Trick for removing old bearing races

Jake von Slatt sent us a link to this nifty “legendary” automotive tip for removing old bearing races from an aluminum axle hub. There’s no way of knocking or prying them out. But if you weld a bead around the inside of the race, when the weld cools, it’ll shrink enough that it’ll come away from the hub, so that you can install new bearings. Cool! I guess this technique would work in other situations where shrinking a metal part would free it from a housing.

A neat trick for removing bearing races