Bad axle bearings - Club Car

[Outlawcart]

2007 Club Car Precendent. I have been tracking down a noise under the rear and currently have the axles out. I've confirmed a dry bearing that needs to be replaced and have ordered the matching bearings from Timken.

Question, has anyone ever been successful with replacing these outer axle bearing before? Club Car only sells the entire axle assembly as one piece with a non-replaceable bearing and it's quite expensive, therefore I don't wish to tear this one apart and then have to order a whole new axle assembly.

I have pics but apparently unable to upload here.
There is a small sleeve that seems to be pressed onto the shaft to hold the bearing and then a ring clip. I've got the clip off and have a 20 ton press. Not really a way to remove the bearing with a press though unless I get a little inventive and make a collar to go around it...

If you have done this before please confirm, and any tips and tricks would be appreciated.

Think I got the pics to work

[Goober11]

The last set of bearings I replaced I took to the local NAPA machine shop and the pressed them on for me. They also had the bearings in stock.

[Fairtax4me]

Use a bearing splitter to remove the old one.
Stiff wall pipe works pretty well to install the new, or sometimes even exhuast pipe works as long as the ends are cut perfectly straight.

https://shop.harborfreight.com/media...3/63662_W3.jpg

[Outlawcart]

Sounds good. One thing I don't have is a bearing separator. Will pick a kit up today. Was just wondering if anyone had accomplished this before as Club Car claims it is not doable and have never seen anyone be able to complete the process so I was wondering why...honestly as long as the little sleeve in front of the bearing slides off I do not see why any issue would occur. I'll post results after and let you know if the axle explodes, LoL.

Thanks for the replies.

[CP241]

If it were me I’d just cut the old one off and press on the new one. Skip the splitter it’s coming off anyway.

[Outlawcart]

Originally Posted by CP241

If it were me I’d just cut the old one off and press on the new one. Skip the splitter it’s coming off anyway.

Good thought, but it would be extremely difficult to cut the bearing out without damaging the sleeve in front of the bearing. The sleeve would need to be pressed off anyway. When you first mentioned this it sounded like a plausible plan.

[CP241]

It’s just like a whee bearing on a car when it gets stuck on the hub. You use a whizzy wheel at an angle and cut a groove as deep as you can. Then use a chisel and smack it, it will crack and split the rest of the way and just fall right off. I don’t think you’d have any issues with damaging anything else.

[kgsc]

If you do go the press route with a splitter make sure to wear eye protection.. I was removing one a few years back that was stubborn with a 12T press and left it under pressure and stepped away from it for a minute and the bearing pretty much exploded.. I never found all the pieces but some landed next to me 20 feet away.. And left the inner race that I ended up cutting off..

[HeatWave]

If you decide to DIY, put the new Bearings in the freezer the night before, (in their original packaging), set up your installation, then take the Bearing out of the freezer, much easier install.

"It’s just like a wheel bearing on a car when it gets stuck on the hub. You use a whizzy wheel at an angle and cut a groove as deep as you can. Then use a chisel and smack it, it will crack and split the rest of the way and just fall right off. I don’t think you’d have any issues with damaging anything else."
CP241 knows...

[Fairtax4me]

Looking at the picture the sleeve he’s talking about looks like it’s for the outer axle seal to ride on. The bearing itself is sealed but may not be well enough to keep the oil in the axle. So the axle seal is behind the bearing in the axle tube. Pretty sure it used to be the other way around. You can knock the bearing off any way you want, but the new one is not going back on without removing the sleeve as well.

Have heard a lot about those bearings failing on the newer models, so either the bearings are getting cheaper or they’re not sized correctly to handle the loading of the newer carts.
What’s the number on the side of that bearing? If it’s smaller than a 6204 then that’s almost certainly why they’re failing.