DIY Wheel Bearing Replacement

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Feb 9, 2013 | 11:20 AM

#11

midnightrider36

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Joined: Oct 2012

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You can put the vehicle on the wheels to loosen the axle bolt. A trick I like is to put a couple lug bolts thru the rotor to hold it in place. Then put a screwdriver into the vanes of the rotor and brace it against the caliper and use a breaker bar to loosen the bolt. I've never had any issues with messing up the rotor with this method and you can use it to initially torque the new bolt to 150 foot pounds upon reassembly. And I find a slide hammer to be the easiest way to remove the hub. Your auto parts store should have them to rent.

Feb 10, 2013 | 08:52 AM

#12

rxpclb

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Quote:

Originally Posted by jcman

Search the forums or use the Resources tab at the top of the page, just a tip: make sure to freeze that bearing before you press it in.

Do you mean freeze it, as in put it in the freezer to lower its temperature? If so, why is that important?

Feb 10, 2013 | 08:57 AM

#13

rxpclb

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Quote:

Originally Posted by 78silversc

@rxpclb
That is going to be one of my next Diy projects.. and had the same question as you. In my research I found:

Which might be helpful for you.

The video description said "This was a big job. The video was shot over a two day period. The whole job took us about 4 hours total to complete." Watch it and see if you have the level of expertise to tackle it.

@jcman getting the bearing out may be a bigger task than installing a new one.

I found that before turning to AudiWorld. It seems straight forward. EXCEPT using the welder to heat up the old bearing before tapping it out. Are there any other ways to get the old bearing out?

Feb 10, 2013 | 09:20 AM

#14

jcman

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Joined: Jan 2008

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From: NE Ohio

Quote:

Originally Posted by rxpclb

Do you mean freeze it, as in put it in the freezer to lower its temperature? If so, why is that important?

The very slight contraction makes it easy to press in.

Feb 10, 2013 | 09:22 AM

#15

jcman

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From: NE Ohio

BTW

Are you doing the front or rear bearing service?

Feb 10, 2013 | 10:57 AM

#16

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Tech Guru

Joined: Oct 2002

Posts: 8,009

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From: Olney, MD

Quote:

Originally Posted by rxpclb

I found that before turning to AudiWorld. It seems straight forward. EXCEPT using the welder to heat up the old bearing before tapping it out. Are there any other ways to get the old bearing out?

NOte that the welder wasn't being used to heat up the bearing per se....the welder was welding metal on the bearing race such that when the weldment cooled it attempted to shrink/distort the bearing, i.e., loosen it somewhat. Then the guy with the hammer and the drift punch just punched it out.

Under normal circumstances the inner race can just be driven out either with a drift or a bushing...just as the new bearing is tapped into the hub, the old race should have been able to be driven out except it was corroded in there pretty tightly.

A hub shark is just a BF screw with a set of bushings that can be put behind the bearing and in front of the hub and you use the screw to draw out the bearing.
Then the hubshark is reversed to press in the new bearing..note that putting in the new bearing it is essential to use force on the outer bearing race ONLY...if you bang on or press on the inner race the race(s) get brinnelled or dimpled, rendering the noisy and/or useless.