I am looking at the FSM procedure on how to press out a front wheel bearing but I'm not sure I completely follow. There are snap rings on each side of the bearing, but I'm not sure how to get to the outside ring.

I guess my question is how do you separate the piece with the wheel studs on it from the rest of the assembly?

 

Are you asking how to remove the inner race from the hub? I just cut a notch in mine until I could pop it off. as for removing the hub from the rest of the bearing/spindle assembly i think a wack with the hammer got it out.

 

Sorry, but what part is the inner race? Nothing on the exploded diagram is called that and I am not sure which part you are referring to. Don't suppose you have any pics from doing the procedure, do you?

 

This might help with part name clarification.

http://www.courtesyparts.com/betasit...1700_1701.html

 

I saw a hub bearing being pressed in by a full car press earlier today

 

Sorry I don.t have any pics, I was too pissed off while doing it to take any but here is almost all the advice you should need http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/704 . Page 2 shows what the inner race is.

Here is their pic of the inner race

 

I looked at that when I replaced mine and if you notice they have tapered roller bearings which are built into the race and hence no name for the race. I have never seen a Max with those bearings either so I wonder why its in the service manual, considering its not a generic picture.

 

That's a great site. Thanks!

 

I might throw it in the stickies somewhere..


lemme know if the info is correct/works for you.

 

Will do. I could pay Carquest 30 bucks to do it, but my department has a machine shop and the guy who runs it is willing to help me with it. The only thing that concerns me is the amount of "custom tools" used in the write-up.

 

So far my VG-to-VE tranny swap has run me: $200 for the tranny, 200 for new axles and seals, 25 for a carrier bearing bracket, 50 (est) for AMSoil gear lube (still need to get), and 75 for passenger-side wheel bearing and seals.

 

How about the pedal assembly, Master Cyl, center console and linkage? You are going to install a new clutch kit while you're doing the swap aren't you?

 

I did my 5-speed swap over 2 years ago. Right now I am just pulling the open-diff M/T and replacing it with a VLSD unit. Besides the tranny it requires different axles and hubs.

 

You don't have to change the center console just the shifter trim BTW.

~Alex

 

Alright, I got the thing completely disassembled. The hub came out with a slide hammer, then I removed the snap rings, put the assembly in a large vice, placed a solid scrap metal cylinder on top of it (doing the work in a machine shop), and pounded away with a hammer. Wish I could have finished today buy the guy running the place had to leave early. I will be going in tomorrow morning to use the hydraulic press to install the new bearing. Hoping to do the tranny swap this weekend, but we'll see...

 

Hello, I'm bringing this back because I am VERY FRUSTRATED w/ changing my own wheel bearing!

Is the only way to do this in a shop w/ a big press/vice? The reason I ask is because I asked my friend who is a mechanic how to do it and he recommended tapping out the inner race with a hammer to separate the outer hub from the inner assembly. That worked OK. Off course the old bearing fell apart, and it helped to remove the outer retaining ring, especially since it wasn't budging no matter how hard I hit it until I found that other ring. I scratched up the outer wall a little bit while hammering away at the bearing housing with a Ball Joint Pickle Fork (it was the only thing I had that worked). And I had to take the outer hub to the parts store to use their puller to take the inner bearing race off the shaft.

Once I got all the old bearing parts off, I bought a new bearing and inner and outer axle seals. I then lubed everything really well and used the outer bearing housing from the old bearing as a spacer to tap the new bearing into the hub. That's when it got really frustrating. After hitting it only a few times the hole underside of the new bearing fell apart onto the ground. It got dirty (which sucks!). I cleaned it as best as I could a sprayed it with more While Lithium Grease. I then put the outer hub underneath it with the outer bearing sitting on the shaft with a piece of wood under that to keep it close to the inner bearing I was working on and to hopefully keep it from getting dirtier.

