Rolling Chassis, no engine/trans

[MrMazda92]

Alright you guys... I do remember seeing a topic on this before, but search yielded nothing helpful. :/

I'm getting to the point where a total teardown and rebuild is appealing for my '92. I want to yank the engine and trans. completely, axles and all, without sacrificing the ability to roll it around the driveway. Have any of you done this in the past, and by any chance documented the process?

Time is not an issue, as I have another car to drive to/from work and class for the duration of the project. I just need to be able to roll the shell around the driveway(musical cars, you know), and possibly onto a flatbed trailer when the weather gets colder.

Basically, I want to know what exactly it will take to safely roll the car around the yard. Yank the axles and engine/trans, but replace the spindles/hubs afterwards, and go from there? Will that cause the wheel bearings to wear prematurely?

Thanks.

[wytbishop]

In my opinion it's fine. Some people say that it damages the wheel bearings but that never made sense to me. The forces on the inner race are the same whether the axel stub is in the hub or not.

[Redline322]

As long as you dont damage a brake line or leave the e brake intact, you should be fine to move it around without a drivetrain safely. Just think of it as a large go cart, you just dont want it to roll too much and end up on the road or into the back of the garage, had a few close calls with mine. If you are planning a full teardown and rebuild, I'd imagine you'd be changing the wheel bearing anyway unless you changed them recently, but I wouldnt be concerned about premature wear anyway for the short amount of rolling around to move it.

[davmac]

^ I'm with them.
It's a little inconvenient since you'll have to reassemble the steering knuckle to the strut, ball joint, outer tie rod - depending on what you disassembled to remove the axles, transmission and motor. But the car should then roll around fine and will be lighter too. Good luck with your project. The problem is deciding when enough is enough. You didn't ask, but my advice: Don't go overboard. Have fun but do whatever it takes to get it back together and on the road. Too many project cars are never driven.

[MrMazda92]

Thank you guys, exactly what I was hoping to hear!

I'm replacing the front spindles, hubs/bearings included. The rears are up for consideration at this point, I may just swap to 5 lug hubs w/ extended studs and spacers for the FD wheels.

Engine swap, suspension upgrades(SRD goodies, poly bushings), brake swap(fronts for sure), stainless wherever rust exists, and a basic wiretuck.

The car should be back on the road by late February at the latest. I wouldn't enjoy it even a tiny bit sitting unused in the driveway, I promise!

[ganue]

According to my son's experience, a bearing with no halfshaft and nut should last about 2,000 miles on a car carrier and about 0.75 miles being pushed:

http://www.rs25.com/forums/f145/t164980 ... ost2597026

Good luck!!!

[MrMazda92]

Definitely confident in this at this point haha, thank you guys.

[Ryan]

Our front wheel bearings aren't tapers?

If they are tapers, the axle nut pre tensions the bearing and holds it together, running without a stub in there will cause the hub to just fall out of the spindle.

If they're straight roller/ball... then no stub required.

[wytbishop]

They are not tapered. However the argument is that without the stub the hub is not properly supported in the spindle and the bearing receives too much lateral loading.

[crazycanadian]

They are not tapered. However the argument is that without the stub the hub is not properly supported in the spindle and the bearing receives too much lateral loading.

This is the problem.... You don't have to install the axle stud.. But what you do is get a couple big 9/16 or 1/2 bolts with a few big washers(have 2 or 3 on either side of each bearing)... You install the bolt and washers to keep the some tension on the bearings...

[wytbishop]

This is what the hub assembly looks like...



The Hub is blue, the bearing is grey, the axel stub is orange and the steering knuckle is black. Notice that the hub and inner bearing race don't touch anything but the axel stub. Even if the stub, or a big bolt were in there, I don't see how it offers any additional support to the bearing. That axel stub is a CV joint. It is physically incapable of generating stress in any direction. Its job is to allow movement in all directions. All that stub shaft is doing is holding the hub in the inner race. A bolt with washers would not do anything.

[crazycanadian]

The Hub is blue, the bearing is grey, the axel stub is orange and the steering knuckle is black. Notice that the hub and inner bearing race don't touch anything but the axel stub. Even if the stub, or a big bolt were in there, I don't see how it offers any additional support to the bearing. That axel stub is a CV joint. It is physically incapable of generating stress in any direction. Its job is to allow movement in all directions. All that stub shaft is doing is holding the hub in the inner race. A bolt with washers would not do anything.

The inner race isn't 1 piece... Its 2 piece... The axle shaft/nut applies preload on the bearing and keeps the inner races in their proper spots....

You know what I was going to write more out, but I have a spare set of hubs/knuckles that I can sacrifice and take pictures of to show what happens...

[wytbishop]

No you know what that totally makes sense. I've heard this many times over the years and lots of guys have said they had this happen but it never made sense. If the inner race is two pieces that would totally explain it.

[MrMazda92]

So... don't do this?

[crazycanadian]

So... don't do this?

You don't have to install the axle stud.. But what you do is get a couple big 9/16 or 1/2 bolts with a few big washers(have 2 or 3 on either side of each bearing)... You install the bolt and washers to keep the some tension on the bearings...

follow and you will be fine..