1955-64 Chevy Rear Axle Bearing Installation

The rear axle bearings that are used on a 1955 to 1964 are a “press- on” style ball bearing. The bearing supports the axle in the rear end housing and also serves as the seal and axle retainer. An O-ring around the outside of the bearing seals to the rear end housing, while a lip seal is located on the outside face of the bearing that keeps rear end lube inside the housing. When an axle bearing starts to leak (usually because the bearing cage is disintegrating) the rear end lube will ruin the rear brake shoes. If the bearing becomes loose, it will start to roar and possibly ruin the axle and/or rear end housing. In this article we will show the proper way to remove and install new rear axle bearings.

Alfa Romeo 156 Brake Replacement

The procedure below was written up for a 1998 2.0 Twinspark with vented front discs but should be the same for all 156 models. The shape of the pads will differ between vented and solid discs at the front. Later models have larger rear discs and therefore different pads. It should not matter if we are talking standard brakes with normal or drilled/grooved discs with high-speed road pads - the process is the same. The only difference is that some front pads don’t have the wear indicator so you will need to tie the cable back out of the way if not required.