Lower Stem Bearing Removal Vintage

Tim, I would use a press. you press the steering stem out thru the bottom of the lower clamp.Then, press the stem back in. A local machine shop can easily handle it.
Bill

Alternative to ^^^ which is the conventional way haha. For Pinion Gears in Car diffs (similar bearing arrangement) I;
1) Smash the race off, and drop the rollers.
2) Then dry ice the whole lot to chill it.
3) Light the oxy/acet, and heat 1 and only 1 spot.
4) A Couple of light taps on the lower ridge (looking at it inverted) should be enough to slide it off the journal.

If uo press it off, be sure to wind a nut on the thread before pressing. Also, there is a circlip underneath, which i didn't see haha.

I put the stem in the vice and used a air hammer because I wasn't reusing it.

I second Husq.fleet. Ez pz Japonez.

The easiest thing if you have a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder is to grind almost all the way through the inner race. After demolishing the rollers and grinding which can be done away from parts needed to be clean I heat the thin portion with a small oxy acetylene flame but I am not sure if that is necessary all the time. If necessary you could grind in two spots. Upon attempting to spin the race with a hammer and punch it breaks at the thin spot and comes off easy. I do believe this is easier than the other suggestions you have got so far.

Fran

I have changed quite a few of these things and don't recall having any problems putting the new bearing on. On some applications, mix and match sutff you need a shim under the bearing and then you are stuck if it is on with the wrong shim or you perhaps forgot the seal. I would find a piece of pvc pipe which fits over the stem and rests on the bearing without damaging it and have a piece of 2x4 say a foot long to smack the pvc pipe with. heat the bearing but not too much to damage the seal. In the event that it doesn't go on all the way use the pvc and 2x4. Chances are a it will go right all the way down but the threads on the stem itself will pull it in. Chances are you will be less sure that the races in the frame are seated and tighten that up more with the neck races in mind. I grind an old frame race so it goes in quite easily and drive off that if necessary. You are changing those races too aren't you?

Fran

Do what you want but I say do not weld on it that is for when the thing you want to remove is on the inside. Things get smaller when the welding is over. My talk of the flame is just to weaken the metal and perhaps break the spell. If you get it as thin as you dare it will get red real quick before much else gets hot. it might even break because as steel is heated it expands and in it's hot state it upsets or compresses in on itself. as it cools it contracts and might just crack nice and easy due to the tension it will now be under.

I 've use two methods depending on the tools available at the time. Both require removal of the bearing cage and rollers.

1. Weld a 1 " bead on the inner race and knock off by tapping the stem on a study but non-marring surface (2x4 on concrete works)

2. Use a Dremel cutoff tool to cut a diagonal slot across the bearing face as deep as you can without touching anything else. (stem or clamps) Then use a cold chisel to crack the bearing race and knock off as above.

Regards,
PC

Just a tip, Do Not use a brass dolly or a copper hammer to install the new bearing. other wise you'll spend hours and loads of fresh oil trying to clean it out.