Looking for some advice on replacing the front right bearing. Can the hub assemble be removed from the axel without taking apart the knuckle?

 

NO.

U need to take the entire knuckle off and have the bearings pushed out. Not something u can do in the garage, take the knuckles to a press shop, they will push out the old bearing and push in new bearings. I like NTK and u can get it online at autopartswarehouse.com

 

Does the knuckle and the hub assembly come off as a single piece?

 

Yes, they come off in one piece. I prefer to get a big press and a professional to pull and push new bearnings. A slight tilt when pushing can ruin the bearings. Just use the professional shop.

 

i am able to wiggle my wheel when all the bolts are tight, and u can see the cv axle moving also from the rear of the wheel. is this a bad bearing, (not to mention the roaring noise)

 

u have a bad bearing.the spindle comes off as one piece it is said that u can beat out the old bearing but pressing it out and in is so much easier,just did both of mine would recommend u do the same

 

how many miles on ur car?

 

deckdout2 does it for the cheapest locally...

http://forums.maxima.org/southeast-u...-bearings.html

 

whats the best advice for getting the lower control arm bolt off of the spindle. seems to be a bytch. i have everything off and it wont budge. PB blaster is soaking on it now, and i want to hit it with a heat gun tomorrow.

even tried an impact wrench even though i hate to use it near delicate areas.

 

Were you able to get the nut off? Get the nut off, then use a prybar to pry between the knuckle and control arm while you bang on the knuckle with a hammer. It helps if you still have the strut bolted to the knuckle.

 

I was just talking with Craigmax, the balljoint nut is froze. Impact driver wouldn't budge it. He hit it with some BP blaster and will try again tomorrow. I guess 200k miles of crud stuck on there will lock it up.

 

my Snap on got it off easily.

 

Shoot we get a ton of high mileage cars in our shop and we're still able to get fasteners off. But you guys got all that road salt crap huh.

Definately soak the hell outta it with rust penetrant, bang on it with a nice mechanic's hammer like a 32 oz or mallet and keep trying. If that still doesn't, put a 1/2 inch drive socket on it with a big cheater bar and keep trying. Sometimes the cheater bar is stronger than an impact. You can also spray the area with brake kleen and get it all cleaned up and use a torch to get the nut red hot glowing, it should take a few mins. Then quickly spray the knuckle and balljoint stud with brakekleen to cool it down while trying to avoid cooling down the nut and try the cheater bar again while someone bangs on the knuck with a hammer.

 

Are the bearings the same for auto and manual? Should we stick to the Nissan bearings or go to the shop and get the inexpensive choice?

 

Yes, they're the same. You know my answer to that, stick with OEM parts.

 

Good timing on the pst My front right is shot, too. WTF is with that? (165k miles)

 

Both my front bearings went bad on my Grand prix at around 85k miles...the one hub bearing was so bad that it melted and bonded the hub metal to the axle...and it only just started humming about 2-4 weeks before that. I had to cut the axle to remove everything.

As fars bearings went on my maxima, I replaced all four at once at a shop when one went bad at 140k...I just said screw it lets break the bank.

 

Been through this 2 weeks ago... 185 000 km
Heres my contribution

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....92#post7395692