Rear Wheel Bearings 87' 560SL

[red560SL]

I'm in the middle of a complete suspension rebuild. I have completed rebuilding the entire frontend including all new tie rods, ball joints, bearings, motor mounts, shocks and subframe mounts. I have now moved to the rear of the car and found I can not understand how to replace or get to the rear wheel bearings.

I have removed the caliper, rotor, emergency brake pads and springs and the center bolt of the hub (see attached pics).

Any help in getting the hub out, dust shield and all the other stuff off would be appreciated. Once out, I'll bring everything to the machine shop and they'll press out/in everything, but I need to get this all out first. Once this is out I plan on replacing subframe mounts, shocks, diff mount, brakes and everything else back there.

Thanks,
-Tony-

[whunter]

You need a special tool

Fastlane: 915-0207. GROOVENUT SOCKET. REAR AXLE BEARING. CHASSIS Application: 107/114/115/116/123/126. Matches MB# 115 589 02 07 00 and MB# 915 589 02 07 00
http://catalog.peachparts.com/item.wws?sku=915-0207

[red560SL]

Thanks whunter!

I'm sure you know exactly what you are talking about, but I want to make sure I don't spend money in the wrong places. According to my manual for the Model 107 Service Manual for the 1986-1989 560SL, the tool you show is not one of the special tools shown in the manual. One of the special tools shown is one they call "Socket for slot nut rear axle shaft flange - 115 589 02 07 00" which is described here:

http://www.startekinfo.de/etools/content/tool.jsp?toolno=115%20589%2002%2007%2000

It appears there is a special slotted nut on the rear axle shaft flange which can be accessed after removing the rear axle. But then what? If I remove this nut will the entire assembly separate from the car so I can bring it to a shop and have the bearings replaced or do I need pullers and installers and do all the work here with all these special tools? Other special tools listed in the manual for this job are:

1. Impact puller for rear axle shaft flange: 116 589 23 33 00

2. Puller for tapered roller bearings outer race: 115 589 00 33 00

3. Remover for tapered roller bearing inner race: 115 589 02 43 00

4. Puller for tapered roller bearing inner races (basic tool): 001 589 36 33 00

5. Collet for puller 001 589 36 33 00 for tapered roller bearing inner race: 000 589 02 34 00

6. Installer for tapered roller bearing outer races and radial sealing rings on semi-traling arm: 116 589 11 61 00

7. Assembly tool for rear wheel bearing: 116 589 24 31 00

8. Dial gauge holder: 136 589 04 21 00

9. Assembly plate for rear axle shaft flange: 136 589 05 31 00

10. Installer for tapered roller bearing race on rear axle shaft flange: 116 589 09 15 00

Where would you get all these special tools and are they all needed for a simple wheel pull? I am able to find the special "Slot Nut" tool, but that's about all that can be found. Also it seems the "Assembly plate for rear axle shaft flange - 136 589 05 -31 00" is a tool that isn't really needed or can be made very easily. It seems all this does is keep the hub/flange from turning when unbolting/tightening the shaft flange which can likely be done simply by placing bolts in the flange and using a bar to keep it from spinning.

No other tools are listed. Also note that the tools above suggest "tapered roller bearings" and the tool you show states "Will not work on Solid / Live Axles or Tapered Roller Bearings.". I'm more confused now than when I started.

I'm not a machanic and have NEVER done this before. The manual doesn't give specifics on how the job is done so I have no clue how it all comes together. If I knew what I "truly" needed and knew what to expect, I can do do the job. When I did the front I simply removed the hub with bearings intact and took my bearing kit, seals and hub to a machinest and had the old pressed out, bearings packed and the new bearings and seals pressed in. Then I came back and simply placed the hub back on the car and dialed it all in. Does the rear require I do everything here? I was hoping to basically do the same thing and just remove this and take it to someone to replace the bearings and seals.

Just wanting to clarify what tools are actually needed for the job and whether or not I must do it all myself. If I knew how to take this apart the battle would be half over.

Thanks in advance,
-Tony-

[whunter]

Wheel bearing:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/148772-wheel-bearing.html#post1125744


This is a tough DIY.
Several special tools are needed, many generic special tools will work.

