bearing with me

[greg lousy]

I have somehow never had a wheel bearing go bad until this week when my cummins and jetta both had their front passenger bearings fail/ or begin to fail anyway . The jetta is just a little whirring/ rumbling. This was today so I haven't jacked up car and 100% confirmed, but the way it increases with load and goes away without load strongly points to bearing as I've heard.
I have some beginner bearing questions and Bentley is not helping as much as usual ... is the race the outer most part of the bearing as it comes new or is there a separate race I can't seem to find anywhere?
Could someone please briefly walk me through the process of replacing bearing with a hammer and makeshift punches?
I have removed axles and and replaced boots and CVs but thats all. Also, what lube and where? Anti-seize? Thanks

[colby]

The front bearings are pressed into the hub. FYI, I've never had a bit of luck with Napa or Carquest/Advance or any other bearings. I prefer to buy german bearings online for them. Your best bet is to remove each steering knuckle and take it to a shop to have the old ones pressed out and new ones pressed in. There is a snap ring that holds it in, though I believe this is more of a "safety measure" since they are typically pressed into the knuckle/hub assembly.

There are probably ways to do it with simple tools and lots of brute force and ignorance, but I've never attempted it on these types of bearings. They are one piece + the snap ring, and come out and go in as an assembly.

[TylerDurden]

I've done quite a few of these. Too many to count.

There are tools you can borrow from autozone to do the job in-car. (I've got the tools from my first rabbit back in '84.)

The hardest part is getting the outboard inner race off the hub after the bearing assembly comes apart when the hub is pulled out.

In brief:

• Pull the hub out of the bearing, the outboard inner race comes off with it.
  Remove the circlips holding the bearing shell in the knuckle.
  Press/pull the bearing shell out of the knuckle - rust can make this a little workout.
  Battle with Satan to get the inner race off the hub. Heat can help.
  Install the outer circlip.
  Press/pull the new bearing into the knuckle until it seats against the circlip.
  Install the inner circlip.
  Press/pull the hub into the bearing.

Never put the weight of the car on the hub w/wheel unless the drive axle end is installed and tight... it holds the inner races together.

[TylerDurden]

The pictorial is very similar to my rig... the one on vortex has a fancy hub puller to get around the abs ring.

The procedure shown is reasonably close to how I do it.

[greg lousy]

thanks guys, I was playing with the idea of seeing what I could do with one of those loan a tool ball joint presses. I may end up just taking a whole bearing assembly off my golf for now, as the jetta is my only working car and I'm pressed for time and money.

[Fatmobile]

I've had machine shops mess this up before so I make it easy for them.
The hub can be removed with a BFH and impact socket of the proper diameter.

That inner race people are having a hard time removing comes off with my cold chisel between the race and the hub,.. there is a little flat spot for this.
It's a technique I've practiced and might not work well for all.

So I used to just hit one side of it with a grinder until it got thin and slid off.

Take the inner race from the old bearing so they have something to press the center in with.

Here's where they mess up. They try to use something like the small center race pressing against the new center race,...?? to press the outer race into the knuckle.

So you take the old bearing and grind down the leading edge, back about 1/4", so it doesn't get stuck in the bore along with the bearing.
Give it to them to press the new bearing in with.

The clip goes in, new bearing pressed up against this clip, brake shield, other clip, then the whole thing is set on top of the hub and the old center race is used to push it all down on top of the hub.

It's nice to get the old hub out and the old center race removed from the hub before taking it somewhere with a press. This also gives you a chance to clean up the brake shield and paint it so it'll last awhile longer. I don't think you can buy new ones.

I think I even removed the bearing from the knuckle with a BFH one time.
And have heard of freezing the bearing and heating the knuckle to get the bearing to drop right in.
The guy swore by it but others thought he heated the hub too hot and might mess with the bearing seals or grease.

[greg lousy]

thanks Fatmobile. I have a buddy whose worked in a number of shops and he told me that even some of the good ones with generally nice equipment have cheap harbor freight presses. For now I just took the whole knuckle assembly off my golf. Haven't put it on yet, ended up making the trip on the old one. I did take the axle nut off and pressed some grease into it using the big axle washer to press it in good, then checked for heat a couple times. Its a pretty small rumble. Hope to get to it Friday. I'll check back to your post when I get around to replacing the bearing on the old hub. What is a BFH?

[greg lousy]

nevermind. I think I figured out "BFH" ... I can be a little slow on the uptake

[Fatmobile]

For others that might want to know; it's the BIG hammer.