jankyrre

The old rear bearings are RW-507-C.
RA is listing National RW-507-CR for a -68 442.The inner and outer diameters are correct,but the width is 1,3" it says.The width on the old bearings are 0,7".
Wonder if the 1,3" width include the retainer ring,or if the listing is wrong.
Hope somebody can help me.

Nasty455

I would take the bearing with you to a local bearing distributor.
They will match you up with a correct bearing.

jankyrre

Hard to find a UNC bolt in these part of the world,bearings even worse.
Have to order from the US.

66luvr

Fusick lists rear bearings, call them and see if they can help.
www.fusick.com

droldsmorland

Also Google BDI...(bearing distributors inc). Have the part numbers and a set of good digital (or analog) calipers handy. Call them dont email. I realize its an international call for you but speaking to someone about this is critical. Why you ask? Because you need to insist that you get USA or German or Japan made bearings. Yes Japan has come up to standards in most cases. Not sure this bearing application exists in Japanese anyway. Stay clear of china! I repeat stay clear of chineasium junk unless you like to do this twice.
Another tip. Pop the inner seal out of the bearing and slightly over fill the axle. This will allow oil to splash into the bearing and keep it alive longer then relying on the factory grease.

Fun71

How would that work on a '68 O-Type rear? The seal is pressed into the end of the axle tube and the bearing is on the outside, so how would the oil reach the bearing?

droldsmorland

Humm let me think and write….It’s been many years since I have broken open an 8.5 “O” type. Yes the oil seal is on the inside of the bearing. Now that I’m thinking harder I may have filled the area between the bearing and seal with high temp grease along with removing the inner bearing seal (street car). Let me detail…
I was having a hard time keeping bearings alive in an O type rear in a 68, 442 that saw track duty. This problem was solved by enhancing the lube to the outer bearing asm. We did try the method I mentioned by leaving the seal out and over filling the pumpkin on the track car. We RTV’d (or maybe this was before RTV so permatex) the hell out of the OD of the bearing where it inserts into the tube, the axle bearing interface as we pressed the bearing on and the outside face of the bearing. This actually worked for a while (full season if memory serves) but enough juice leaked out that it contaminated the rear shoes. So that’s when we tried the grease packing idea between the oil seal & bearing with the inner bearing seal removed. This worked rather well.
I currently have a 68 with about 50K and counting on a "new" set of bearings packed with high temp grease and the inner seal removed without issue. We were not able to get longevity out of the bearings on the track until we did the mods. We were thinking of swapping to a Chevy with a clip eliminator but we never did as this method did the trick for the O. We did not replace a bearing in it for 3-4 seasons after this mod.
So there you have it from an old racers memory. We also had the pleasure of dealing with China bearings in this application around 1983-85ish. We had two that completely blew apart on launch. One actually fractured the case sent shrapnel everywhere and almost blew the outer retainer off the 4 bolts, thankfully the wheel stayed on. Never had one USA bearing come apart from poor materials, abuse yes.

Fun71

Thanks for the detailed info. I couldn't figure out how opening the bearing helped anything but the extra grease in there is a nifty idea.

507OLDS

The 67-69 Cutlass/442 12-bolt O-axle takes the RW-507-CR axle bearings,and the 8594S axle tube seals. The Vista Cruisers are different in 1969,but not sure about 68.
In 1970,the O-axle went to the SET-9 axle bearing with the 712146 seal,for the Cutlass/442,and the Vista Cruiser got the SET-10.

jankyrre

Thank you.

I found a set of RW-507-CR here in Norway,got them to measure it too.
Seems right.

Those retainer rings were a pain to get off.
The manual said to nick(?) it with a chisel 3-4 places,and it would come straight off.Didn't work out well for me.

monzaz

Yah right... NICK it. That never works. We take a cut off wheel or grinder to weaken the ring. Chisel. RIGHT....

Jim
JD

droldsmorland

If its not too late use the hot/cold method when installing the new bearing it will go on in a snap, may not even need the press. Its easier on everything using this method...
Another tip is to gently pull the seals and clean out the factory installed grease. Then hand pack a high quality grease meant for the application along with the back packing method I mentioned earlier and reinstall the outer seal. Sometimes the bearings will have sat on the shelf for who knows how long and the grease may have hardened or is just old.

jankyrre

image.jpg

The main reason I pulled the axels,do it look correct?
Need new wires too,don't want to put on old rusty stuff

Sorry,the picture is upside down.