[DeTomaso] Axles and rotors and bearings. . . oh my

[asajay at asajay.com]

In the continuing saga of living vicariously through others, I bring  
you the night we tore the uprights apart.

It all started several weeks ago when I pulled the uprights out of the  
Pantera.  A trivial bushing problem caused a minor distraction but we  
finally got back to the uprights a couple nights ago.

After severely bending (and nearly breaking) a half-inch breaker bar  
in an attempt to remove the axle nuts (yes, we -were- turning them the  
correct way).  I took them to my local driveline shop and they zipped  
them right off with an air tool.  (note to self, I have GOT to get me  
one of those).

Back to my hillbilly shop last night, I proceeded to press out the  
axles and bearings.

I first marked each hub indexed to the axle along with which side it  
went to, using steel letter punches.  I also marked the upright  
itself.  Once marked, I tried to figure out how to hold the rotor  
assembly to press the axle out.  Hmm, well, not having any appropriate  
sized sewer pipe handy, I happened across an old ring gear from a Jeep  
front differential we pulled a few years back.  It just happened to  
fit just outside the edge of the axle flange.  Perfect!

I set it all up in my 19th century screw press and out came the axles.  
  Next I removed the retainers for the bearings and pressed them out  
as well.

Good Lord, what a mess.

The first thing to note was the light mocha brown color of the grease,  
and the amount of water.  There had certainly been water intrusion.  I  
could also see where grease has been heated and cooled, as there were  
places of hardened yucky grease.  After pressing everything out.  It  
appears the center portion of the upright had been packed with grease,  
-or- all the grease from the bearings leaked out the inside around the  
spacer.  Either way, I have tons of grease, it's all yucky, icky,  
sticky and I'm not really looking forward to the clean up.

I took a good shop rag and cleaned the axle stubs and they look -very-  
nice.  No burs or heavy wear.  I will take a micrometer to them this  
evening (or this weekend) to determine if I need replacements.  Photos  
to follow.

At this point, I am very glad I took these apart before heading to  
Silver State.  I would not have wanted this amount of water and bad  
grease in there.  I believe the amount of grease in the assembly  
prevented any rusting, as I've not found any yet.  I do believe these  
have been serviced in the past, I'd just have to look back in the  
receipts to know for certain.

My next decision is what bearing option to use for replacements.  I  
don't wish to machine the uprights in any fashion.  One option is  
something Steve Wilkinison told me he supplies, which is a new tapered  
roller bearing for the inboard side (I think) and requires machining  
the sleeve a half in shorter, but no machining of the upright itself.   
This seems to appear to me, but I'd like to get some opinions first.

What are my bearing options if I don't want to machine the upright?

Thanks,
Asa Jay