You must replace the rear axle tension crush spacer on each wheel, and you only get one chance to pretension it (compress it) correctly, error means tearing it all back out to start again.

[ctaylor738]

This is not at all like the front wheels. If you don't have a problem with the rear wheel bearings, my advice is to leave them alone.

[red560SL]

Thank you whunter and ctaylor738 for your advice.

I do have to replace the rear wheel bearings. The car had been sitting in storage for several years. The vehicle was started weekly, but never driven. I can feel the bearings are shot. Even every seal in the tranny had to be replaced because they dried up and/or rotted. All bushings such as control arms (front and rear) and subframe are completely shot. Heck even the caliper piston seals were rotted or dried! I have completely finished the front end of the car (virtually a 100% restoration) and you can see the thread here.

Rebuilding entire suspension 87' 560SL. Tips, Pointers and HELP!

I'm trying to help others by posting pics and give details of the process.

Now I've moved on to the rear of the car. It's not a case of not having to do the work. The problem is that it is a must at this point. I am doing a complete suspension restore and you don't do that by half assing things. And like I said, the front is 100% completed. I want to prove to me and other members of this forum that they too can do the job even if they are not a machanic. I haven't worked on a car since I was 16 years old!

I have used the search feature and have seen all the posts whunter has provided. Although there is no real explanations of what tools are "really" needed or pics and details of what to expect. And since none of these posts are for the 107 I have to question what corelates with the 107 that all these other posts are about. I don't want to make the same mistake I made in the front by purchasing $500+ in tools that wasn't needed. That was money wasted and I'll never use those tools. However I have no problem purchasing tools that are required as I realize the right tool can make the difference.

None of this stuff scares me and I have over $20,000 in tools already. I have presses, I have compressors, impacts, a tool box that's 8' tall and 4' wide stuffed with tools. Up to this point the biggest problems I've had was miss-information. Manuals giving bad specs or people saying "you need this tool" only to find out that the tool is not for my job. Sure it might work just fine with the W128, but not at all with my 107. I purchased a Mitchell manual on CD which gave torque specs for example that were double what it should have been. I had to repurchase all the cam bolts for the lower control arms in the front. I've purchased tools that were not needed. I've struggled hours on things that once you know what you're doing, would have taken only a few minutes to complete. That one little trick can make all the difference in the world. Knowing what to expect is half the battle.

So now here I am after completing the front end of the car. I now can tell people how easy this job can be and that you don't have to purchase $1,000 in special tools to do it. I've purchased another manual that now has proper specs, but like the Mitchell, it is written for the professional machanic. I can do the job, but I often don't understand the terminology which slows me way down.

I have ordered the special "Pin Wrench Socket" as this obviously is required. What other tools are required I have no idea since I have not read any posts here that have clarified that. The problem is that I don't know what to expect so I can only ask and hope someone can explain what happens when you turn out the "slot nut" for example. I don't know??? Does it all slide out at this point and I can bring all this to a machine shop like I did the front and have them press everything? Can I even remove that darn emergency brake cable I can't seem to figure out how to remove? Will I turn this nut only to find out I need a special impact puller and delay things another week?

At this point there's no turning back. The car is sitting three feet off the ground. All subframe bushings, differential mount, rear trailing arm mount bushing and who knows what else back there is completely shot, dried and/or rotted. Since the car sat for so long the bearings had dried and I'm sure have pitted as I can feel the roughness when spinning the wheels and it is not the axle making the noises. I'm this far already so why not go completely through it?

In my other post I plan to continue describing the steps taken to completely restore the suspension including rear wheel bearings for those who would like to restore their suspension or want to know what is involved. I will post pictures so they can see what I see and compare that with their own project. I want to help make mercedesshop.com an information resource as it has been a great help to me so far. And this is why I posted these questions here. But still I am not sure exactly where I'm headed. whunter gave a link to this B 90 -M Rear Wheel Bearing Kit for Mercedes tool:

http://www.sirtools.com/mercedes.htm

but when I questioned whether or not this was the correct tool for my job, I didn't get an answer. What I got was a link to more links about rear wheel bearing replacement on vehicles that are not the same as mine. So far this thread has not helped much. After more investigation about the above tool, I found out this tool is NOT for me:

http://www.zdmak.com/wbstore/main.asp?action=PROD&PROD=B90-M&CTMP=1

It's for Chassis W124, W129, W201, W202 Models. Now if I would have followed his recommendation, it would have been another $300 tool in my box I would never use.

