Hi My name is Anthony and I have a 1990 Blazer, Full Size, 4x4, AT,5.7L and the front driver-side outer-bearing is toast. I took the hub and spindle nuts off to replace the bearings, but I can't seem to get the assembly off. I may be wrong, but I thought the spindle nuts are what keep the hub assembly and rotor from falling off, which leads me to believe that the inner race of the outer bearing is fuzed to the spindle.

I have tried everything except localizing heat to the inner race in order to expand it, and my next step after that will be to break out the plasma cutter.

Any Ideas........? (I attatched some pics) I am stumped

 

I have a similar issue, I even had smoke today though... Yours is awesome compared to mine. Burnt black grease, my bearing disintegrated, my hub is also froze and I had to destroy my inner nut... If I get mine out, I'll post..

 

I GOT IT OUT!!! Wooo Hooo! So its much simpler than I expected, but it takes a lot of patience.

First I heated the bearing with MAP gas. Make sure it gets good and hot, this is important. Have a few wedges handy that you can really pound on and not break. Knock the lug nut studs in and use the space between the hub and the motor as your wedging territory. The studs may seem like they're in the way, but they actually act as a guide for the wedges and they help to keep the wedges in place as you switch from side to side.

I had a hard time finding a wedge like chisel that I could really pound on... but I found one. I used two ball bearing separators. It worked like a charm.

Now, the most important part I the patience part... after you heat the bearing, just keep working those wedges in between the hub and the motor. What you are trying to do is create a lot of pressure against the bearing so it pops off when its ready. Now, the bearing is expanded and won't move right away. While you are pounding on the wedges and creating pressure, the bearing is cooling down. It's going to cool down to the perfect temperature where the bearing is going the start to budge; this is the moment you've been waiting for. Better be quick, because you only have a window of about 2-3 minutes before you gotta start all over... so give it hell! If this doesn't work you should light a match, call your insurance, then go buy a Ford..........



Hahaha! Just kidding. I hope the Chevy Gods don't punish me for that one.

 

Good to hear. Mine was a little more fun. Ended up cutting off the part of the hub, to get at the bearing which fused itself to the the spindle and hub. My bearings were melted to the point they were solid, nothing moved. Chiseled the heck out of them, they are hard after the solidify, so I also used the grinder here for much the cutting. Pulled a replacement spindle and hub from a m1009 axle, cleaned everything, packed new bearings, and installed. Now, even after bleeding the brakes, my pedal goes to the floor when braking.

 

That's no good! I had to take my 2000 into get the front bearings done was easier than letting the guys take a whack at it, so I understand your pain. But they didn't get off scott free- total overhaul the next day on all four brakes including testing and replacing any wheel cylinders. Sent it into the dealership to reset and check the ABS sensor. Total bill with parts and labor was about 1200$