Type 44 rear suspension parts interchange - update

[Dave C]

Hi everyone,

I replaced the wheel bearing, but didn't do it on the car in two hours ...
:-)  It turned into an all day job.

I removed the bearing from the car and used a press, or more accurately,
Nick used his press ... thanks Nick!  I took a stab at doing it on the car
since I have the Schley too kit.  I soon realized that requires dropping the
skid plate and completely removing the axle shaft.

After getting the housing on the bench I found the inner circlip barely
visible under thick corrosion and spent about two hours coaxing it out.
After pressing out the hub an outer circlip was revealed, even more
thoroughly seized than the first.  Removing this circlip was also a
struggle.  I can't imagine how I would have removed the inner circlip with
the housing still mounted on the car.

I believe there are pros who could do this job in two hours, on the car,
although I don't know if that allows for the 25 year accumulation of rust on
this car's hub.  I would love to watch a pro do that ... I imagine I would
learn a lot.

Dave C


On Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 1:45 AM, frank j. bauer <frankbauer at thevine.net>wrote:

> the following reply is not specific to your bearing housing:
> in general, the 2nd and 3rd group of "numbers" (505 432A) define the part
> and the 1st group (443/4A0) define the platform.
> aamof that is the preferred sort order for parts lists.
> quite often i have had in hand otherwise identical parts that differed only
> in the 1st 3 digits.
> ymmv...
>
> iirc specifically for the bearing housing, there was an early change due to
> slight differences in the suspension design.
> i think this change occurred between 86 & 87.
> you might be able to verify this on ETKA.
> almost 15 years ago i did a suspension upgrade and complete rebuild on a
> grey market 86 tqw, so i had that completely apart and was expert at the
> time.
> i remember there being a few parts that were not interchangeable throughout
> that range.
>
> btw the t44 rear suspension is a sophisticated design.
>
> frank
>
>
> Dave C wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>>
>> I have a bad wheel bearing in the rear of my 87 5ktq and want to replace
>> it
>> ASAP due to a planned trip a few days from now.  I thought it was tire
>> noise, but learned today it is a failing bearing, and pretty far gone.  So
>> I'm considering my options.
>>
>> I don't have a replacement bearing on hand, and time is short.
>>
>> But I do have a complete rear suspension from an 89 200Q, with good
>> bearings, and wonder if I could swap the wheel bearing housing from it
>> onto
>> my 87.  ETKA shows different part numbers for the bearing housings which
>> raises an obvious question about whether this would work.
>>
>> For the 87 it's 443 505 432A
>> For the 89 it's 4A0 505 432A
>>
>> Does anyone know if these can be interchanged?
>>
>
>