I then continued to whack away at the inner portion of the bearing to seat it in the hub, but it wasn't budging. It only moved deeper when I put a piece of 2x4 on top of the bearing and hit it as hard as I could a number of times with the 3 pound sledge. Of course, that shook everything up. And after inspecting the underside I found that the outer bearing had fallen apart from all the vibration and 3 ball bearings were missing from the track. I only found 2 of them and they were in the dirt ! Well, I tried not to get too pissed and cleaned up one of the old ***** and put it in with plenty of grease. I also found that the brand new (~$15) outer axle seal got bent somehow. That really pissed me off! Finally, I got really heated and just wanted to get it done.

I decided to try and tap the inner race onto the shaft of the outer hub and try to assemble both halves tomorrow. When then I used the hammer without any wood to try and drive it down more quickly. Unfortunately in my brashness I forgot that the shaft was longer than the piece I was hammering and ended up denting up the end of the outer hub shaft. After trying not to blow my top at that I hear a "crack!" I say, "What the hell was that!?" Well, to my great pleasure (sarcasm!!!!) it is the inner race that cracked from the shaft of the outer hub expanding due to being hammered too hard. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I (literally) threw everything into the carport and came home. So, the question is WHAT TO DO NOW?!!!

I know that part of the answer is "it is a little late to be asking" but, anyway, this is a repair I hadn't planned on. It just was something that I thought I better do now since I already had the hub assembly out of the car with all the other repairs I was doing and I needed to get everything done and have the car moved ASAP (my old Landlord is charging me rent everyday that the car is still out our old house and it's been three weeks already!!! ARGHHH!!!- and there's no way to move it until it's completely done). Anyway, I'm not sure if the hub and/or wheel bearing can be salvaged. I may look at it again tomorrow and take what salvageable parts are left to my mechanic friend to see if he can assemble it in a working condition. Otherwise I may just scrap it and look for a good assembly at the junk yard.

So, is there any hope for me? I guess the way I tried to assemble the bearing with the hub was all wrong. Has anyone else tried and done it successfully on their own without big special tools or access to a machine/mechanic shop? It's just frustrating to me that I have done everything else myself up until now, and just when I am ready to do the final touches on the car to get it rolling this snaffu throws a wrench in the gears!!!

I'd appreciate any input (besides- Hey, Stupid! Why'd ya do it that way?).
Sorry for the rampage. I staid up all night last night trying to get this marathon project done because there was supposedly a hurricane coming through today. Of course, that was a false alarm .....

OK, that's all for now
Thanks - Mark

 

Damn you must've been pissed when you posted this SHORT post

The gfs dad and I did one side 2 years ago by hand...nothing but hammer and whatever was shaped like the bearing. Then we used the old bearing to "hammerpress" the new one in..we only broke the brace on the new one once so we used the old brace (ugh) After wasting 4 hours on that, I decided to pay 35 bucks and have a machine shop press out the old bearing and new one in for the other side. 7 bucks each seal and 20 bucks a bearing plus 35 bucks eh i guess its not too bad

 

Just find someone with a press in their shop, and ask to use it , rent it. Using dry ice on the hub makes the install so much easier. Wacking it with that hammer is a waste of time. You need at least a 3 ton hydraulic press. Just make sure when installing the new bearing. You install the inner circlip/snapring and press the bearing into the knuckle applying the pressure to the outer race! Once fully mated up to the inner circlip/snapring install the outer circlip/snapring. Then supported or backing up the inner race press the hub into the inner race bore. perform the spin test, wobble, push and pull test to ensure smooth and secure operation ! I just had my knuckles off doing the same thing and the dealership technician destroyed my brand new bearing cause he had no clue WTF he was doing...I will have a 10 ton press b4 christmas...of my own!

 

Do tell us more about the dry ice...

 

the dry ice cools the hub, which makes it smaller. smaller = easier to get it in.

 

Well, I cooled off enough last night to leave it for today. I went back to where the car was this afternoon and gathered the parts. I then took them down to my Mechanic Friend's Shop, and after looking at them he said he could probably put the hub back together but I would need to get a new bearing and seal.

I went back to Advanced Auto Parts where I had gotten the parts and showed them what happened to the bearing and seal. They were kind enough to exchange them for new parts under warranty without charging me (It must be a miracle! ) and I even got a dollar back when I exchanged a belt that was the wrong one originally.

