try a long lever ...

Hi all - late night advice requested.

Spent the most of the afternoon and early evening removing my 2001 986S axles and replacing with new ones (boots shot and CVs going).

Noticed that the RR bearing was going as well (I had suspected this from noise and had an independent shop assess it).

Being a cheap b*stard, I decided to do all this work myself. All went well until I got to the point that I can actually remove the right rear wheel bearing carrier.

This next image is of one of the two ball joints I have to remove in order to remove the bearing carrier.


Here's the second:


Finally, I have to unclamp the carrier/sway bar from the strut:


Pelican suggests that I need a special tool or pickle bar to separate the ball joints:



I don't see any way to separate the ball joints without a pickle bar or the tool mentioned above. Anyone know a solution? I plan to take this carrier into my local independent shop and have them replace the bearing for me on Monday.

Any advice on how to finish this removal quite welcome - it's been frustrating to get so far and be held up for the absence of a tool. I'm going to head to O'Reilly's tomorrow AM and see if they will sell/rent me such a tool.

cheers,
Stefan in Seattle

i have no experience, but the reality is that you need to pry them apart. So i'd figure that some form of pry bar and fulcrum should work. Big screwdriver along with another to be a fulcrum?

Uhh.....


you may be heading to your FLAPS tomorrow.

Grant



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2011 09:57AM by grant. (view changes)

I would definitely go for the ball joint removal tool (as shown in your picture). I have gotten them off with a pickle fork borrowed from a local auto parts shop but it is tough to get it done without damaging the boot.

I don't think you will be able to get it off without one of those two tools. They are super stubborn.

Also, you might put a little PB blaster on and let set.
It takes a lot of force even with the special tool (Harbor Freight has them - but in black

The emergency brake cable is a trick also - loosen from the inside of cabin first (another Porsche puzzle - those German engineers)

Take care,

Roy Turner
Phoenix, AZ
2002 Boxster S Cobalt/Blk/Blk

Harbor Freight carries the tool shown by Pelican. Not very expensive.

Ed B

under the frame or the main portion of the suspension and.....

or -- I don't really recommend this ... put a nut on halfway and hit with a hammer. Perhaps put a block of wood on top. In either case, it depends upon how much of an emergency it is.

I would rent one of the press tools seen in picture. They are basically free at Autozone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2011 03:17PM by JMstamford,ct. (view changes)

From Harbor Freight. A little work with a bench grinder and it fit decently enough to separate the two ball joints and I removed the carrier this evening.

What a relief.

The bearing is toast as I suspected.

Anyone know a good shop to install a new bearing in the Bellevue area? I suspect Barrier Porsche would be very expensive.

I've found FAG and Timken bearings for about $50 each - I gather both are OEM. I want to make sure not to cheap out on a bearing after all this work so I'm looking for a shop that would have an OEM or Porsche bearing in stock.

I've found "Chris's German" in Bellevue (Washington) but I cannot find any reviews of them.

Anyone local know anything about them?

I would default to Gerber Motorsport in Seattle but they are a bit of a roundtrip from work and I hope to get this done during the work day (I'm in Redmond).

cheers,
Stefan

I went to harbor freight and bought a 12 ton press and do them myself... local shop wanted $35 to R&R each bearing. Buying the press I saved money and now have a press in my basement.

IMHO -- you might want to take the time to go over to see Johnny Walker if you haven't been there yet
www.johnwalkersworkshop.com

...just an outsider's opinion

Roy Turner
Phoenix, AZ
2002 Boxster S Cobalt/Blk/Blk

Didn't even try. Last time I talked to him he wouldn't work on the suspension on my Boxster - 'cause it was watercooled.

So I went to Gerber, and now Chris's German. I understand not working on water-cooled motors but not suspensions?

cheers,
Stefan

Either bearing should be fine. FAG and Timken are reputable manufacturers.

Ed B

...Add an oil filter and crush rings to get over $50 and you have free shipping!

dghii
2000 Boxster S 6speed 112k miles

you could remover uthe adjustment bolt out of the other end "after you mark the position". then remove the carrier and take it out to a machine shop and preess out the joint

dghii
2000 Boxster S 6speed 112k miles