As my new summer tyres arrived for my spare set of V4S wheels, Which I plan on getting powdercoated, I decided to put some effort into getting the stiff to turn wheel bearings out (and cush drive bushes) . As I've mentioned on other threads my bearings appeared crusty and difficult to turn, pulling these out was a challenge as there were crusty rust deposits in the wheel bearing wells (under where the outer oil seals were) . It looks like the outer seals were fitted at factory without any grease so the inner springs in each seal had corroded severely due to water ingress (over about 3Kmiles) which means a rusty watery mess was held by the seals against the bearings outer seals and due to rotation found its way into the inners races. Some of that had got through the bearings inner seals as there were rust deposits on the inside of the wheel bearing seats /inner bearing faces. As an FYI the V4S bearings are :- Rear 6006DU (C3? -not marked ) Front 6005DU C3 (marked as C3) . The rears on my wheels are NSK China origin and fronts NSK Japan origin. Once cleaned up the front bearings feel smooth to turn but the removal process will have likely marred the balls/races so will need replacing regardless, the rears are noticeably gritty to turn. PS getting the rear cush rubbers out was easier than pulling the bearings and my chinesium bearing puller is now toast (amazon jobbie) as the main puller threads galled up with the forces needed to extract (lots of heat was used to warm/expand the wheels bearing seats to aid extraction).
I'd got a spare set of wheels to get them done in a colour of my choosing and to have sportier rubber fitted (on a whim) . The Spares were in better nick than my originals & had new oem tyres so originals are being powdercoated which needs the bearings removed so CBA given the costs arent much for new bearings /and nearest dealer is across the country these days so would cost me as much in fuel (given me cars are thirsty!) to drop off & pick up and having to ask to not fit new bearings just supply ( as removal for powder coat isnt kind to the races/balls) etc blah blah, basically too much of a hassle to arrange.
