So, after walking Bob in the rain this morn and getting my son sorted out for the new term the rain suddenly stopped, and it brightened up, so I put the RB up on some ramps:
... it is useful to jack up one rear wheel and put it on an axle stand as well so the prop shaft can be turned by hand.
The rear flange came off easily (4 x 9/16" nuts and bolts), but then I'd had it off the car only a few weeks ago, it is a good idea to leave one bolt in loosely so it doesn't fall:
It is a good idea to lever the little rubber cone backwards off its seat before pulling out the drive shaft rather allowing the splines to pull through it (and risk tearing):
Next I dropped down the bracket that holds the bearing to the body (4 x 12mm bolts) and lowered it down onto a toolbox so the rear shaft pulls out (you may remember I'd marked the alignment of the shaft throughout with yellow paint previously):
… I noticed this job has been done previously (not surprising in 40 years) because the pressed steel flange at the front has been bent in the exactly the same places as required by my puller to fit (I straightened it out at the end of the job):
A 4" puller is a tight fit, and as you may see I had to zip tie it in place while I got everything lined up, and used a large socket as a spacer. The guy who did the job last time (maybe decades ago) obviously had the same issue, hence the flange.
The bearing came off easily enough, and all in one piece. It wasn't grumbling much, just not quite as silky smooth as the new one. A word of caution, there is nothing special about this bearing, it isn't made specially for Volvo, it is just a normal common or garden 6007-RS that can be bought cheaply from any machine factor. I say that because I see plenty of them being advertised online for £25 and more as genuine parts, but will be identical to the one I got for £4 in a plain box from a machine parts factor in Northants.
A 35mm socket (the one that fits most motorbike gearbox sprocket nuts - hence I have one) is the perfect tool to drive the new bearing on straight and true. Stop hammering when one gets the metallic sound:
Nearly done, the new bearing was on and I straightened out the pressed flange to keep the weather out (that is all it does):
Having cleaned up and had a good look at the old rubber doughnut, I'm pretty sure it would have been fine to put back on the car. I'd already bought a replacement though, a high quality URO part that was a little stiffer than the old Volvo one (possibly due to its age). I soaked it is hot water (about 70C) for about 10 minutes while I took a break for a cuppa and it went on very easily:
The rest was just buttoning up and the exact reverse of disassembly. I put a bit of bearing grease on the splines and they went in easily. Remember to replace the rear rubber boot in its groove and use the paint marks to re-align the shaft in its original configuration to avoid balance issues.
The old bearing wasn't too bad, but I'm glad I changed it, and the whole job cost less than £20 in parts (but a couple of weeks of toing and froing with suppliers to get the right ones (see the previous post, I'm guessing Volvo had lots of different parts suppliers):
I suppose the whole job only took about 45 minutes and required no special skills or tools - but a garage might have charged more than £100.
I've just taken the RB out for a spin - all is well and there is one less noise from under the car (there is nothing wrong, just everything is 40 years old).
:-)