Wheel bearing job from hell.....

[Crowz]

Well I managed to change the wheel bearing on my 2005 bmw x5 3.0.

I'm sitting with bruises from head to toe and semi conscious. Not responsible for spell errors. Heck not responsible for complete thoughts.

I have changed a few hundred wheel bearings in my day. At least 100 cv axles.

I have NEVER been through the hell I went thru today in all of those jobs.

I watched this cool video showing how easy it was to change the front wheel bearing. For the most part the guys video was dead on with minor changes since he was doing the job on a x3 and mines an x5. Generally it covered each step nicely.

I should of just quit after taking the wheel off the car. Really. The axle nut was crushed onto the axle. Sure they are supposed to be dinged to keep them from coming off on two spots. But some moron had CRUSH the entire thing in with god knows what.

After 30 minutes of battling with that and finally DRILLING holes in the nut to flare it out enough I had the front tire off. YEAH!

Should of stopped there.....

Next I went to tap the cv axle out some like the guy in the video did with a tiny hammer and then even used a screw driver to finish knocking it thru. LOL not my x5. I made it up to 10 lb sledge hammer and still didn't seem to move it much. Maybe 1/4 of an inch. Maybe.

So I decide to skip that for now and took everything else off. EVERY one of the control arms, steering linkage etc was in there like no tomorrow. After beating the snot out of the stuff I finally had everything undone linkage wise. Even kept from damaging the wheel sensor and the leveling sensor for the headlights. I was feeling kind of proud of that since I read where so many had the sensor break off and the auto leveling sensor being fragile too.

Then I returned to the cv axle from hell. I beat this thing for 4 hours straight. I kept at it since it was moving verrry slowly. I had moved it a full inch and 1/2 now. Major progress or so I thought.

Eventually I realized the axle wasn't actually moving. I had mushroomed the entire axle 1 and 1/2 inches worth

I decided since the thing wouldn't come out I would introduce the bastard to my new 20 ton press I bought Saturday. I was sure they would be goooood friends.

So I proceed to remove the axle shaft from the chunk side. This wasn't that hard the heart attack part was when it snapped free like it should and then kept coming out of the chunk and coming out and coming out.

I didn't know it had a few feet of shaft to it and at this point I figured with how my day had gone I had just messed up my front end and was pulling out the carrier shaft along with the cv shaft from the other side of the car....

After going inside and double checking what the thing was supposed to look like and deciding it wasn't destroyed I took the entire steering knuckle and several feet of cv shaft over to my press. Trust me trying to feed all of the cv shaft thru the base of the press while holding the steering knuckle over your head is not fun or easy.

I finally got it in there and proceeded to press the thing out. I shattered the first impact socket I tried to use as a peg to push the axle shaft out. Then crushed two more solid metal spacers I had. After mangling a hand full of gear it finally let go with a horrible screeching sound and pop. I'm thinking YES its over finally. Nope it just moved 2 mm tops. This process had to be repeated about 20 times before I finally got the axle out of the hub.

That's when I realized how bad it was mushroom from the hammering.

So I called autozone and ordered a new axle which will be in tomorrow morning.

The funny part is the inside of the hub and the axle were spotless. Not one bit of rust or corrosion so no clue why it was in there so bad.

Next onto the flange the wheel bolts onto. Of course this came off with half the bearing seized to it. But I'm ready for this part. I had run into this on my other bmw's. I go to get the bearing splitter. Turns out a friend borrowed it and didn't bring it back. So I have to wait 3 hours on that to get back to me.

So I turn to the wheel bearing swap itself. That part actually went semi smoothly with the new press.

Then when the bearing separator finally made it back to me I removed the piece off the hub and pressed it into the wheel bearing. I wish I had a video of the wife trying holding the bearing separator rig while I turned the bolt with the ratchet.

So now I have a shiny new wheel bearing installed in the hub sitting beside my X5. When the axle gets in tomorrow at autozone I MAYBE will get it all put back together but at the rate my luck is going Im not counting on it...


Anyone else been thru this much just the change the a wheel bearing on their X5? Is this what its going to be like from now on????

[wpoll]

I did a rear wheel bearing recently and while it was challenging and took some time (about 6 hours) it went really well. I did it all in situ - I didn't remove the knuckle - on a rear that would be a mission anyway! I did drop the entire exhaust, to get the rear CV axle clear of the diff etc. but it was pretty quick.

