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Saw a guy in Columbus pull a wheel bearing with a torch and a chisel, is that normal around here?
Was at a shop over on the west side of Columbus helping a buddy pick up his truck, and I watched one of their techs pull a front wheel bearing off a 2011 Malibu using nothing but an oxy torch and a big flat chisel. No press, no slide hammer, no bearing puller set. He just cut into the race, popped the chisel in the seam, and wailed on it until the whole thing came apart. Took him maybe 8 minutes and the knuckle was still fine. I have been turning wrenches for 14 years and I always grab the press or rent a puller kit, so watching that made me feel like I have been doing it the slow way this whole time. I asked him about galling the bore and he said he has done it this way for two decades and never had a comeback on it. The torch marks on the spindle kind of bugged me but he just wire brushed it and sent it. So is this a regional thing or just a shortcut for flat rate guys? Curious what the rest of you think, would you run one like that?
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jennifermurphy2d ago
Man I have seen old timers do this exact thing and it still blows my mind every time. Had a guy at a shop in Dayton torch a bearing off a Trailblazer while eating a sandwich, thing came off in 5 minutes and he never looked up. I still drag out the press like a sucker but hey, flat rate is flat rate.
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