How to replace front wheel bearings

[Peter Jones]

I had to change some wheel bearings today so I thought I'd shown you how it's done. (or at least how I do it)

Loosen off the axle nut and wheel nuts.

For the record this is a 3/4" breaker bar and the socket is 30mm.




Jack it up and put it on stands.



Pull the disc and caliper off.



Support the caliper so there's no weight on the hose.



Remove the hub. Two bolts on the strut, one on the ball joint and one nut on the tie rod end.





Press out the drive flange.



Press out the bearing after removing the circlips.



Press the inner race off the drive flange. (They always get stuck on here.)



So stuck in fact that I had to cut this off with a Dremel.

[Peter Jones]

This is a new bearing kit, you get a new circlips, new nut and bolt for the ball joint, a new axle nut and a new nut for the tie rod end.



Put a new circlip in the outside groove.



Press in the new bearing. I use a ground down old one as a drift.

It's ground down just enough to slide through the hub with no resistance.



Put the other circlip in now.






This is a stuffed hub. The axle nut was loose and the inner race was overloaded. The diameter is actually 1/2mm down in the worn section. This one has the added bonus of a grinder scar from someone cutting off and old race.



Put the backing plate on NOW. Use loctite.

[Peter Jones]

Press in the drive flange. You need to be careful to press on the inner race so you don't damage the bearing. I use an old inner race here with an old CV inner on top to add a bit more height.



Here it is from the back.



And the front.



Now it's all ready to re-install.

It's very , very , VERY IMPORTANT that you do the axle nut up as tight as you can before you lower the car and that you do the nut all the way up before you move the car even one inch.

Never, ever move the car with the axle nut loose or you'll stuff the wheel bearings.

I got that press off e-bay for $70, second hand and rusty, it's been very handy.

Pete

[Oneofthegreats]

Great write up as usual Pete.

Especially about "not" moving the car without the driveshaft hub nuts being effing tight before you lower & move the car anywhere!!!!

With the amount of wheel bearings I've done over the years, a press like that has been on the workshop equipment list of things to get for quite some time.




Just to add a quick little tip.

When reinstalling the Circlips in the grooves. I always like to fit the opening of the clip facing the top/up, so no dirt,dust, water or any crap can get into & sit in the circlip groove & cause rust etc.

[GRN_VAGN]

Silly question, but what is the Torque rating for the Nut?
I know it has to be bloody tight, but is there a figure to follow?

Good write up though mate!!

[Jace]

Great write up.

[Peter Jones]

Great write up as usual Pete.

Cheers!

Especially about "not" moving the car without the driveshaft hub nuts being effing tight before you lower & move the car anywhere!!!!

Yep, I learnt that the hard way. I rolled that car back 1 metre to get better access to the hub and stuffed the race from the get go.

With the amount of wheel bearings I've done over the years, a press like that has been on the workshop equipment list of things to get for quite some time.

I particularly like this style because of the big aluminium foot under the jack. I've used some of the cheap ones on the market now that have a 1 inch rod to press with and they suck as they tend to kick sideways. The big plate keeps things nice and parallel.

When reinstalling the Circlips in the grooves. I always like to fit the opening of the clip facing the top/up, so no dirt,dust, water or any crap can get into & sit in the circlip groove & cause rust etc.

Cool , must remember that for next time, although by the looks of the photos I've accidentally done just that!

Pete

[Peter Jones]

Silly question, but what is the Torque rating for the Nut?
I know it has to be bloody tight, but is there a figure to follow?

Good write up though mate!!

Effing tight is a good approximation but 173 Ft.lb is the magic number according to Robert Bentley.

Most people won't have a torque wrench that reads that high, you'll have to do the math on how much you weigh and work out the length of lever you need to stand on to achieve it.

Pete

[gldgti]

the only thing i would add is too:

> spray a squirt of lithium grease into the bore of the hub before pressing in the new bearing - this eases its ingress as well as making it nice and easy next time. likewise, a little spray onto the hub is a good idea.

[Preen59]

Effing tight is a good approximation but 173 Ft.lb is the magic number according to Robert Bentley.

Most people won't have a torque wrench that reads that high, you'll have to do the math on how much you weigh and work out the length of lever you need to stand on to achieve it.

Pete

You've done early Kombi rear wheel bearings, haven't you Pete? Dad's got a "Special" bit of pipe for those bad boys. haha.

[Jarred]

You've done early Kombi rear wheel bearings, haven't you Pete? Dad's got a "Special" bit of pipe for those bad boys. haha.

about 2m long and got STOP written on one end??? hahah

[dubsweeper]

I have just disasembled my left hand front wheel bearing housing !! as i have a 16v conversion mk1 will the bearings be the same or would they be a mk2 variety ? just confused because of the drive shaft outer cv joint that goes into the spline of the hub !! best i can explain , also i didnt realise i have to set the camber again ? how ? cheers

[Peter Jones]

Easiest way to tell if you've got it all apart is to measure the diameter of the wheel bearing.

MK1 is 64mm
MK2 is 72mm (possibly 66mm in some models)

Pretty unlikely that you'd have MK2 Hubs, it's not a straight swap.

Easiest way to set the camber would be to have a wheel alignment done. Otherwise you leave the shock connected to the hub so you don't upset the setting.

[dubsweeper]

Easiest way to tell if you've got it all apart is to measure the diameter of the wheel bearing.

MK1 is 64mm
MK2 is 72mm (possibly 66mm in some models)

Pretty unlikely that you'd have MK2 Hubs, it's not a straight swap.

Easiest way to set the camber would be to have a wheel alignment done. Otherwise you leave the shock connected to the hub so you don't upset the setting.

im going to take the bearing to get pressed out before work tomorrow , had a basterd of a time getting the wheel bearing housing off from the bottem ball joint and tie rod !!!

Is it tricky to put back on? yes so basically i will have to take it in for a wheel aligment , cheers for that ....

[sports racer]

One of my old racing magazines has the following tip for extending the life of the front bearings on racing Golfs. - Don't use a torque wrench. Find a long piece of pipe to use as a lever, slip a slightly larger long pipe over the end so it's now twice as long, find a 3rd long pipe and do the same. Now get a few mates to help tighten the bearing. When all the pipes are bent more than 30 degrees the bearing is tight enough.