HELP! last Spherical Bearing stuck 1/4" out during swap

[EBarnes]

First, I attribute this to the knuckle variances, or residue remaining in it from the rubber bushings that I removed. These sperical bearings are perfect!

I installed 3 of the spherical bearings, and two felt almost loose - slipped right in. One barely required a couple taps, as advertised.

Then this - tapped it in about 1/4" and it got stuck. Couldn't back it out, so I got some c-clamps and wood, and pressed it in... until about 1/4" remained, and the threaded rod on the c-clamp started to bend!

It has loctite 609. Any ideas? Torch to heat up the aluminum knuckle...or would the heat transfer just negate that? I think aluminum expands more than steel.

These set-backs are REALLY FRUSTRATING!:(

[Hankl]

Here's the problem, you don't want to really heat it up too much, as it could affect the Aluminum and/or the bearing, best bet is to take it to a machine shop, and see if they can press it out, clean it up, reapply the Loctite, and press it back in. Too much heat, and you'll damage both the Knuckle and the bearing. If you have some spare tubing around, you can make a "Threaded Press". You'll need some tubing larger than the OD of the Spherical Bearing flange, a threaded rod that fits through the bearing ID, and a couple of large washers. Thread the rod thru the bearing, place a washer inside the knuckle, with a nut on the shaft, place the tubing over the Spherical bearing, a lager washer on the tube, followed by a nut. Tighten the nut on the outside of the knuckle, slowly it should pull the assembly out. A little more complicated than the machine shop, but this is all about doing it yourself....HTH

Hank :cool:

[Jeff Collins]

Great advice Hank, and sorry for the trouble. If you can't get it handled locally send it to us and we will install them for you.

[EBarnes]

Hey Jeff, hope I was clear - I don't think this is an issue with the bearings AT ALL. The other 3 went in like advertised (2 slipped in easily with no tapping).

[EBarnes]

Resolved (yea!). A friend that supervises in Delta (Airlines) maintenance came over, so we tried a small amount of heat. Used a bench vise and a very small MAPP/O2 welder, without using O2.

Lots of soot, but the big yellow flame wrapped around the knuckle well and within 20-30 seconds, the bearing slipped in without much difficulty until the back side hit the vise. Then used a small ball peen hammer to tap it in the remaining 1/8" . The grease inside never even got warm!

Onward!