• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Replacing Front Wheel Bearing,Help pleez!!

W

walter227

Be Gentle I'm New Here
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Messages
2
Location
Grimsby Ontario Canada
Hi all,
So far to change this wheel bearing , I have pulled the hub,removed the knuckle,(undid ball joint , tie rod end , abs sensor, strut) And have been trying in earnest to remove the old bearing housing, it came out in pieces but the housing is still there...can get this out myself , or does it have to be pressed in?
Thanks
Peter
 
If you have a chisel, hammer, and a very steady hand, you can knock the outer race out of the knuckle. The problem with this is that you can deform the inside of the knuckle causing excessive wear on the outer race of the bearing when it goes back in. You can use a bench vise to press the new bearing in using a bearing press kit. But my honest opinion is to take everything you have right now to a shop and have them press it in properly as to not damage things in the process. Our wheel bearings are very sensitive and as you are learning, a pain in the ass to do on your own. I have gone through four of them this year. I finally broke down and bought the entire knuckle/hub assembly 'cause I was tired of doing it. Lastly, be sure you have the tension rings on both sides of the wheel bearing or it will be disasterous in a few miles. Just make sure one of them wasn't lost when the bearing failed. If you need any more advice on this subject PM me.
 
You'll need to put one of the bearings back into the OUTBOARD portion of the bearing (where you probably knocked out the hub with one bearing stuck to it...) and then press the whole race package down through the casting. After removing the snap-ring.

You really thought you'd just take that nut off and slip this stuff in and out by hand? It's a full on press fit-both the bearing to the knuckle and the hub to the bearing.

Take it to a shop with the right tools and pay to have it done.
 
Done

Done

I pulled the hub using a puller, right you are , outer race of the bearing did stick to the hub, decided that best to bring complete assembly to a shop, once I found one willing to do it. Cost me $88.00 labor (Cdn) for them to do it , I supplied the bearing.
Took about 1 hour for me to reassemble the entire knuckle , now for the good news, no alignment needed! I have almost always found that if the tie rod end is not disturbed during the course of front end work, usually pretty lucky not needing a front alignment, unless it`s a ball joint..some say that when changing the ball joint, If you install the ball joint then lower the car to the ground with the tie rod end tight and the ball joint loose, then tighten the ball joint while the car is on the ground, no alignment needed, although I have not tried this method.

I have done this with rear struts, leave them loose on the top inside the trunk, lower the car , tighten them down, car tracks straight afterwards.

Yes , I thought I may have been able to do the bearing myself. I am a stubborn do-it-yourselfer, but after heating , wd-40 , pounding with wood , tapping with chisel , I decided at that point that before I caused any damage to the knuckle , I gave in and took it to the shop. A word to anyone else stubborn like me: TAKE IT TO A SHOP!!

Thanks everyone for the input..
Regards, Walt
 
Or pay Stazi to do it.

This is what I did. He charged $65 per side, that includes the bearing already. I believe he has access to industry grade press. The quality is really good.
 
Wow 65 bucks plus the bearing itself that is a sweet deal! I paid 20 bucks plus the bearing to a mechanic at a Ford dealership, he ended up breaking my knuckle...at least he gave back my money, so I had to settle with a knuckle from a junk yard that came with a bearing. Other shops in my area wanted 80 plus you supply bearing.
So how did you get Stazi to do it since he is not in Maryland or maybe I am misreading...I would love to get all of my bearings changed pretty soon.
 
Tony2005 said:
SVT3391 takes hub out, sends to Stazi, Stazi installs new bearing on hub, sends back to SVT3391.
Click to expand...
Nope.

Better yet, here is the story:
He has one set at hand from another CSVT. I paid him $130 (including the s/h). Asked him to send to me after he receives the core charge ($250). When I finally got time to do the suspension (OK, to have FastCougar do my suspension), I sent him the fully refundable $250 on Monday and told him that coming Saturday I needed those set. He was on a trip then got back on Wed. Sent OVERNIGHT and told me don't even ask the cost because I don't wanna know. I received the pair on Thursday. That Saturday the weather wasn't nice so the installation was cancelled. However later we found out he did that pair for another local guy. So FastCougar had to send his (from his then imobilzed Mavro Gato project Cougar) to Stazi. Then he refunded me the core without me asking. After FastCougar did my suspension, he kept my knuckles.

He mentioned he may send Stazi that pair of knuckles and has him rebuild those with new bearings, while he fabricates the turbo kit.

I also got Aussie endlinks from Stazi too. Very good person to deal with.

You can definitely send him a PM asking if he currently have a pair at hand. If so, then you're in luck because you can send him $130 + $250(core) and do your suspension in one day without losing the use of your car. Then send him back your pair and get a refund.
 
IIRC, It cost me about $15 to ship it to him from Pittsburgh. I was w/o my car for a few days, but I keep using him because 1. It is done correctly and 2. It is cheaper than anyone around me.:laugh: Def. a great guy to work with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top