1972 Chevrolet K20 Rear HO52 Outer Wheel Bearing

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Originally Posted by msulli54

Evening,

I started the process of rebuilding the drum brakes today on my 1972 Chevrolet K20 with an HO52. I got drum and hub assembly off the truck, removed the inner seal, inner bearing and race. I then started to work on the outer bearing. I removed the large C-Clip and that is where everything slowed down. I cant figure out how to remove the outer bearing. This is my first time doing this rebuild on my truck. I apologize if missed the obvious. I have the shop and assembly manuals. I had no real challenges rebuilding the front end. However, I think with this no spin H052 I have some unique challenges on the rear and cross referencing the manuals.

How do I remove the outer wheel bearings?

Do I have to separate the hub from the drum to get access. What you will see in the pictures, if I upload them right, is that it cant come out the front of the hub. The opening in the front of the hub is much smaller than the bearing and race. It must come out the back. However, when you look inside the hub the race for the outer bearing is flush with the inside of the tube inside the hub. My instincts are the hub and drum must be separated. If true, then my next question is will a tapered bearing work in place of the stock bearing. I have heard the stock one is not tapered and needs a high torque to set the bearing vs a tapered bearing. Finally, the outer bearing seems good. I just wanted to replace them as I was going to be doing all this work. I could leave it alone but I still want to know how to complete the project.

I read all kinds of forums tonight and got lots of good information. However, nothing on these HO52 outer bearings. Any help, links or pointers would be really appreciated right now.

Thanks!

Micah

Mine came with tapered bearings already but I used a small punch through the axle shaft bolt holes on the face of the hub to hit the race inward and free. Took me a little bit to figure that out. I didn't separate the drum.