Pressing Inner Bearing On The Rear Spindle....

[Joe L.]

Re: Turn down the axle!!!!!!!!.... Yes, Yes...

Bruce-----

Please do not interpret my comments regarding "slip fit" spindles as being personally critical of you. I do realize that such a mod has been practiced for many years and I do know that many racers use it and I do know that, in the vast majority of cases, it does work effectively and does not result in service problems. Also, I think that it's perfectly fine for you to describe this alternative here. It's just that I think that it's also important for folks to understand that there are other things to consider when contemplating such a mod and that it's not as simple and obvious a choice as it might seem.

For myself, even though once-upon-a-time I was tempted, I would not use this mod. Like I mentioned, for GM to abandon the slip fit design and put the interference fit design into production at undoubtedly greater cost for all remaining 63-82 Corvettes, is just too powerful a statement for me, personally, to ignore.

[bruce]

Re: Turn down the axle!!!! For SURE!!!!

Joe....no offense taken. It just kinda goes against my Canadian thriftiness to cut up something good to inspect something else. When with a minor modification< I could take it apart and inspect for no charge. Think about this, without having the GM chassis book in front of me. What is the mileage interval for re-paking the front wheel bearings? The only time the rears get done is when they fail!!!!!! In 26 years of owning corvettes, I've never....never put a set of front wheel bearings in one of my cars.(I've had my 72 for 21 years) Since i did the rears in the manner described,10-11 years, I've not had to replace any parts. This car was raced hard for over 10 years?!? Something to think about. If GM had made the rears as easy to check as the fronts, would we be having this conversation??????? Back to you

[Patrick T.]

Thanks For The Great Info !!!!

I appreciate all of your responses. In 24 hours I've learned more than someone, a couple years back, could have learned in 30 years.

By the way, I have all the proper tools for this operation, which will complete the job satisfactorily, although they are not quite as exotic as Joe's collection, but then again, who does? Patrick