Wheel Bearing Walkthrough

[CarRacer]

I'd like to do some maintenance on my front wheel bearings, as I doubt they've seen grease in a while. I looked on VFAQ and did a search here, but couldn't find anything.

Anyone have a location for a walkthrough on them? I took a quick look when I had my axles out and it seemed like you just pull the seal and go from there. I'm not sure how they are setup, as I'm use to old chevy stuff.

Thanks

 

[Kenny_Kline]

I am pretty sure its a press in design into the hub. Crack the axle nut, disconnect lower ball joint, swing out assembly, take out hub. Thats how most fwd axles bearings are setup. If your going to do all that, why not just press some new bearings in there and put a new seal on?.

 

[strokin4dr]

They are sealed bearings, you don't add grease to them. If they are bad, just press some new ones in.
-Ryan

 

[CP]

Remove hub, take to NAPA and have them press in a new bearing for $20.

 

[G]

click

 

Kick-ass, I need to do the same job (front right wheel is making godawful noise and to the point of split-second seizures once or twice per trip to/from work)...this link will be very handy, thank you.

I heard you can get a tool to do it w/o removing the hub from the car?

PS - Just incase someone thought otherwise, I am *definitely* replacing the bearing...it's surely shot and I have a new one already. Just waiting on seals from Mitsubishi.

 

[CP]

Do the ball joint at the same time if you take the entire hub off to get the bearing pressed out.

 

[jepherz]

Quoting strokin4dr:
They are sealed bearings, you don't add grease to them. If they are bad, just press some new ones in.
-Ryan



The rears are sealed, the fronts aren't. You can add grease although I don't think you're supposed to have to.

 

[strokin4dr]

That is correct. You CAN add more grease, but they come pre-greased so it really is not needed.

 

[BoostedAWD91]

i just had mine replaced. got the new bearing and new seals(which u do need) and had them pressed in for $10. Do not order seals from autozone cause they arent the right ones. I got mine from NAPA

 

Any trick to the snap ring? Cuz it is being a real bitch. It's oriented in such a way that the strut tower mount is in the way if you try to keep the snap ring pliers parallel with the ring. Best I could do was a set from Harbor Freight, as the others I found were all too small (didn't go wide enough).

Also, it appears that we tore the boot covering the ball joint on the lower arm...can that be sealed, or must it be replaced too? I'll have to take a closer look when I work on it (after work) and see if it's just pulled up or if it's torn, but I think it's got a gash in it.

 

[toybreaker]

Actually, they can be a pain in the ass without the right circlip pliers.

You got a tool king up there?

You can also get the full set on loan from checker. (you buy, and then return them undamaged, and get your money back)

Sometimes, it's worth it to just buy a cheap set with the right shape/size to get the job done. You're welcome to borrow mine, but you'll have chase them your self.

As far as the ball joint boot, many times you can do a decent field repair, providing the ball joint is worth saving. Clean them with a little rubbing alcohol, scuff it with sandpaper, clean it again and then glue it with the "right stuff". (A permatex product)

To be honest with you though, since you got it apart, I'd just fire a new one in there. It's cheap, and easy, compared to what you've already been thru. I have a couple left, if you need one.

edit reading comprehension, not my strong point /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif )

You can sometimes break them loose, and then spin them into a better position to remove them.

 

[Rausch]

Hose it down w/PB.....They tend to kind of weld themselves in there... (the snap rings) Worst case, you can usually get a little lip up on one end, if the snap ring pliers won't do the trick, and grab it with needle nose pliers and yank.


Edit: If it spins while it's in there, the snap ring pliers should work...

 

What's PB? I've got WD-40 and Hoppe's gun solvent...and I might have a little carb cleaner leftover from rebuilding my old bike's fuel system. Now that you mention it, the left side is free, but I think the right side is "welded" in there, like you said, and does not spin at all. Which would explain in part why the snap ring pliers aren't working for sh*t (nor the needlenose pliers we tried before I sought the specialized ones).

Also, I forgot the step of removing the spindle before doing the snap ring, so it's semi-moot anyway...I've just been cleaning the knuckle so that when I DO find a press I can use, I can do it with less mess. Not sure if it's essential to leave snap ring in while pressing the center part out, but that's what the walkthrough says.

Have not been able to locate the on-the-car tool I have heard suggested...since the hub assembly is already off, might as well follow the walkthrough, since that looks hard to f*** up.

 

[ktmrider]

PB = PB Blaster, similar to the Liquid Wrench product ( and superior IMO ).

 

Ok, I'll pick some up on the way home. Thanks for the tip.

 

Well, I ended up having trouble finding a press and I didn't feel like getting one from Harbor Freight, so I brought it to AMS Machine up here and they pressed it for $30 bucks. Re-assembled the wheel (with no leftover parts, haha), fired it up (with a groggy battery), pulled out, and made it about 50 yards before I heard that same scraping noise from before. Turned a corner and accelerated and then the same sporadic, horrific grinding noises came back...this time it definitely felt like from behind.

So I came back home, my roommate (an experienced rally driver + codriver) got out the floor jack (which we got recently from his dad's) and wiggles the back right wheel and says "this bearing is fucked". I felt the difference from left and right and agreed. Probably shoulda checked them all before doing it, but I could've sworn it was the front wheel from driving it so long. I guess sound just resonates weird sometimes.

Anyways, since it's taken me so long to do the one bearing, and the back has two (!), I think I'm just gonna bite the bullet and have the shop do it, cuz my "spare" car is going to be my sold car in about a week and it's getting too wet / cold to ride the motorcycle all the time.

But at least I've got a new front wheel bearing and experience tearing down, cleaning, and re-assembling w/ new parts. Thanks for the help on stuff, guys.

PS - the tie rod nut is a bitch to tighten w/o an impact wrench, so if you ever do this, don't even bother with hand wrenches on that one.

 

[toybreaker]

Quoting Asbestos:
PS - the tie rod nut is a bitch to tighten w/o an impact wrench, so if you ever do this, don't even bother with hand wrenches on that one.




An impact on that may turn out poorly, as the correct torque range is fairly small (17-25ftlbs).

You can gently load the taper with a jack under the bottom of the tie rod end to push the taper of the tie rod end into the knuckle. This will keep it from turning. It's a tapered joint, and relies on the preload to keep it together.

17-25ftlbs.

Make sure the hole and the taper are clean before you assemble things.

Start at the bottom of the range, and from there, go to the next available cotter key hole, install the cotter pin, and you're good to go.


If you'd like, you can borrow a rear arm, (complete with hub/bearing/abs sensor), off one of my extra rear subframes. You can either run it, or use it as a core for building yours up.

Let me know, and I'll have somebody leave it out for you down at the shop. (you'll have to chase it, as I'm not going out any time soon)

 

I'd probably just run it, and then once I can get mine fixed just give you that one, if it's all the same to you. That's also assuming nothing got fucked up...like I said, it's making a godawful noise, so I hope that is only the bearing(s). I'll give you a call about it...I will be in the Denver area next weekend, so I should be able to make the trip down to your shop with my backup vehicle. Thanks, man.

 

[toybreaker]

Whatever it takes, Tim.

I went with a four bolt lsd/five lug swap for my build, so the o.e. rear subframe/diff/axles are just sitting there, waiting for an opprotunity to return to service.

It'd probably be easier for you to just swap that whole corner, trailing arm, lateral arms and all onto your car, so you don't have to deal with seperating the arms. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

Just let me know what you need. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif