Wheel bearing race driver for trailer hubs?

Every year I must replace a minimum of 2 sets of bearings and races on the hubs of my boat trailer. To get the races out I have used screwdrivers punches pipe etc. sometimes it works but they usually shatter not fun and yes I’m going circular. I found some bearing race drivers never knew they made them would this work on trailer hubs? can you get the flat piece of driver past the outer race to get to the back of the old one? looked like a good deal at around 40 bucks I would only need one size for 1 1/16 bearings or any better ideas.

.

If this is what you mean by “race drivers” I was told by several mechanic mentors of mine that these tools were for the installation of the races only.

As you wrote, while you could use them to drive out one race, you can’t get them past one race to drive out the other as is the case with wheel bearings.

IK think the tool you want is just a good taper punch of the right size. I’m not sure what size I use, but one of the taper punches in my set has a thin end that sits really well right on top of the race edge, so it has a good angle for driving it out.

Grouse

I use a welder to take races out, put a bead on the face of the race and it about drops out, and if it doesn’t you have something to hit on. To drive them in I grind off the OD a little and use that as a driver. Easy peasy.

That helps and explains it it’s for putting them in I thought both. I do many short trips some water gets in no matter what they don’t get hot enough to burn the water out. I will be using Red and Tacky when I put them away this fall I was looking for an easier way of knocking them out. To put them in I took an old race ground it down put an old bearing in it pound it down over the new race with a socket seats it great and the old race falls out.

They do make them. There are a few different styles. Just Google Bearing Race Removal Tool and a handful of various types pop up.

Attachments:

1. 

   images-1.jpeg
   

2. 

   979453k1.jpg
   

munchy wrote:

They do make them. There are a few different styles. Just Google Bearing Race Removal Tool and a handful of various types pop up.

Do you have that split type, Munchy, or seen them used? Are you able to slip those by the outer bearing race while it’s still in place to drive out the inner bearing race on a trailer hub?

I have seen those split tools but had trouble seeing how they would solve the problem of trailer bearings because of the need to get past once race to drive out the far side. Can those split types get into position?

Grouse

Just replace the whole hub and don’t mess with it.

I assume you have a common trailer – for my old Shorelander the whole assembly was like $32. Way easier and still low cost.

I use race drivers to install new races. I use a 1 inch Dia. Brass bar and a BFH to remove races.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Are you able to slip those by the outer bearing race while it’s still in place to drive out the inner bearing race on a trailer hub?

That is how they work in a perfect world. Sometimes the unmachined rough casting is off center enough , that the shoulder won’t allow the second half to seat into place against the race being driven out.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Do you have that split type, Munchy, or seen them used? Are you able to slip those by the outer bearing race while it’s still in place to drive out the inner bearing race on a trailer hub?

I have seen those split tools but had trouble seeing how they would solve the problem of trailer bearings because of the need to get past once race to drive out the far side. Can those split types get into position?

Grouse

I do not. I haven’t replaced a race or bearing on my trailers in 20 years. No idea why others have so many issues. Fill them with grease and be done, every few uses push out some of the old grease until it starts looking clean again. No need to overthink it. Check the hub every stop to make sure they aren’t heating up, never an issue.

Oh boy, did I ever think about this thread today. The boat I bought this summer was well taken care of, and the trailer is nice, but I think the previous owner didn’t do much bearing maintenance. So, I started the morning thinking I’d replace the seals and repack the bearings. Soon, I realized my day would be much longer than I anticipated. After being gouged at NAPA, some swearing, and some blood, I now have new grease, seals, races, and bearings in all 4 hubs. Ish.

I find a punch and hammer works pretty well to get them out. Getting the new ones in is the bigger PITA for me. I hope I don’t have to do this again for quite a while, but I’ll definitely invest in a race driving tool next time. Today, I cut an old race in half and used that to hammer the new ones in. It worked, but I wouldn’t call it ideal.