Repacking the Bearings

Hey Campers,

This project was quite simple but with that being said it was also filled with a bunch of headaches. Simply because our Airstream had been sitting for a while before we bought it, and we came across some minor troubles that we had to fix before we could finish the project. This project should only take a few hours if done properly, but for us, with time being limited as well as hunting down parts, took us a few hours over a couple of days. The point of this blog is to show our mistakes and how we overcame them, as well as hopefully helping someone out there in the same circumstance.

So, to get started, lets go over budgeting, tools and consumables needed.

First, everyone’s favorite thing, money. This project cost us about $45 overall. Based on location, availability of parts, etc the $45 was for things we actually needed to buy. I will include prices for each item that we bought. ** Note we are not counting the 1st bearing packer we bought in the total price.**

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Let’s talk tools needed:

📷 Breaker Bar

📷 Torch Wrench

📷 Proper sized socket

📷 Extender for the Breaker bar

📷 Grease seal Puller ($13.99 at Oreillys Auto store)

📷 Rubber mallet

📷 Barring Packer ( we ended up buying 2, **review up now**

o Cheaper one was $7.99 (we did not like it, as it broke after the 1st bearing and so we didn’t actually finish that day. The second time we bought the $29.99 which we love, and will have a review up soon. Both also bought at Oreillys) *edit both reviews are up*

📷 Impact wrench

📷 Air compressor/ hose and nozzle to blow out tires (we had a lot of cobwebs and debris)

📷 Wrench for Castle nuts

📷 Work area to keep the parts clean and free of dirt

Consumables

📷 Inner grease seal

📷 Cotter pins

📷 Grease ($6 at Oreillys, we bought 2 tubes but only used 1. (The GREEN one))

📷 Large roll of shop towels, or paper towels in our case

📷 Rubber gloves

📷 Brake cleaner ($5 Oreillys, we bought 2 cans and noted you might need more than 2 cans)

📷 Whiskey (something good and smooth, no ice…. Yes, obviously this is a joke.. 😊 but we are really liking the #Jameson Black Barrel )

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Instructions based on how we did our #Repacking

Note this is how we did it, we are not responsible for any mishaps that fall upon you. We are simply sharing our experience and how we know how to do it. Everyone learns differently and that needs to be noted when doing this project. You also have the choice of sending it to a professional, however we both have experience working on vehicles and this is how we learned. 😊

Steps will be noted by Bullet points 😊

Ø Remove the lug nuts and the wheel, You will need jack stands (basically take the tire off the way you would to replace the tire.)
Ø Remove the #dust cap, best done by prying it off with a Flathead screwdriver.

Ø Remove the #cotter pin, You will do this by straightening the ends of the pin and then pulling it out with pliers

Ø Remove the Hub, Remove the retraining nut and washer, then pull the hub off of the spindle #CAREFULLY, the bearings will come out of the hub, and then set them on your clean work space.

Ø Remove he bearing #seal, you will have to tap on rim of the bearing with a rubber mallet and a block of wood (it just makes it easier). Clean all the #grease from the bearings, and the seal. Inspect them and make sure they aren’t broken or scratched up. Once they are cleaned off put hem on your clean work space. Make sure to remove all the grease. I found it was easiest to get them really clean by rolling it over the towels, letting the grease from inside move outwards and onto the towels.
Ø Pack the bearings with grease. We used #LucasOil (as we are both familiar with this version) This is where you will use the grease packer, if you want you can also do it by hand but make sure that the entire bearing gets coated, #INSIDE and #OUT.

Ø Reassemble the Hub, exactly the way you took it apart, it all fits together. Make sure to use a new cotter pin, they aren’t made for multiple uses. In our opinion it is just best to replace them, they are extremely cheap.

In all, the entire project was pretty #simple, you just have to be patient and pay attention to the details.

Most of our #headaches came from not having all of the items we needed, from running into small problems that prevented us from finishing the project.

Also, side note: We searched for a good few days before we found the seals we needed. That picture with part numbers is included for ease of reference. We ended up buying them from our local tractor supply store. We got them for $10, less than #amazon and the auto stores we have in town, that we would have had to order in. Later on, during the week while we were looking for quick disconnects for the battery terminals, we found them in our local #ACE store (much to our dismay, and after I was done cursing the stores we looked in before, we noted that parts number as well for future use. **picture included below**)

Hopefully this helps someone, if anything gives you a point of reference for part numbers.

😊

-The Whitten's-

1978 Airstream Couch Renovation

 Our #AirStream couch #renovation, update was a SUCCESS!

We decided that since the aluminum frame was in very good shape, that we would keep the design and would just make it more durable.

We are doing all of the work ourselves, and will update and add comments as much as possible in hopes of helping others who are wanting to do the same, as well as being truthful and upfront will you all in regards to budgeting and how much projects like this one cost. With that being said each project will have an estimated amount spent, tools and consumables needed as well as instructions based on how we did things (yes- this includes the screw ups and re-doing of things after we found a better way to do them.)

So...

COME ALONG AND LETS GET THIS DONE!

For this #project we spent about $150 for equipment needed as well as things we did not have like the wonderful rivet gun we bought.

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First, Math:

* Wood- $30 ( we were fortunate enough to be able to go and get as much wood as we could scrap from a local place in Fallon Nevada, where we were currently stationed.)

*Metal ware-$80 (all of the rivets, screws, chains, brackets, etc)

*Stain/ Wood Sealer $20- (we already had some that would help to protect the wood)

Next, the Consumables:

* Rivets (we used 3/16th size)

*Plywood

^^^ note: we would of rather used Cedar wood, but with where we are located and availability we did not have this choice and that is why we used plywood, and just sealed it for protection.^^^

*Screws (assorted sizes)

*Assorted Brackets (we used Flat)

*Chains (to add stability to the couch)

*D Rings

*Flat clasps

*Hooks and connecting equipment

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Finally, the tools:

* #RivetGun (review post up now)

*Drill/Drill bits

*Pliers

*Circular saw

*Carpenter Pencils (in our case we had sharpies)

*Phillips head screw/ or bit for the drill

*Hammer

*Carpenters square

*Large straight edge

*Eye/Ear protection (duh- of course, SAFETY FIRST!)

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#Instructions for the build:

First, we cut the wood to size, we did 6 squares total so that each piece could slide into its slot and be held by the frame itself.

Our Square pieces ended up being 20d x 22 1/8w.

Once we had all the pieces cut we checked to make sure that they all fit, unfortunately since the frame was hand made it was off by a little, but just enough to make us have to trim down our wood a few times to get it just right. ( minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.)

Next, we lined up all of the brackets for the bottom half of the couch, and started to rivet the brackets on the edges that would touch the metal frame. We ended up needing to put smaller pieces of wood under the brackets themselves on the wood side to keep the wood and frame touching, because our plywood was just tad bit thin.

From there we just riveted the wood to the frame, and continued the whole process until it was done.

^^^Side note (we had a batch of really shi**y rivets and had to keep redoing them so we recommend getting an extra box of them just in case. ( we ended up going through 120 rivets) ^^^also note that if you can get bigger boxes of them DO IT!, because we ended up spending more getting the smaller batches of 15 count because they didn't have the 50 or 100 count boxes in the ones we needed.^^^

In the end it was a pretty straightforward project. The last thing for this to make it #100 done will be to make the new #cushioncovers but other than that I say it was a pretty good start to our #airstream #fulltimeliving #journey :)

-The Whitten’s-