I only created this post to help me and others out. I was hoping to learn something and to not purchase tools I don't need and certainly not purchase tools that don't even work for my car. I'm here because I don't trust the machanic as they too often just think they know it all and are way to quick to give an answer. Luckily for me I don't just jump out and purchase that tool and I'm back here trying again to clarify things.

Thanks,
-Tony-

[nyc10009]

I just had my W124 TD (sta wagon) rear wheel bearings
pressed out & new ones in. The wagon has the largest,
most heavy-duty wheel bearings I've ever seen. They
could have come out of a large pickup truck! They're
huge needle bearings, not tapered rollers. I paid a shop
$70 for both sides, in&out for the job. Great work. The
MB dealer wasn't much more. I'd gladly do this than
invest in tools I'll rarely use again--especially for such
a thankless job as this! Take the wheel carriers to the
shop of your choice and re-install at your leisure!

-Will
'87 300TD 190K mi

[red560SL]

So far this hasn't been a big deal at all. All you need is the socket for the slot nut for the rear axle shaft flange and a machinist to press out/in the races and brearings. Any half decent machine shop can do this. Sure you could spend $300 for Mercedes' "special bearing tools", but for a one time job that doesn't make sense. Heck the machinist is even going to set the proper end play so I don't have to mess around with my dial indicator. They'll do all this for just a few bucks. Their dial indicator is much more accurate anyway. After pulling it apart I found lots of grooves and pits in the races. Good that I did this job. And to think everyone is so scared of doing this job....

To follow the progress of the complete suspension restoration you can go to the other thread I started:

Rebuilding entire suspension 87' 560SL. Tips, Pointers and HELP!

And I should note that the machinist said I didn't even have to purchase the special nut. He said if they don't already have something that would work, they'll simply make it for a lot less than $65. Granted it won't be a socket. Instead it would probably be nothing more than a bar of steel with a couple of nibs to fit the nut. Use it once and toss it.

[rgofast]

Hi

I am in the same boat. I am in the process of replacing the driver side rear wheel bearing 0n a '87 560SL. I have worked on cars all my life, and done a few restorations. I feel if I can rebuild Porsche 911 engines, I should be able to handle this job. I have torn the side down, and verified that the bearing is bad. just the spindle is still intact, and it turns rough and noisey. The car was making a loud whirring noise. I isolated the problem by putting the car up on stands, and running it in drive. I got to the speed where the noise started, and blocked the gas pedal in position to hold this speed. I went to the underside of the car with a stethescope, and isolsated the noise to the driver side rear wheel bearing. We had two Mercedes mechanics tell us that it was the differential, and was going to cost 4500. to replace. I had a new differential ready to purchase, and was going to put it in without further investigation. Anyway, since I did not have any of the special tools, I removed the complete hub/backing plate assy from the control arm by doing the following: I took loose a bolt on the top, which attached to the rear sway bar, a "C" shaped piece that looked like a connecting rod clamp, and a large nut under a dust cap at the bottom of the control arm. This is a pivot joint with two tapered roller bearings. I disconnected the e brake cable at the center pull area in the middle of the car, as I could not figure out how to get it out of the backing plate. I now have the complete hub assy out, with the spindle still connected to the backing plate via the slotted nut. I tried to remove the nut with a drift pin, and hammer, but am thinking it might be a left hand thread. Not wanting to do any damage, I am thinking I should now take the backing plate assy to a Mercedes shop to have the bearing replaced. Is this the best approach? Would a machine shop know the bearing setting tolerances? I have several machine shops that I work with. Where does one purchase the special socket for the slotted nut? If I would have had this tool, would I have been able to get everything that I need to get out, without removing the whole backing plate assy?? Regaurdless, I am going to have to put this all back together myself, once the bearing is installed properly in the backling plate and I have some concerns. I noticed that alot of the bolts had what looks to be blue thread lock, or locktite on them. Is this locktite, or a special sealer that Mercedes uses? Everything else is pretty cut and dry, with the exception of the nut that was under the dust cap at the swivel joint under the control arm. This nut was not that tight, and seemed only to have the blue loctite holding it in place. What is the proceedure for setting the tightness of this bearing assy, and retaining the nut. Seems like they should have designed some sort of retaining clamp nut, like the front wheel bearing adjusting nut on some cars. How critical is the tightness of this nut. Seems like this is just a swivel joint. Can any one give me some assistance here.

