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Front Wheel Bearing Replacement

2K views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  odykjh 
#1 ·
Eric the Car Guy and a few others suggest driving out the outer race of the old bearing, then removing the inner race by cutting into it with a cutoff wheel and getting it to fracture with a chisel.

To get to that point I have to get the upper ball joint loose and the tie rod loose. I got the lower ball joint out with the wrench was a wedge trick. Any tips for those other two? The tie rod looks rusted pretty good.

Or do I have to take the knuckle out to do this? Seems like it.

Or I might take the entire knuckle to a shop.
 
#2 ·
I completed this job -- replacing the front passenger side wheel bearing. Here is how I did it. Figuring out "how" was 90% of the battle. Armed with this info -- and nothing "stuck" more than I had -- this could be done in 2-3 hours. This is for a 96 odyssey.

0) remove the lower ball joint -- I used a procedure where the lower control arm is jacked up, a wedge of suitable size (wrench) is placed between the control arm and the knuckle right at the ball joint, and the jack is lowered. That may alone pop it loose, or pound a bit on the wedge once the control arm is lowered. A ball joint separator tool might also work. I did not want want to use a fork type separator. The fork seemed like it would damage the ball joint boot.

The upper ball joint and tie rod do NOT need to be removed.

1) push axle out of hub -- used a hub puller with the center threaded rod to push the axle out. The axle was corroded in tight. Tapping it out with a hammer (a plastic hammer for certain) was not possible. Much more force was required. Bolt the puller on with 3 lug nuts and then drive the center push rod in against the axle with a large breaker bar or impact wrench. Keep the threads lubed.

Might be a good time to replace the CV axle and/or CV boot. My boot was cracked, so that was the reason for doing this to begin with. With the axle out of the hub its a very simple step to pull the axle out of the transmission with a slight bit of tugging and rotating.

2) pull hub out of bearing -- used a slide hammer attached to the hub puller. I had both a slide hammer and the hub puller. After much time I realized I could thread the slide hammer into the hub puller; fasten the hub puller to the hub with 3 lug nuts; and give it a couple of firm pulls, and the hub pulled away from the inner bearing race. Half of the race stays on the hub. I used a small 1-1/4" diameter aluminum oxide wheel (Vermont American # 16706) in a standard drill to cut a groove across the race -- whack it with a chisel a few times -- enough to fracture the metal and then slide if off the hub. The $4 wheel worked perfectly. I used some 400 grit wetdry sand paper to clean up the hub.

3) remove the remaining bearing assembly from the knuckle -- this is where I had to get creative. First remove the 4 bolts. Then, I used the front wheel drive kit from harbor freight along with the old rotor and some metal shims to pull the bearing from the knuckle. So.. I used the rotor shimmed against the knuckle so that I could use the threaded rod from the kit and one of the adapters against the outer bearing race. I was then able to use an impact wrench to tighten the threaded rod and draw the bearing out of the knuckle. The rotor was used to create a "space" to draw the bearing into. I shimmed the rotor with some 1/2" thick metal plate against where the calipers bolt onto the knuckle and I shimmed the rotor with two large washers on the opposite side behind the thin metal guard. I did not remove the thin metal guard; I simply shimmed it so that it would not be damaged.

To reassembly -- I first polished all mating surfaces (400 wetdry paper) and applied a thin layer of anti-seize. I drew the bearing into the knuckle with just the 4 bolts. That is a fairly loose fit. After 217K miles rust is what was holding the old one in! The new one nearly slides in place by hand. I used a hand ratchet and worked the bearing in slowly alternating a few turns on each bolt. This was a very simple step. To pull the hub into the inner race I used the kit from harbor freight. I placed an adapter that just covered the inner race on the backside of the knuckle; ran the rod through it and into another adapter that covered the hub, threaded on the bolt to the rod and tightened the nut to pull the hub into the inner race. Get it started straight. I used a hand ratchet to get a better feel of how it was going. It pulled the hub nicely into the inner race. When I finally bottomed out I figured it was pressed all the way in. I applied a little extra pressure with a breaker bar.


hub puller -- OEM/Front wheel drive hub puller 27037 at AutoZone.com - 2 reviews
slide hammer -- Slide Hammer at AutoZone.com - Best Slide Hammer Parts for Cars, Trucks & SUVS
fwd bearing adapter -- FWD Front Wheel Bearing Adapters
grinding wheel -- http://www.menards.com/main/tools-h...ies/pointed-edge-grinding-point/p-1477073.htm
 
#3 · (Edited)
Other tidbits
Autozone had a Japan made Timken bearing, while OReilly had a China made National bearing -- I chose the Timken. It was also lower priced.

The hub puller and slide hammer were "rentals". Effectively a 90 day return.

The HF adapters and using the rotor provides the equivalent of this -- https://www.otctools.com/products/otc-hub-grappler™ The rotor just creates a space for the bearing to be pulled into and a way to leverage against the knuckle. The rotor performs the function of parts 23 and 25.
 
#5 ·
There was a worsening roaring noise most noticeable going about 40 mph, getting louder when faster, coming from the right-ish front side. If I put the car in N, and shut off the engine while moving the noise was still there. When I turned to the right, it was much less, when I turned to the left, it was more. Thus it was the passenger side front wheel bearing. Turning left transferred more load to the passenger side wheel.

I was really hoping this was the issue, and the bearing would fix, as I had sunk money into a new CV axle, and new rotors. It sat on stands for about 2 weeks as I sorted out what to do, got tools, and tried various means to get the hub disassembled before I arrived at what worked.

Now I need to consider the timing belt, h2o pump, and both front coils/struts, and wait for the drivers side CV boot to crack open as well. That said, I now know how to get at the entire front suspension.
 
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