rear wheel bearings

[fordsohc46]

i am replacing the rear wheel bearings on my bronco. in the manual it says to drill a hole in the retainer ring and knock of with a chisel then press the old bearing off and the new bearing on. this procedure ruins the retainer ring. do i need to buy a new retainer ring or is the new bearing retained on the axle by pressing it on. thanks in advance for the help. also do i have to have a gasket between the axle housing and the axle retainer plate. the book shows one but there wasnt one on there when i tore it down.

 

[Justshootme84]

When you get a new set of bearings, it should include the new retainer ring, bearing and race, and the outer seal. I don't have the part # at the moment, but I recently bought a pair from O'reilly's Auto Parts for my 79 F-150 4x4. It's quickest to cut the old race off with a torch, as you'll need a really good bit to drill into the retainer. In any case, it takes about 30-40 tons of pressure from a hydraulic press to seat the new seal, bearing and ret.ring onto the axle. I had a friend do my 79 axles for me at his garage. You'll also need to use a slide hammer to pull the old bearing race out of the axle tube, then a seal/bearing driver to install the new race. There is no gasket used for the retainer plate on the 78/79 afaik. Good luck, JSM84