Lost my bearings - stuck race!

Afternoon all - Defender 300tdi... was happily getting stuck into changing front discs, but have encountered very deteriorated bearings (see photo). Not sure how it got through MOT like that, although it was driving fine, and no noise etc. Happy replacing the bearings, but issue I have at the moment is that the inner race is stuck on the stub axel. It spins freely, and slides back and forth but won't come any further off the axel than shown in 2nd photo. Have tried heating / using pullers / general encouragement, but won't budge.

I'm assuming the stub axel has been damaged by the worn bearing and this is what is causing the race to stick, and that I'm best just replacing the sub axel so that it doesn't cause further damage, but am I missing anything obvious? If I do replace, should I do both sides, or does it not really matter? Grateful for any thoughts.

Fcuk me, that's a mess. Who does your maintenance and servicing? Suggest changing mechanic.

Re' bearing race, a good sharp cold chisel and a 4lb lump hammer will do the job. Then give your hubs a thorough clean up, a coat of acid etch primer, a few coats of paint and a full rebuild...both sides.

Thanks - will give that a go and see how I get on with the chiselling.

I've maintained it myself (clearly not very well ) for the last 10 years, so only have myself to blame; it's just been on a 5,000 mile trip round trip, and there weren't any signs that bearing was on the way out, which I'm a bit baffled by given the state of it today.

I would put the bottle jack under the bearing shell to support it while you use chisel and push it back where it spins which will help it shatter and protect the stub axle.
If that fails then a mini grinder / dremel to take the metal away carefully before using chisel , when it’s off just see if you can see why it might be stuck, think the stub axles reasonable price if damaged
And new bearings both sides

Big trip anywhere nice

To get that race off I would grind a line in it first as deep as you can/dare then whack it with the chisel it will crack the remaining and come off easy. As you have it pulled off a little the grind can be deeper.

Then you can clean and inspect the stub properly. But if it actually slides freely to the position in your pic be prepared for needing a new stub.

J

Thanks all - good thoughts on the bottle jack / quick grind before chiselling. As above, it does slide easily up to that point, so am expecting there'll be a bit of scoring or similar damage on the stub that's stopping it going further

My 200 when used as my daily ate bearings, cheap and timkens, none lasted more than a year or two.

steve2286w said:

Big trip anywhere nice

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Went up to north of Norway via Germany, Denmark, Sweden - was lovely, would definitely recommend

lynall said:

My 200 when used as my daily ate bearings, cheap and timkens, none lasted more than a year or two.

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Odd that is, my Ninety has 185k on the clock [ owned by me 30 years] farm truck. Not ever replaced wheel bearing.

tottot said:

Odd that is, my Ninety has 185k on the clock [ owned by me 30 years] farm truck. Not ever replaced wheel bearing.

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I did used to off road it a lot, nearly sunk it a few times as well!

BigRedMachine said:

Went up to north of Norway via Germany, Denmark, Sweden - was lovely, would definitely recommend

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Do you have a copy of the route you took? I have been planning for a while to drive up to the northern most tip of Europe. the original plan was do go up through Sweden along the top and down through St Petersburg. was just beginning to look at it properly when covid hit and then after covid again just started to look properly when the Ukraine hit. So new plan is probably one way through Sweden and other way through Norway.

As for your bearing issue as above, grind through as far as you can (maybe on opposite sides) and split with a sharp chisel. that will allow for full inspection. I would be tempted to try some emery cloth before jumping to replace unless there is obviously chewed up parts. it will not take much to stop the bearing getting past and I managed to clean the stub up enough to refit bearings on an old golf using this method.

tottot said:

Odd that is, my Ninety has 185k on the clock [ owned by me 30 years] farm truck. Not ever replaced wheel bearing.

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lynall said:

I did used to off road it a lot, nearly sunk it a few times as well!

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the original bearings are Definity much better. now I am primarily road use I get about 2 years (60k) out of a bearing but previously running oversized offset wheels and doing a lot of offroad work I would be lucky to get 12months (10k) out of bearing. also interestingly similarly to @lynall the brand seems to make no difference to longevity so I just use the britpart full kits.