I did a front wheel bearing (and hub) on a 2005 Subaru a few days ago (for a colleague) and it took just over an hour. SO much easier ...

Yep - the BMWs can be very tough.

[fillmoho]

i did mine last year on my 01x5 3.0 it was fairly easy taking off entire knuckle only prob i hsd was i to bought a 20 ton press at HF! and when i went to instsll bearing it went n crooked and trashed the damn thing twice!!! so i wound up buying 3 bearings!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by Crowz

...

Next onto the flange the wheel bolts onto. Of course this came off with half the bearing seized to it. But I'm ready for this part. I had run into this on my other bmw's. I go to get the bearing splitter. Turns out a friend borrowed it and didn't bring it back. So I have to wait 3 hours on that to get back to me.

...

Next time (if there ever is a next time!) just groove the inner race stuck on the hub with a cutting disc on an angle grinder and then smack the groove with a cold chisel - it'll crack and you can pull it off by hand. Takes about 90 seconds....

[Crowz]

Originally Posted by wpoll

Next time (if there ever is a next time!) just groove the inner race stuck on the hub with a cutting disc on an angle grinder and then smack the groove with a cold chisel - it'll crack and you can pull it off by hand. Takes about 90 seconds....

Once I had my bearing tool it didn't take but about 3 minutes or so to remove it. If I had a vise to hold the thing I could of done it instantly with my air impact turning the tool. Wife holding the bearing tool took longer as I turned her as often as I turned the bearing

[andrewwynn]

Second that method. (Cut and break). I have another bearing job to do, bearing arrived yesterday. I'm thinking of cutting a groove next to the hub and using heat to make the bearing race bigger to push it off rather than break it off. Don't be afraid of these as DIY but caveat: not for the beginner. Two things for the front: 1) it takes 15-20T to press out the old bearing (at least on 2001 model). The 3/4" bolt in the front bearing kits is only designed to handle 23,000#. I turned three of those bolts into smooth rods while changing two front bearings. 2) it can be an absolute beast to break the initial torque on the axle nut so maybe get a friendly mechanic to break that nut loose before starting.

You could make your own bearing press from 1" grade 8 bolt and some large metal plates and spacers made from steel pipe and washers.

Don't use the lug bolts to push off the old bearing: fit rear use side hammer, for the front some 14mm bolts with the tip ground a bit so the threads don't get mangled works good to push off the hub (I just let the tool mangle the dust shield and replaced it)

I upgraded my bearing press to 1" push rod so now it's upgraded to 62,000# and I don't expect problems in the future. I used the big bolt to press on a back bearing and that was a cake walk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Crowz]

My wheel bearing job... The gift that just keeps giving....


I finished up and had started putting most of my tools up feeling veeery happy this was over with. Then I went to put the wheel on the car and it wont go on.

Hmmm

After battling with it a for a bit I then realized what had happened. In my quest to hammer the cv axle out I missed quite a few times hitting the nose of the wheel hub. I mushroom it out too

So now I'm grinding the wheel hub down so I can get the wheel back on slowly but surely. Decided to take a break and post this between grinding on it.

Will this ever end ?????

[Crowz]

Ok wheels on. I started out with a flat file and that wasn't getting anywhere fast. The only other grinder I had was a dremel tool. I was pretty amazed how easily I was able to file down the hub with the dremel tool. Was still a very tight fit but I walked the lug bolts as I tightened them slowly a bit at a time. The wheel finally pulled flush and all the bolts stopped as expected effort wise so I think Im good to go. Will know after a test drive. Did do a final check with the torque wrench to make sure I had them tight enough.

[andrewwynn]

I was concerned about exactly the same when I was banging on the hub center but I used a large headed hammer so less pressure less denting.



Here's my upgraded 1" bolt bearing press. Non challenge pressing the back bearing in as it probably takes 7-10T of force vs the 31T capability. As you can see it's a relatively easy concept a couple steel plates with 1" hole and an 8" bolt. I turned it 80% on by hand but did use impact wretch for the last 20%

The stacked plates are because the bolt isn't fully threaded.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Crowz]

Nice looking setup. I hope I don't need to work on the car for a little bit. I don't think there is enough left in me for any more major projects right now.

I imagine the radio install day after tomorrow should be fun as I probably wont even be able to move by then.