Thanks to Tony, I found this thread. There are alot of us out here, who are very mechanicly inclined, and can do this kind of work ourselfs. I have been trained in large diesel engines, Jet propuslion on ships, Hydraulics, and just retired from a 30 year career as Heating, Air conditioning and Refrigeration mechanic. I have always done my own work on cars, and have a 38 year old Porsche that I maintain. This is my first Mercedes experiance, and I need to get this car back together safely, as it belongs to my Girlfriend. We are going to be getting it in pristene conditon, as we will be driving it for a while. Your pointers and help on this matter would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Rod

[rgofast]

Bump

[rgofast]

Yea, I felt the pain last night. I have the special tool for the lock nut, and the rear bearing kit comming. I am going to take it apart on the bench. Some people say this is not a do it yourself job, but I do everything myself, and have all the time in the world. All I need is the right information. I guess there is a crush washer that needs to be replaced on re assy. I will go to the dealer and get this. Is the tourque needed to crush the washer the proper tourque for setting up the bearing? I have a mutitude of bearing pullers, collets, etc, so If I cant get it apart, I will go to the machine shop. Anyone have the required tourques on the axle flange bolts at the differential, and the caliper bolts, and bearing retaining nut for the swivel joint, that isd under the dust cover at the bottom of the dcontrol arm? I had to remove this to separate the backing plate assy from the control arm.

Your ongoing help is much appreciated

Rod
Rod

[dpetryk]

I have done 4 bearings on my 126's. No big deal at all. I made my own special wrench for this slotted nut. I started with a 1 9/16" socket and did a little grinding to fit the nut. It took all of an hour using a small air driven abasive cut-off wheel. The rest is simple and straight forward. Red560sl, it sounds like you have a well stocked tool box and this task should not be too difficult for you. I have a lift so things were easy to get at. It does take some torque to tighten the nut and I used a long "torgue amplifier" if you know what I mean. I used a "air hammer" to remove and install the races. Easy.

Here is a photo of my handiwork.

http://www.davidpetryk.net/Mercedes/p2181168.jpg

http://www.davidpetryk.net/Mercedes/p2181169.jpg

[rgofast]

I already ordered the special axle spline nut. I am working on the driver side rear bearing. Is this nut as right or left hand thread??? I am going to make a long bar to bolt up to the hub so I can back up the whole thing from turning when I am tightening the nut. Can you tell me if I can press the races out with a press. I have the whole backing plate assy off of the car., and on the bench, but have not pulled the spindle untill I get the tool. I can fab round collars out of steel to use with the press. I can also heat the backing plate, and use dry ice on the inner races if I have to. What is the best grease to pack the bearings with, or are the new ones sealed?? Also as I have pulled the whole backing plate assy off of the car, what is the setup proceedure for that swivel bearing that attaches the backing plate assy to the control arm. It is secured by a nut that was under a dust cover, near where I placed my jack stand. How tight do you get the nut, and how is it secured from backing out. I have not been able to get an answer from any one on this. Maybe I did to much dissasembly, but I was going to take the whole assy into a shop that knew what they were doing. Thank you all for your continued assistance on this.

Rod

[Hirnbeiss]

This thread has a link to a German forum with pictures of the replacement on a W124. He uses a slidehammer to pull the hub off, and then a jaw puller to get the outer race off of the hub.
RWB thread

[dpetryk]

Answers;

1. Nut is right handed both sides.
2. Yes you can press the races out with the appropriate sized tool in a press. I used an air powered hammer and I was able to gently tap them out and back in without any problems. I used a slide hamer on the hub to remove it. The trailing arm stayed on the car.
3. Never needed or used any cooling or heating to assist the process.
4. My experience is on a 126 and there is no swivel bearing as you call it. I have no answers about that part.
5. I used molly axle grease. - Bearings are not sealed - tapered roller style.