Front Wheel Bearing Replacement

Guest · Jul 10, 2006

I've had a look at the description in Clark's Garage for the procedure for replacing a front wheel bearing - but I can't tell from it how fraught and difficult a procedure it is. Given that it has been a while since I have done any real spannering how hard is it to replace a front wheel bearing and how many hours should I budget for doing it (I know it might be a case of how long is a piece of string and depends on whether nuts are seized etc.).
Cheers,

Graham

944Turbo · Jul 10, 2006

It is important to heat the hubs to the required temp I popped them in the oven for half an hour or so, half a day should allow a fairly leisurly approach to them, assuming suitable drifts etc,
Tony

Guest · Aug 6, 2006

I did both of mine in a morning. I left the bearings and races in the freezer overnight and pre-heated the hubs in an oven. One of the old bearing races practically slipped out. The other was slightly more stubborn due to some corrosion and needed a few taps with an alloy drift.

If you get some long theaded bar (with nuts) that will comfortably go through the inner bearing and make up some large metal washers the same diameter as the bearing races you can use the old bearings to seat the new races. Put the new races in position, perhaps pressing down on them to get them started you can put the old race and bearing, like for like, on top, put the threaded bar through, slip on the washers and tighten the nuts progressively to press the new races home. Much better approach than tapping then in around the edge of the race (you can chip them if not careful).

If the fronts have gone you might want to look at the backs too. Keep the old back races and weld a steel bar across one of them. Dress the welded edges of the bar to the race diameter and you can use this to drift in the new races. When fully seated you can drift the home-made tool out from the outerside of the hub.

zcacogp · Nov 11, 2016

Chris,

Not often you are asking for advice on here - you're the one who usually can offer advice on pretty much anything!

I've done both front bearings on my S2 and don't remember them being in any way unusual or difficult. I can't remember the details but it's as you'd expect it to be. Getting the pinch nut done up correctly at the end is about the hardest part and that's only 'cos I didn't have an allen key long enough of the right eize. (Don't forget to rotate the hub as there is a notch that will line up with the screw head.)

The old tricks of freezing the bearing and heating the hub always help in my experience.

Oli.

robdimond · Nov 11, 2016

If you put the hub in the oven and the bearing races in the freezer, they just drop in. Not a difficult job at all... there is a good YouTube tutorial from a chap called van.

944Fripp · Nov 11, 2016

Follow this video, it's very good and has helped me do the job twice now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjFY7-IHgvQ

chrisg · Nov 11, 2016

Rob & Oli

thanks both for your sage advice !

I usually don't have any issues or worries, I just wanted to check I wasn't missing anything particularly as 2nd hand hubs aren't cheap or readily available.

Luckily Van's video (as suggested by Rob) is very detailed and although he uses a specialised race installer, the hot/cold temp difference of the hub & race will work.

I'm also (much to Mrs G's dismay...) planning on heating the hub up in the oven prior to extracting the old races !

I know from previous experience of doing work on the calipers that large lumps of aluminium (in a cold garage...) take a lot of heat input to raise them up to a decent expansive temp.

Will update you all once I'm done [

]

zcacogp · Nov 11, 2016

Tips for heating the hub up in the oven:

1. Do it while the mrs is out. Give her £100 and tell her where the nearest shoe shop is if necessary. (You'll save more than £100 doing the job yourself so think of this as an investment).
2. Clean the hub very throughly before putting it in the oven; dirt and grease will smell when heated and the smell is what will give the game away when Mrs G arrives home with her new shoes.
3. Use a baking tray but cover it with foil beforehand, for obvious reasons.
4. Don't dispose of the foil in the kitchen bin when complete - take it straight to the dustbin (or garage bin).

All these tips have been personally tested by me and I can attest to the fact that they work better in combination (i.e. don't just try one of them - do all of them.)

Oli.

chrisg · Nov 13, 2016

Quick update, great covert instructions from Oli - used these to great effect this afternoon...

After 2hrs at >200c in the main oven, both bearing races and the grease seal popped out very easily with gentle persuasion from a drift.

Interesting to note that theyd clearly been in there for a long time and well compressed = you can still see some writing marks embedded in the aluminium hub from the inner faces of the bearing races !

So, new parts orders from Eurocarparts will fit next weekend, using the recommended Heat hub to 200c, races & grease seal to -18c should make a big difference

Thanks again for advice [

]

Chris

Monkeythree · Nov 13, 2016

Chris I have a Gucci bearing install toolset which you are welcome to borrow (I'm just down the M11 from you). Even with hot hubs and cold bearing races, I still found that serious pressure was needed to squeeze the little blighters in.