Front Wheel Bearing R&R

[ArmyX5]

I hope this help:

Pressing out old bearing, use small disc only touching the inner ring (so it can go thru the swivel)

Pressing in the new bearing, use the big disc on the back of the swivel (so it doesn't go thru) and the cup tool in front of the bearing pressing in and only touching the outside ring.

Pressing the hub into the new bearing, use the small disc only touching the inner ring. The bearing is not going anywhere because it is been held by the circlip.

[Ricky Bobby]

Thanks for the tips, jeez one can get confused here I'm surprised the harbor freight tool didn't come with directions, but for the low prices it makes sense lol!

[Ricky Bobby]

UPDATE:

So I disconnected the strut, ziptied the axle out of the way so the back of the carrier has access, then popped the 2 strut bolts back in place to the carrier was upright. I proceeded to do a whole lot of wire brushing on the axle/hub splines and went to work constructing my DOUBLE BRUTAL slide hammer. I have 2 rental slide hammers right now, put both 5 lb weights together on one rod with the flange attached to the hub with 3 lug nuts, and started BRUTAL HAMMERING.

I counted the whacks, at 34 the hub popped off. Probably would work just as well with the one 5 lb weight, just might take more whacks

Pic of my DOUBLE BRUTAL HAMMER, I have two of the below, I just put both weights on one rod (thats what she said)


The circlip was being a pain, as one side was rusted pretty bad in place in the carrier, ended up getting one side out and put my vice grips on to pull the rest out, circlip pliers weren't working so well.


Took out the dremel and started wire wheeling the rust off, got most off, but for the heavier stuff i'll use a sanding attachment on. As expected the inner race comes out stuck to the hub. Used the cut-off wheel and drilled a nice slot in the race, took a few mins going slow and making sure not to nick the hub or go too deep too quick. Using my handy industrial chisel/punch set from harbor freight ($10!) I took a nice FAT chisel and whacked the slot, that cracked it loose enough to slide off the hub, no a single lick of damage whatsoever so I will reuse the hubs, just want to clean up the rust better, especially on the inside of the hub where the axle nut is, thats where I have to use a sander bit to get the heavy stuff off. Doesn't matter really since its cosmetic but I want to get them as clean as possible. Oh yeah, don't go cheap on this job and spend the extra 8 bucks to get 2 new dust covers, mine are rusted more than a car being dipped in salt every day. The old ones are pressed in place with the hub, just give a few whacks to the back and they pop off too.

Now I was all ready to pull out the old bearing using the harbor freight Bearing press kit, but I found out the huge honking nut for the kit is too bit for any of my wrenches/sockets. My wrenches go up to 1 1/8", sockets go up to 1". A return trip to harbor freight should rectify that, going to pick up a 3-4 lb mini sledge as well, never know when another BRUTAL HAMMER is needed, especially since after the bearings are in place, I'm going to do my outer CV boots before the axle gets driven back into the hub. I DO NOT want to go through this much disassembly again any time soon!

Making a hell of a mess in the garage but having fun so far, and learning a lot about my X!


So just so I have this correct, when I press the new bearing in, I use a disc that covers the ENTIRE WHOLE WIDTH of the bearing so the pressure is spread evenly? Then when the hub gets driven in I use a disc on the backside that only puts pressure on the INNER race? One chance to get this right! haha

[ArmyX5]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

UPDATE:


So just so I have this correct, when I press the new bearing in, I use a disc that covers the ENTIRE WHOLE WIDTH of the bearing so the pressure is spread evenly? Then when the hub gets driven in I use a disc on the backside that only puts pressure on the INNER race? One chance to get this right! haha

[davintosh]

Great work; keep up the updates! (pics would be nice too. )

FYI: Pawn shops are also a great place to pick up oddball tools. I frequent a couple of shops near me and snag decent looking wrenches when I see them. They are usually just tossed in a bin marked $1 each. The e28 and e32 require a special tool to get at one of the nuts on the upper control arm; I bought a 1 1/8" combination wrench and modified it slightly with a grinder to fit the application. Best $1 spent ever.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by davintosh

Great work; keep up the updates! (pics would be nice too. )

FYI: Pawn shops are also a great place to pick up oddball tools. I frequent a couple of shops near me and snag decent looking wrenches when I see them. They are usually just tossed in a bin marked $1 each. The e28 and e32 require a special tool to get at one of the nuts on the upper control arm; I bought a 1 1/8" combination wrench and modified it slightly with a grinder to fit the application. Best $1 spent ever.

