WalksOnAir

So I am gonna have to get the job done myself as the local Les Schwab just returned my car saying they don't know how to replace the rear wheel bearing. I read through the DIY write up at Audi Q5 How to Replace Wheel Hub and Bearings - Audiworld and to be honest, it skips on some pretty important details.

Has anyone does this already? Any tips? I am going to try and get some tools to do the job similar to the videos in this thread: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/aud...l-car-2853106/

Thanks in advance for any guidance. The car has about 77K miles on it and am surprised about this issue popping up but oh well..

zeus48

Just and FYI. It looks like that walk through replaces the whole hub assembly. This is the easy way to do it. You don't have to remove bearings from the hub or press new ones in. The whole assembly gets replaced.

Never done it on my Audi but doing it on my Mustang in a few weeks. Easy peasy. Remove brakes, rotors, big 36mm wheel nut (Audi is T60 Torx). Pull assembly. Clean and grease shaft. Replace new hub assembly. Replace nut, rotor, brakes.

The mustang one comes with all the ABS stuff and is lighter than original.. FWIW

Good Luck

WalksOnAir

Thanks for the response, just a quick question: do I have to take the axle off or push it back out of the wheel bearing assembly?

ALSO, as an fyi, I cant get the hub & bearing as an assembly anymore. So I will be separating and pressing them back.

MurrayA4

WalksOnAir
You're getting some incorrect info.from someone.Here's what Napa Canada list and you've got more options in the US I'm sure.
The axle gets pushed back enough to clear the splines.Not removed.
I strongly recommend that you replace the hub.Pressing new bearings into the housing works but you increase the chances of something being done incorrectly.

Bob Petruska

He may be looking for an "OEM" hub, those seem to be not available from most Audi parts suppliers.

There are many non-OEM hubs available, some are good quality, others are not. So it's a crap shoot when using them and going through all this work. I would most likely only use OEM if I replaced it myself.

MurrayA4

Bob
Yes it has become a "crap shoot", that applies to Audi hubs as well .They tend to use either SKF or ***.I used to insist on SKF only in my business but their quality has gone downhill.Often times if you pull out the magnifying glass - I'm old - you'll find that even these are made in a certain Oriental country that we all know and love.
At least if you go with eg.Napa your warrantied for 3 years/72k kms.(45k miles).Doesn't cover labour but better than nothing.Napa bearings are often either Timken or NTN , but not always.

WalksOnAir

I actually ordered the wheel bearing from FCP EURO because of their lifetime replacement warranty...better than the 3 yr warranty that my local O'Reilly's had.

As for replacing the hub, I'm going to chance it unless I'm unsuccessful in separating the bearing & hub. The reason for this is in speaking to the local Audi parts dept, they will have to do the same thing as they weren't able to quote me a price on the assembly but rather the bearing and hub separately.

Thanks for clarifying the axle question. I'll try and take photos and videos so as to contribute to the DIY MX docs...

MurrayA4

WalksOnAir
Good for you taking this on.I'll give you a piece of advice for bearing only replacement.Freeze the bearing.If damage is going to occur it'll be while you press the new one into the hub,and the "smaller" cold bearing is more likely to go into the hub straight and smooth.I've done hundreds of bearing replacements by the way.No not cause I've owned tons of crappy cars - I used to own a garage.

WalksOnAir

Ok, just completed the bearing swap out. Going to go get the car a 4 wheel alignment in the morning but so far it rode pretty decent. No more noise...no shimmy or shaking so I assume alignment did not get messed up too badly. I'll try to post my steps later on but I'm brutally tired now. In a nutshell, I removed the spring, disconnected the lower control arm as well as the upper and strut....took out the entire wheel hub/bearing housing and did it that way. I didnt have a press and the lessons learned in the YouTube video helped with that. The biggest trouble I had was the spring.

Also, did freeze the new bearing but the wheel hub spindle goes into the inner race of the bearing so not sure that freezing the bearing did any good...just fyi...maybe should have frozen the hub since that's what slides into the hole?

gbmarc

Is there anywhere out there that posts the complete procedure for removing the rear wheel bearing assembly. As WalksOnAir mentioned, the Q5 how to replace link, misses out a whole lot. First off, the two lower bearing assembly bolt are totally inaccessible unless the big lower suspension arm is removed, but the write up doesn't mention this at all. It also doesn't describe how the bearing assembly comes out and where the axle removal takes place. How is the axle removed?
If anyone can shed some light I'd appreciate it.
Mark