft can be removed from the hub carrier. Then the bearing all seals can be pulled out with a pair of mole grips, being careful not to damage the inner surfaces of the rear hub carrier. Once the oil seals are out the tapered roller bearings just drop out.

The harder part is removing the outer bearing races from inside the hub carrier. These bearings are back-to-back and therefore it is not possible to push them out with a press. Neither is it easy to pull them out with a puller - there is not enough surface to get a grip on. Perhaps a blind bearing puller might work, but these are very expensive.

In the end I fashioned a simple soft metal drift from a scrap brass ball valve arm - sourced from a friendly plumber. This improvised drift, teamed up with a normal claw hammer, was used to drive the outer faces from within the hub carrier. After each hit the hub carrier was rotated 90 degrees. This helped ensure the race came out straight and did not get jammed at an angle. The second race was even easier as there was more of its rear surface visible to use the drift on.