FrankieB wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:08:Changed the front and rear brakes. The only thing that suprised me about the fronts (cause I'm a newbie) was that when you push the piston in brake fluid shoots out of the master cylinder (that was fun). Like the tech guide I had to use a pliers to push the piston down. I know they said if you can't do it by hand you should clean it, but besides wiping it off I didn't really know where to start with that.
The rear brakes were actually easy. The only annoying thing is the back wheel and keeping track of everything. I had a couple of friends hold everything in place while putting it back which made it a lot easier. YonuhAdisi, I believe I know now what you mean by "butteflying" the rear brakes in and it definately made it easier.
I think next time I have the wheels off I'll change the bearings. They're pretty cheap. I think all you have to do is replace the old ones with the new ones, right? Do you have to put grease on em?
Thanks for the help.
Shooting from the lip here without consulting the books or anything... This I know for certain: you definitely DO grease wheel bearings when installing them. And there is a special method of what is called "packing" the bearings by hand. You fill the palm of one hand with grease, and take the bearing and kind of scrape grease into the opening on the back side of the roller cage. After doing this a few times, grease will start to come out the race side of the bearing face. You have then "packed" grease through that part of the bearing. You continue this procedure all around the bearing until it is internally "packed" with grease all the way around.
Also, when you replace wheel bearings, it is common practice to replace the "race" that the face of the bearing runs on. The "race" is pressed into the hub, and may be pressed out, or knocked out from behind, with a metal bar and hammer. The the new race is pressed or hammered into the hub with a brass hammer or bar or dead-blow hammer in preparation for installing the new bearing. Some car or cycle applications require that you fill a cavity around the bearing with grease to insure that it never runs dry.
All the above is just general mechanic procedure, and if there is any question, always follow the manual for the specific vehicle as to exactly how to do the job.
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