Changing A Wheel Bearing.

[Ernie53]

Has anyone managed to change a (front) wheel bearing at home?

 

i have an S reg S1.

 

It has a repeated knocking of the brake pads on one side after i changed the brake discs. I have tried all 4 new discs on that wheel, packing the pads etc. to no avail.

 

i noticed that the bearing is a bit grindy and not too smooth so i believe i need to change it.

 

the book says to pull out the old brearing and then heat the hub carrier to 90 deg for 20 mins in order to slot in the new bearing.

 

HAS ANYONE TRIED THIS ???

DID IT WORK ???

IS THERE ANYTHING I NEED TO KNOW???

 

If not, does anyone know of any GOOD machine shops etc ( in the TELFORD area). that can replace the bearing with a press.

 

Thanx...

[Zircon450]

Other than saying "Give Mike at Horizon Motorsport a ring" I can't help you out much. He may know of somewhere close to you, or certainly he will try and fit you in to suit.

Bloody Cars !

[JohnnyM]

do you have a ten tonne floor press available at home ???!!!

[AndyD]

Its possible to do it at home but there is a real risk of damaging the hub if you dont have the correct equipment - IE a press, even then you can do damage ..

 

I have changed the front ( and rears ) on mine and while heating up the hub helps ( in boiling water ) you still need to press the bearing in straight.

 

Other possability is to just buy a new hub with the bearing in situ - I think its about 90 quid total - but then your camber may be different with a new hub ... but at least you can do it at home ..

 

Also the bolts through the bearing may not want to play ( I have one that was stripped as new ) - so that can be a pain and to top it off the circlips holding teh bearing in can be rusted bad and so a good set of inside circlip pliers are needed ..

 

Oh yeah, you cant easy torgue up the bottom 17mm bolts so you ideally need a "crows" foot to do it proper and .. dont forget the correct "goo" for the threads and metal to ali ..

 

Horizon aint that far away now is it

[Martin_S]

I believe that the entire hub carrier complete with new bearing fitted is reasonably cheap and will save you a whole of hassle. You will need to check the tracking after fitting, of course, but in theory nothing should change too much, provided you save and refit the original shims.

 

Failing that, I have changed press-fit bearings without the aid of a press, but it's a bit hit and miss. You really do have to heat the casting up to temperature to expand it first, then you have to *very carefully* drift the new bearing into place, making sure it is square as it goes into the hub carrier. If the hub carrier is hot enough and you are lucky, they will just drop into place leaving you wondering what all the fuss was about. If you are unlucky, you will end up with a shagged hub carrier and a wrecked new bearing, as it jams in the carrier at a very slight angle as you try to drift it in!

[Ernie53]

Thanks all,

 

I have got a new bearing from Eliseparts (with circlips and a new nut) and have found a local guy who can do the job.

 

i will update this thread with comments on completion of the job.

 

[Dixie]

Quick note!

 

Another (easier) way to get the new bearing in is to use a decent size threaded bar. 2 decent nuts on each end and a load of decent size washers. put the bar through the hub and new bearing and tighten the nut on top of the bearing down. That should press it in nice and straight with all the necessary force!!

 

Although it's normally fairly cheap to get someone else to do it if you have all the bits off the car already.