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Wheel bearing replacement?

sure you don't need a press to install the bearing but really it is the best way to go. the average person isn't going to have the skill to replace a bearing in the manor that you discribed. hell my father is a machinist and we do all our own work and we even take the knuckle to a shop to have bearings pressed in and out ... well now he does it himself at work but the point is a press is used.

I'm with ray, I would not recommend this method to replace a wheel bearing. use a press.
 
Dyoel182 said:
Freezing the bearing and heating the knuckle really sounds like a great idea when dealing with load bearing metals.
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Its common practice when assembling components that require an interference fit. Installing a cast iron sleeve in an aluminum cylinder and a ring gear around a flywheel are some of the first that come to mind.

You will not do any damage to most steels or cast irons until they are heated to what is called the A1 temperature, which is around 800C. Unless you are using acetylene or heat treating oven, you will have a hard time getting that hot. At this point it would be in an annealed state - prior heat treating and hot or cold working would be removed and it would loose a lot of its strength. You might remember this is what ultimately brought down the World Trade Center. Since this is a casting, it is not heat treated nor hot or cold worked, so to hurt it, you would basically have to melt it or rapidly quench it by throwing it into a bucket of water or oil when it is red hot.

Freezing the bearing will obviously do no damage to it as your freezer is only about 0 deg F. It’s a lot colder than that outside right now here. In fact, getting steel really cold, on order of -185 C using liquid nitrogen is a process called cryogenic hardening, and improves the properties of steel, especially wear resistance.

 
Tell them, maddog, I got the same flak for doing exactly as you describe. I have installed hundreds of bearings on printing presses by knocking them in, cannot remember the last one I messed up. I have hundreds of thousands of miles on different FWD cars I've had that I changed bearings on without press and not one has even thought about failing. I use the same freeze/heat thing you do, sometimes one whack can install the bearing. At $25/bearing, easiest money I ever made. If you want press fine, just don't act like it won't work. I gotta ask, what does the 440 in your moniker stand for??
 
So is this something that one person with limited (but some) mechanical knowledge can realistically do in a day? Or would it be just worth it to have a shop do it?
 
Guitarman19853 said:
So is this something that one person with limited (but some) mechanical knowledge can realistically do in a day? Or would it be just worth it to have a shop do it?
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yes you could get the knuckle off, have a shop press the bearings in and out and then reinstall it in a day.

you need to disconnect the ball joint and tie rod end. brakes will need to be removed also along with the abs sensor. remove the axle nut and press the axle out of the knucke. pull the pinch bolt and remove the knuckle from the strut. install is the reverse. getting the axle in and out of the knuckle might be a pain.
 
BrApple said:
yes you could get the knuckle off, have a shop press the bearings in and out and then reinstall it in a day.

you need to disconnect the ball joint and tie rod end. brakes will need to be removed also along with the abs sensor. remove the axle nut and press the axle out of the knucke. pull the pinch bolt and remove the knuckle from the strut. install is the reverse. getting the axle in and out of the knuckle might be a pain.
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Yeah I was reading through the How-To... I just needed to ask because I have doubts... So I'll need a new bearing, a new wheel nut, and a 38mm socket if I don't have one. And find a place to rent a torque wrench. Someone I know works at a shop that can press the bearing in.

Is there anything easy worth replacing while I have everything apart? And I assume this will need an alignment after since I am taking the tie rod off...
 
No.. not technically. You aren't CHANGING the tie-rod end.. as long as you don't spin the tie-rod end over to adjust the length then you aren't changing your alignment.
 
Ray said:
No.. not technically. You aren't CHANGING the tie-rod end.. as long as you don't spin the tie-rod end over to adjust the length then you aren't changing your alignment.
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Thanks, is there a how-to/tips to the reassembly process? I noticed the current How-To is disassembly only, now I know its the reverse but any help/guidance is good for me :help:
 
yeah.. I have actually incorporated an automated reversal procedure inside each and every one of my how-to's that I wrote.

Now, I can't say the same for the others so you might have to just figure it out with those, but mine has it. Its kind of hard to find, sometimes, though... here's the way.


scroll to the bottom of the thread, and then VERY VERY SLOWLY come up a couple of lines... when you see something just start to appear at the top of your screen, get ready to stop scrolling. That should be a picture of the FIRST step to reassembly. now, if you scroll a little further, you should see another picture.. that will be the second step.. ..


enjoy! :) :) :) :D :D :D :D :D :D
 
Well I didn't have to do this after all. Very much thanks to a buddy that works in a garage. Said just bring it down and we can do it in an hour.

It would've taken all day without air tools. I know it.

By the way, there was no movement in the o'clock test. Made the judgement on side based on the noise when turning. Much thanks to everyone here, that advice was right. It was the passenger side. All fixed now :)
 
I think it's so weird that mine went away when making LEFT turns and it was the passenger side too. My brother basically did my pass. wheel bearing with a press kit he had and it took many many hours haha
 
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