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Changing rear wheel bearings?

I've had trouble in the past with other cars (I don't really know how to press them in), so I pulled the spindles off and took them to a shop to have them pressed in. There is a lot of rust and I am having a lot of trouble getting the trailing arm eccentric bolts off (broke a 3/8 breaker bar, couldn't fit a 1/2in in there) If I can change the bearings myself that would be great, but either way I need to get the eccentric bolts loose so that I can replace them and have my alignment done properly. I also can't get the wheel speed sensor off, bolt comes out, but it's rusted to the spindle. I need something better than pb blaster and freeze off, but can't use heat next to the sensors (I only have propane anyway).
 

donkeylips

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 18, 2009
Messages
552
Location
Rochester, NY
Click for my nightmare.

In theory the rear wheel bearings aren't that difficult to replace without taking the trailing arm off. But it sounds like your rust issues are fairly bad, so you may have the same problem that I did. Which also means that removing the rear trailing arm will be equally horrible. Those eccentric bolts usually have to be cut. And then you'll probably end up destroying your bushings.

Since you want to replace the eccentric bolts anyway...good luck. If not, you could try to replace the wheel bearings like I did; and if that doesn't work you can move on to plan B.

In the end I was able to get a relatively rust-free complete rear subframe from a DSM for pretty cheap. So I POR 15ed it and swapped it in. The wheel bearings were still good and I was doing a 5-lug swap anyway.
 

SleepinGVR4

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 12, 2003
Messages
2,483
Location
Danville, Pennsylvania
Where to start... Get yourself some CRC freeze off or whatever its called and soak everything. The rear wheel sensor good luck... I had to get a screw driver under the lip of it and pry it up a little bit and use some vise grips and just wiggle it back and forth til it comes out. I don't have ABS so I didn't care how much I messed it up because it was only going back in to keep the dirt out of the ABS ring.

You pretty much have to take the whole trailing arm out. Take it to a machine shop and have the old bearing pressed out and the new one pressed in. A good machine shop will clean up your whole trailing arm, so dirt won't get in the new bearing. My machinist is the man. He blasted the whole trailing arm so it was good for paint.

I decided to do my rear ball joint while I was back there and f-ed up the lower control arm and had to get a whole new arm. I can get ball joints out but I can never get them back in straight, I just don't have the tools to do it properly.

I ended up rebuilding my rear caliper while I was back there also.

All I have to say is good luck.
 

I read that thread already, fortunately my rust isn't that bad. The sub frames from GVR4s are the same as AWD DSM? 1 and 2G?

How do you get in there to cut the eccentric bolts?
 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
the rear hubs and bearing can just be pushed out of the rear trailing arm to replace them, no need to take off the trailing arm.

Take off the axle, remove the large nut (I use an impact) and take off the axle cup. Use a soft faced hammer or a piece of wood between the hammer (I use a small sledge...) and punch the shaft out . One bearing usually stays on the shaft, and one in the arm, and you can tap it out then.

Oh, you have to take off the caliper and rotor before you punch out the stub axle.
 

I do have an impact, works great, but it's 1/2in and just a bit too big.

So I can just order the hub assembly? Thats great! Thanks for explaining how to get the old one out, but how do I get the new one in without messing up the bearings?
 

donkeylips

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 18, 2009
Messages
552
Location
Rochester, NY
You shouldn't need a new hub unless yours is damaged. You will probably need to use a puller to pull the bearing off the hub shaft which can also be tricky. Or your bearing will remain in the trailing arm like mine did. In which case it will hopefully come out with a little persuasion. Mine didn't.

If you do end up replacing the eccentric bolts don't forget that it won't take too much time to remove the subframe to get at it easier. You can also clean things up a bit while you're under there. You just need to unbolt the driveshaft, calipers, and shocks. Then remove four nuts and drop it down.

Oh, and any 1g AWD rear end component will work in a gvr4 if you have gotten rid of your 4WS. AFAIK the only parts that are different are the springs, the 5-lug hubs and rotors, and the rear sway bar. If you have ditched the ABS and you use parts from a non-abs DSM it is an especially clean way to do it.
 
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