Pawn shop = Dollar store for grownups

Planning on doing a pictorial step by step when I do the other side, I figure the first side is going to take me the longest and as I am finding the techniques that are working for me it will be much easier to take pictures then

[Ricky Bobby]

Weekend update:

As expected, when pressing out the right side wheel bearing from the carrier, the cheap steel fine threaded 3/4" x 7" bolt that comes in the harbor freight kit stripped out. Yes I did grease the threads with heavy duty grease I use on my Scag.

A trip to Home Depot surprisingly fixed the problem, I picked up 2 spare zinc coated coarse thread 3/4" x 7" bolts, a pack of 3/4" lock washers, 3/4" nuts and 3/4" washers that were a bit wider that the gold ones in the harbor freight kit. I assembled and greased with a lock washer and regular washer on each side, and got to cranking with my 1 1/8" box wrench and same sized socket on the other side, the bearing is in there fairly stout but it came out with a few mins of turning the wrench, no issues there.

Cleaned the hub bore well and made sure it was spotless, pressed the new bearing in place, and pulled the hub in making sure my disc on the backside was in perfect position to only contact the inner race when drawing in the hub. Replaced dust shield before drawing in the hub as well. No issues with reinstall, spun the new hub/bearing assembly, quiet and tight as can be!


Now my last issue, replacing the outer axle boot. I don't know how guys pop that joint off against the C clip, its really on there. I tried the old DIY way, where you angle the joint and hammer against it with a mini sledge (i had a 3 lb drilling hammer), isn't coming off for shit.

Then I tried the vice grips on the shaft and prying against it, no dice.


I'm most likely going to get a few spare inner boot clamps from the dealer and just do the inner boot method, seems much easier as that joint is held with a circlip and not a pressure clip. I read on an earlier thread that there are usually issues with the total inner boot replacement so I will reuse inner boots as they have no wear anyway, and are a "stouter" rubber/plastic than the outer boot. Just need new clamps and some extra grease. I would have had the entire right side finished yesterday but the outer axle boot gave me trouble, and I wouldn't have touched them for replacement but there were cracks inside the folds, last thing I want to do is open this car up again for a while!

[Ricky Bobby]

Welp, I finally got the right side done.

Amazing. Since I bought this car I never knew it could be this quiet. I got up to 40 mph and heard nothing, went on the highway and got up to 85, heard nothing.

The right side was my major problem, I'm going to do the left side too since I bought the parts anyway, but 90% of my problems are gone.

I still have a slight shimmy I can feel from under the car, but my steering wheel doesn't shake at all? Wheels are balanced perfect, just got roadforced. I am in need of an alignment but not sure if that would cause it. Its a shimmy you can feel, like if I'm on the highway and press my hand onto the passenger seat I can feel shaking, whereas before doing the right side wheel bearing you literally could see the passenger seat shaking, vibrating, etc, now you have to put your hand on the seat to feel it.

Maybe doing the left side will cure the rest of my problem?

Front suspension is entirely new, except for tie rods. Would those induce a shimmy? Otherwise, I'm at a loss except suspecting a worn caliper. I had a brake/clutch flush a year ago but not sure what the previous owners did, if it was ever flushed at all.

Feel free to chime in, like I said who knows, I only have 50% of my job done so by doing the other side I may cure it after all.

[X5SND]

Do you feel the shimmy by your feet? Does it go away/get worse/remain constant (intensity) under braking. I'm skeptical it would be the corrosion on the caliper piston before say a sticking caliper causing uneven pad wear/transfer to the rotor. How are u suspension wise in the rear? If your shimmy is coming through the seat bottom not the wheel or pedals, I'd start looking into the rear.

[davintosh]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Welp, I finally got the right side done.

Amazing. Since I bought this car I never knew it could be this quiet. I got up to 40 mph and heard nothing, went on the highway and got up to 85, heard nothing.

The right side was my major problem, I'm going to do the left side too since I bought the parts anyway, but 90% of my problems are gone.

That's great news! Congrats on finishing!

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

I still have a slight shimmy I can feel from under the car, but my steering wheel doesn't shake at all? Wheels are balanced perfect, just got roadforced. I am in need of an alignment but not sure if that would cause it. Its a shimmy you can feel, like if I'm on the highway and press my hand onto the passenger seat I can feel shaking, whereas before doing the right side wheel bearing you literally could see the passenger seat shaking, vibrating, etc, now you have to put your hand on the seat to feel it.

Maybe doing the left side will cure the rest of my problem?

Front suspension is entirely new, except for tie rods. Would those induce a shimmy? Otherwise, I'm at a loss except suspecting a worn caliper. I had a brake/clutch flush a year ago but not sure what the previous owners did, if it was ever flushed at all.

Feel free to chime in, like I said who knows, I only have 50% of my job done so by doing the other side I may cure it after all.

Does the shimmy change/come/go at different speeds? Just at highway speeds?