I'm in the process of replacing the front wheel bearings in my 88 gl wagon. New bearings are in place, but I can't get the CV back through the hub, it's stuck. This is my first time doing it, so any suggestions will help

I'm in the process of replacing the front wheel bearings in my 88 gl wagon. New bearings are in place, but I can't get the CV back through the hub, it's stuck. This is my first time doing it, so any suggestions will help

 

This might be a stupid question on my part, but are you sure you got both halves of the original bearing off of the cv? I had one stuck on when I did my first bearing change and didn't notice it, since I didn't know what I was looking at, so obviously it wouldn't go it all the way lol.

 

If you can get it far enough through to get a few threads on the castle nut you can use two claw hammers to pry it through a little bit at a time. It's a tight fit.

otc axle puller you can buy it from tool supplier snapon or some one like that or take the whole knuckle off and put upside down in rim and drift it through with a dead blow hammer this only works good if the knuckle is off car you can put hub in the lug holes to hold it for you

could you be hitting the center spacer when trying to re asymble it ?

There is a spacer with some free play in the middle of the hub. If you look into the hole where the axle will come through you may see it has slid out of position. Just use a finger to put it back, hold it until the tip of the axle is in place to hold it, and shove. Make sure to move your finger!

 

Once the tip of the axle/cv joint thingie is sticking out, thread the axle nut on and use that to 'grab' with whatever you have on hand--screw driver, bearing removal tool, etc. Thread as needed, but don't crank on the nut until the whole thing is properly seated.

This is how I get them through. This is picture of a rear, but same idea works for the front too.

Thanks guys, that helped out big time! I got it all put together now