Jaguar Repair: 1984 XJ6 driveshaft dissasembly, bearing ring, aluminum block

Question
QUESTION: Howard,

  I got a big box end 1 7/8 to fit the big nut, and managed to hammer it off.  Sure enough, I could see lots of threadlocker splintering away. looks like it was red when held to the light.  I can also see lots of it that had run down in between the inside of the bearing and the shaft.  I have a press, would that be the safest way to press the shaft out of the bearing ?  But there is no way to support the inside bearing ring if the shaft is pressed out because of the hub in the way.  Not sure if that's the way to dissassemble it normally anyway...   What would you suggest ?

  Thanks,

  Steve.

ANSWER: That is true that there is no way to grip the bearing race at this time and the inner race is tight on the shaft. So you need to support the caliper mounting hub as squarely as possible and press the shaft out. This will get the one bearing off and once the shaft is out you can fit your bearing adapter to pull the second bearing off the shaft.

The bearings are tight on the shaft anyway and with all the lock-tight on it, some of it is probably making the first bearing race hard to come off.

You might try jigging up the caliper mounting hub and then hit the end of the shaft with a lead hammer or, I have just put a block of aluminum on the end of the shaft and hit the aluminum block with a ball peen hammer so as not to damage the end of the shaft. If it don't come off that way you need to jig it up in the press and press it out.

Howard

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Howard,

  I ended up pressing the shaft out, I could hear the threadlocker cracking as I did.  As it turned out, I didn't need to be so concerned because the bearings were pretty bad anyway so I am replacing them. Interesting that the inner most bearing was the worst but I thought it would have gotten the best lubrication being closer to the diff.  My question now is, I am driving a new bearing on the shaft - it will be the outer bearing, it's a tight interference fit, it's inside the caliper mounting bracket now since you have to put the oil seal in place over it.  I'm wondering how far I need to drive it ?  There didn't appear to be any shoulder for it to rest on on the shaft and if I drive it too far the flange bolt heads will hit the caliper mounting bracket.  When I tighten the big nut to set up the pre load will it position the bearings correctly on the shaft or should I drive it down to where it was before I took it apart - a few millimeters clearance between the bolt heads and the caliper mounting bracket ?   I'm sure this also affects the wheel alignment...

  Second question - To set up the preload on the bearings I took a bar of steel and drilled 2 holes to match the bolts in the flange that holds the rotor .  I didn't have one long enough for 8 inches so I'm going to hang a 2 lb weight exactly 4 inches from the center of the flange when X & Y dimensions are level - that should be ok for 8 inch pounds ?

  Final question - I was thinking of removing the diff back plate to clean it out and replace the gasket - can I do that or will it upset something in the diff ?

  Sorry for so many questions !  Thanks again Howard,

  Steve.

Answer
Are you replacing both bearings or just the bad one? and you do have a new crush sleeve, correct?

I found it is no use guessing why one bearing goes bad and another does not. Although I like to replace both bearings when one goes out, but not always.

I would pull the cover if for no other reason then to inspect everything and clean out any metal that may be in there.

Howard