So, I took the new parts to my Mechanic Friend and he is supposed to have it together tomorrow morning and give me a call. I hope that he can do it right. He owns the shop and runs it with his family. He been a professional mechanic for the past 20 years, so I hope he gets it done without messing things up. He says he doesn't have a press. So, I'm not sure if I should be too concerned.

Anyway, let me know what you think guys.
Thanks.

 

If you took a hammer to a brand new wheel bearing, throw it away and buy another one.

the FSM lists a very detailed procedure on replacing the bearings. follow that to the letter and you're fine.

 

As I said, the parts store was kind enough to replace the damaged one with a brand new one under warranty at no extra charge.

I just got the hub assembly back from my Mechanic friend and it is all done. He was kind enough to just ask me for $10 to cover his lunch

So, now I have to wait until it stops raining/ lets up to go and install it. I wish the "Tropical Storm" would make up its mind. It's been raining on and off this morning, but they called off school for the kids today, and it doesn't look like its even going to seriously storm at least not near Gainesville. We'll see what happens later.

 

weather is the same here, but it's typical August weather for us. rains on and off every day from about the second week of August until mid-Sept. ugh.

I didn't read the whole thing about the bearing- just saw the hammer comment and thought 'awww sheit... he's gonna go and do the same stuff I did 8 years ago and wind up going through 4 wheel bearings in 6 months until he figures out how to do it right!' (ouch...)

After trying to do it myself half a dozen times, I finally just took it to an engine shop down the road and paid them $20 to do them both at once. took 'em a whole assembly and a new bearing and new hub. 20 min, $20, done.

eventually I just bought a press from Harbor Freight and do them myself now (and charge others for the same thing. )


good luck with the rain!

 

Hmm thats weird, I did one side with hammer and other at machine shop. 2 years later and still smooth... You must be strong

 

So I just completed a complete hub/bearing swap and I will start with this: If you don't have a press or have access to do it, I would not recommend it. I tried every which way I could think of and then went out and bought a 12 tonfrom Harbor Freight and it took a whole of 10 minutes to do the complete job. Props to CMax03 about using dry ice. It definitely helps. Here is how to do it correctly using a hydraulic press:

First head over to a store like AutoZone or such where you can rent a bearing/race install kit. Using it, press out the hub and old bearings. After cleaning, chill the hubs and bearings to contract the metal. I used dry ice but it will still work if you were to put it in the freezer for a bit. They don't need to be frozen, just chilled.

Take a fingertip of oil and wipe a light layer around the inside of the steering knuckle, it helps the bearing slide in easier. Install the snap ring on the outer side. (Since the outer side is flat surface, it allows for a even press.)

Using the bearing kit, press the new bearing into the knuckle from the the inner side. Then install the grease seal on the outer side. Set the knuckle on top of the hub and press them together. Install inner side grease seal. Repeat for other side.

 

Thanks for the props Thedwyer00 I was aircraft tech for 10 yrs on helicopters and those things are full of bearings! I've done hundreds of them ....That press saves alot sweat, blood and tears! I give props to those who can beat them apart with a hammer and assemble them with a hammer! The continuous impact shock should shorten the life of the bearing IMO......

 

Ding ding ding... every time you whack that bearing with a hammer, you're putting tiny flat spots on the ball bearings and indentions in the bearing race. even with microscopic dents, that will still greatly shorten the life of the bearing.

 

Whoops Well its going on more than 2 years without probs so if it were to fail...it atleast gave me 2+

 

still not bad.. I used to have to change mine about every 18 months when I was tracking the car on a regular basis. so much side loads on the thing, it just killed the bearings. most production-type race cars wind up going through a couple sets of wheel bearings a season... ouch..

 

I'm getting some noise out of the drivers side front wheel, so I guess I'll be doing this job soon. It sounds like the best approach is to tear it all apart myself, then take the pieces to a shop, and have them press out the old, and press in the new before I reassemble it.

 

Yes, I would agree with that. Good luck!

 

Check NAPA they normally carry the same p/n the dealer carries for half the price!