I'm fairly certain my driver's side front wheel bearing is bad. I've decided to go ahead and replace both front wheel bearings at the same time. I've read this writeup http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/704. This looks a little difficult, so I'm going to take the knuckles out and take them somewhere to get the bearings swapped out. From what I've learned here and looking at the diagram in the FSM, I'm planning on buying 2 bearings, 4 snap rings, 4 grease seals, 2 dust seals, and 2 wheel nut cotter pins. When looking at http://www.jerryromenissan.com/en_US/ and using their promotion code SALE30, these parts should be just over $120. Do any of you think some of these parts have no chance of needing to be replaced (dust seals, snap rings)? Are there any extra parts I might need? Does anyone have any other insights that might be of help?
Thanks

 

I just changed the passenger side front wheel bearing on my car. It sounds like you've got all the right parts coming in. Don't forgetr, you'll need a giant 36m socket to get the big nut off the CV axle.

It's a very awkward assembly to get apart. (and I've got a press) It's probably a smart move to take it somewhere that is well equipped with jigs for these things.

My Hub ended up being bad. The bearing was making a squealing sound. (instead of the normal growling sound that slowly gets progressively worse as the bearing gets more and more worn) It was the sound of the hub spinning inside the bearing race. If yours is squealing, you may need a new hub, which runs a tad over $100. Inspect it closely when it is taken apart.

Due to the freak nature of my failure, I just replaced the one... even though the car has 132k on the clock. The bearing actually looked to be in pretty decent shape to the naked eye.... but you could definitely see where the race was spinning on the splined hub.

 

Thanks for the info. Mine is making more of a humming sound, and it has been getting worse. It started as a rubbing noise at low speeds when I had the windows down. It now can be heard at high speeds, and just sounds like extra wind noise. A few guys on here have had to replace bearings more than once because of a bad hub or knuckle that caused the new bearing to go bad (not sure which one since I'm not that familiar with how the parts work with each other). Is it better to take the assembly to a Nissan dealership so they can tell if anything else is messed up? Or should most average shops be able to tell if something else is wrong?

 

Did my drivers side wheel bearing a few weeks ago. Everything you listed is right except I don't know why you need the snap rings?? Do you mean the rings that go on the end of the drive axel? because you won't need those for this job.

I took my whole steering knuckle off as well and just took it to a shop to have the bearings pressed. Unfortunately I had to get a new hub because I let it go for so long. A shop won't be able to press the bearings on tightly if the hub has irregular wear like mine did.

Two hints about removing the steering kuckle are make sure you use a real ball joint seperator on the control arm ball joint. don't use a fork type seperator. You can try and use a pry bar to seperate the ball joint but that did not work for me. It will seem like there is no room to fit a ball joint seperator in there because of the strut, but just remove the strut bolts that connect to the steering kuckle to put the ball joint seperator on then connect the strut back to the steering knuckle. That was the only way I could get it to work.

Good luck, this repair is kinda a PITA but your saving alot a money.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by I30tMikeD

Did my drivers side wheel bearing a few weeks ago. Everything you listed is right except I don't know why you need the snap rings??

There is a snap ring on each side of the bearing to hold it in place, inside the knuckle. They are a pretty cool design. They are made to be easily removable using a small regular screwdrivers. No snap ring pliers required. If they are cheap, it doesn't hurt to get new ones. Better to have them and not need them... than to need them, and have them hold you up.

Quote:

Two hints about removing the steering kuckle are make sure you use a real ball joint seperator on the control arm ball joint. don't use a fork type seperator.

Pickle forks are indeed bad. At the very least, they will rip the rubber boots on the ball joints. The best method I've found, is to simply pry down lightly on the tie rod, while striking the knuckle pretty hard with a heavy hammer. Do NOT strike the tie rod end. Strike the knuckle. It simply pops right loose... no drama, no damage. The same technique works for the ball joint... or any other pressed in joint like this.

Believe it or not... it works!

Good Luck!

 

I did what you are doing recently. The advice on where to hit above is correct. You want to strike the cast iron of the knuckle. Seperating the tie rod is normally easy. I struggled with seperating the ball joint. You might as well get all those parts since I'm sure the extra stuff is cheap. I just bought the bearing and the seal for inside and outside.

I couldn't find a 36mm nut anywhere to borrow and didn't feel like buying one. You can also use a 1 1/2" socket instead if you can find one of those. It works just fine. The nut is SO big and such high quality that the very little play in the slightly bigger socket works fine and will not damage (strip) it at all. I've used it many times.

Its good that you are just doing both at the same time. I was convinced it was my drivers side. Pulled it, gave it to my mechanic brother in law to push out for me and change which he did and when he gave it back to me he said he thought it was fine. Sure enough, the noise was still there after putting it back in. Turned out to be the passenger side which I then did and its great now.

Definately remove the two steering knuckle (strut) bolts, tilt hub to give access to the ball joint nut so you can remove the cotter pin and loosen it until its almost off but not quite. Then put the two knuckle (strut) bolts back in to secure the hub and pop it. Then remove them again to remove the hub.

 

Thanks for the input, guys. I just placed my order. I'll probably do the install in about a week. I jacked up the car last night to see if there was any play in the wheel. There wasn't about a month ago, but now there is quite a lot. Hopefully I won't need a new hub...