Bearings and races?

[Mike Thomas #828]

I need to put new front rotors on my '84 911. Everybody tells me while I have the hubs off I should replace the bearings having packed them with new grease.  I've read all I can about  this procedure in the Haynes manual and the tech forums on pelican parts and it seems straight forward enough except one thing. What exactly is a race?  All anybody says about them are that you always replace them when replacing the bearings. On various internet parts sites you can buy the bearings very easily but no races?!?! At first I thought the races were (I assume there are 2 since there are two bearings per hub) on the spindle and somehow interlocked with the bearings but then  I read that the race also gets pressed into the hub along with the bearing when doing this job.  I can't find a picture of what a race looks like. I haven't yet tackled the job (hopefully this weekend),  and it might become very apparent once I get my hands dirty, but I'd like to know all I can before I start. So after all that, can anyone tell me what a race is?

 

[betegh9]

When you buy the bearings, you realy get the 2 parts, the bearing and the race. The bearings are the cone shaped hardened steel pieces that roll against the spindle. There are a number of these held together in a neat package so they are easy to install and remove without them rolling around the garage floor like a busted bag of marbles that you played with when you were a kid. The other part of the bearing (the outside of these cone shaped rollers) press against the RACE which looks like the jolly green giant's wedding ring. This race is pressed against (into) the hub.The old race must be removed by tapping it out with a punch slowly from the wheel side. Then the new one can be driven in, in the reverse manner that the old one came out. Make sure that the RACE IS SEATED PROPERLY AND COMLETELY. Pressure pack the new bearings and re-assemble back in reverse order that you removed the parts. If you have any parts left over, you might have missed something.Happy greasy job!!