I’ve had my 69 RR for about 1.5 years and have never checked or repacked the wheel bearings. The RR has drum breaks in the front and back. I’ve never attempted this but it needs to be done (piece of mind) are there any how videos or can someone walk me through this. Who to, problems to lookout for and so no……….thanks
I generally just put a glob of wheel bearing grease in one hand and with the other hand simply press an area of the bearings (the outer/fatter end)into the glob. Lift after each press then keep rotating the bearings about 1/8th to 1/4th turn per press until you have gone around the full circumference of the bearings. Rinse/repeat until the bearing grease is squirting out the top of the assembly.
This of course only applies to the front wheels on the RR. No wheel bearings on the rear.
Is there a particular reason you are asking this? Hearing any strange noises up front or in the rear?
Generally speaking I wouldn't consider this a normal maintenance item. Once all packed up and installed they are usually good to go for a lot of miles. (100k+) Unless you are constantly removing the drum assemblies to adjust brakes/change brakes etc. And based on the nature of your question I am guessing this is not the case.
I would say generally speaking the things to be wary of would be once you have the bearings out to look for any obvious damage and do the bearings roll around freely in the assembly without any binding or grinding and does the assembly itself feel solid. Also look for metal fragments in the bearing grease. Where the bearings meet the races (the smooth circular area inside the drum that the bearings roll against) there will always be some wear marks on the bearing surface that are typical of metal against metal wear. So long as the bearings roll ok and dont show signs of heavy scoring and the races look OK you are probably good to go and don't need to replace them.
As far as removing the drums on the front... It is pretty obvious once you get into it what needs to come off. Pop the center grease cap, straighten and remove the cotter pin, slide off the nut cover, remove the nut (with an adjustable wrench or even a pair of pliars. This nut should be on just enough to hold the assembly into place snuggly. It is not nor should it be torqued down to the point one of the aforementioned tools can't simply remove it.) Once the nut is removed simply grab the drum and pull it towards you. When you do be mindful that the outter wheel bearings (the area where you just removed the nut) will come dislodged. remove the bearings first then pull the drum assembly completely off the car. To access the inner bearings you will have to remove the grease seal on the back of the drum. (once removed it is generally a good idea to replace it even if nothing is found to be wrong.) Reverse order to reinstall.
If you decide to replace the bearings it is usually a good idea to replace the races at the same time. You will need a good long punch and plenty of patience to work these out and the new ones back into the drum assembly. Simply tap the exposed lip of the race from the underside of the drum a time or two then walk the punch around the race tapping as you go. These can be a real PITA to work out and back in. But be patient and persistant they will eventually work their way out. Reverse order to reinstall.
