# Pulling Pilot Bearing



## bobo60 (Nov 13, 2007)

*hi,*

*if u dont have a bearing puller, how could you extract a pilot bearing from the end of a crankshaft, without damaging the crankshaft?*

*bob*


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## PK. (Nov 12, 2007)

I used to fill the hole with grease, stick a wooden dowel in the hole and smack it with a heavy hammer. The grease will push the bearing out.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

> I used to fill the hole with grease, stick a wooden dowel in the hole and smack it with a heavy hammer. The grease will push the bearing out.


Ayuh,......

That's My 1st Choice,............

2nd would be Welding a bead around the inside circumference,+ shrinking it out..........


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## blthomas (Dec 5, 2007)

PK. said:


> I used to fill the hole with grease, stick a wooden dowel in the hole and smack it with a heavy hammer. The grease will push the bearing out.


Used this with great success myself, recommend it be tried. :thumbsup:


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## bobo60 (Nov 13, 2007)

*hi,*

*thanks for all the info. i tried using grease, but it wouldnt work. i think because i had the bearing all distorted from trying to pry it out. i rented a puller, and it came right out!*

*bob*


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## oldgoat (Aug 17, 2005)

At work when we need to remove bushings we fill them with clay instead of grease. Not as messy plus you can take the plug of clay and re use it on the next bushing.


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## Den69RS96 (Mar 2, 2007)

I guess the grease method relies on pressue. You must fill the entire area behind the bushing with grease and then stick a dowel or old input shaft in. The pressure forces the bearing out a little. remove the dowel and add more grease and repeat. Uses a lot of grease. i think I might try the clay method next time. Last year, I had my neighbor weld a large screw (it was an old body mount bolt from a 69 camaro) onto a old dent puller. Since the bushings are soft, I threaded the screw into the bushing and a few pulls and it came out. This won't work for a roller bearing though.


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## bobo60 (Nov 13, 2007)

*hello,*

*come to think of it. when i was around 19yrs old, i swapped an engine out of my '67 chevy, stick, and put it in a '69 chevy with auto tranny, and had to remove the pilot bushing from the 67' engine. my uncle used a heavy duty tap, screwed it into the brass bushing and clamped visegrips on the square shank of the tap and tapped it out with a hammer...bob*


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## HotRodx10 (Aug 24, 2017)

I was all set to look for a dowel or rod the same size as the bushing, pump it full of grease and try to remove it that way. I didn't really want to worry about getting all the grease back out, so I experimented a little and created my own puller.


I took a regular old flat washer about the same outside diameter as the outside diameter of the bushing (using the new one to measure), then I ground it into an oval so it would fit through the inside of the bushing diagonally with a small bolt in it. I added a smaller washer and a nut to the small bolt and inserted in through the bushing. Once it was through the bushing, when I pulled it back, the oval washer laid flat against the back of the bushing, and I was able to pull it with a crowbar prying against the head of the bolt. The whole process took only about 20 minutes.


Not sure how it would work for a pilot bearing, but it worked like a charm for the bushing.


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## ukrkoz (Dec 31, 2010)

Unless you live somewhere real wild, puller rental is free in any parts store. I get the humor of trying all kinds of home made remedies but why?


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

Also, depending on your engine, the grease method may not work. LS1 engines for example have a freeze plug in the back of the crank that can get pushed in by the grease pressure.


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

ukrkoz said:


> Unless you live somewhere real wild, puller rental is free in any parts store. I get the humor of trying all kinds of home made remedies but why?



Grease and a socket was never a really "homemade" fix. Its how they did it back in the day. Works like a champ, but a puller is easier.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

Sometimes, old habits are hard to break. For those of us who started tinkering in the 60's and even the 70's, with tinkering meaning having to get the car running that night because we needed it to get to work the next morning, and no such thing as late night auto parts stores unless you happened to know the owner and they were willing to make a special trip in to open up for you, those "homemade remedies" were of necessity. And many of them work so what's wrong with using what you have learned and moving forward. I'm not somewhere "real wild", but the closest independent auto parts stores generally close at 6:00 during the week, 4:00 Saturdays, and closed Sundays. If I went to the nearest of the chain stores that stay open later, and all went exactly right, walked in the store, nobody ahead of me, got what I needed immediately, about two hours would have passed by the time I got back home, and if it was a tool I'd still have the return trip. Call me a hick or whatever if you want, but I'm going to continue to use some of those homemade remedies when it's of no consequence.


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

I learned the technique using sandwich bread, rather than the grease or clay. But they all work the similarly. 

I think the sandwich bread is the easiest clean up.


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

I used wet toilet paper on my old Mustang.


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