Infiniti G20 Nissan Primera Forum banner

How To: Replace Front Wheel Bearings

73K views 106 replies 39 participants last post by  Dane 
#1 ·
First off let me say, Jon if you don't make this a sticky I might cry and pout and stuff :teeth:.
Some of the tools and equipment needed for this project are going to be a bit pricey but can all be had for around the same price a shop would charge. I'm not sure what is available in different locations but I got my press from Harbor Freight for less than $150 I believe.
Leave yourself a good full day to complete this the first time around.

Tools Needed:
Hydraulic Press
Impact Wrench
Torque Wrench
Sledge Hammer
Small hammer
Bearing Separator
Needlenose pliers
Flathead Screwdriver
2 1/8" Socket
36mm Socket
30mm Socket
22mm Socket
17mm Socket
12mm Socket
10mm Socket
2.5" pvc pipe coupler

Parts Needed:
(2) New Front Wheel Bearings
(4) New Front Wheel Bearing Seals

First jack up your G and take off the wheels. If you cannot complete this step without a walkthrough this project is not for you. If you can then theres no reason why you cant spend the same amount of money you would at a shop but learn something in the process and know it was done right.

Now start by taking off the brake caliper and caliper carrier with your 17mm socket. Use the 10mm to unbolt the brake line from the shock. You can either hang the caliper/carrier from wire or put something under it. DO NOT JUST LET IT HANG! Remove your brake rotor. Next use your 12mm socket to unbolt the ABS sensor, be very careful as this piece is not only fragile but expensive. Unscrew ABS line using your 10 and 12. If the sensor is being a pita you can use your flathead and give it a little tap to loosen it up.

Put it out of harms way. Unbolt the upper control arm.

Ok now that all the easy stuff is out of the way, take off the castle nut holding the tie-rod on then flip it upside down and screw it on till it is flush.

Now for some fun :naughty:

Take your sledge and give it one good hit to break it loose. Don't tap on it lightly or do medium hits. One good one or your gonna distort the nut and bolt.

Now you should have something like this.

I took this as a perfect chance to try out the new craftsman impact wrench

Remove the cotter pin from the axle nut and hit it a few times with your impact wrench until it comes off.

Ok, now you want to take the cap off of the top of the steering knuckle to expose the top steering knuckle nut. Loosen that nut and remove it. Now separate the top of the steering knuckle.

Once thats out you should be able to slide the CV axle out of the hub and only have the lower control arm still attached.

The lower control arm is a bit tricky, get your 22mm wrench and put pressure on the nut then lightly tap it with a small hammer to get an impact wrench effect till it comes loose.

After you get the castle nut off flip it over and give it one good hit with the sledge.

Sweet! You are now done with the removal of the steering knuckle. Now the easy part............NOT! haha

Take your nifty seal puller or a flathead screwdriver and remove the inner seal.

Take out the inner snapring using snapring pliers or needlenose pliers.

Head over to your hydraulic press and set up some 2x4's to put the knuckle on so there is room for the hub to be pressed out.

This is where the 30mm socket comes in, it's a perfect fit to the hub spindle. Line everything up and slowly but surely press out the hub.

Next is to remove the inner race from the hub spindle. Tighten down your bearing separator on the hub but leave a tiny bit of play. Now press the hub off of the inner race.

Now you have a nice bare hub.

Remove the outer snapring from the knuckle. Put the knuckle hub side down on the press and use your 2 1/8" socket to press the old bearing out.During this process my brake disc protector thing got really bent up, I just removed it.

At first i put the knuckle down on solid steel to break the bearing loose but then propped it up using 2x4's so the bearing could be pressed all of the way out.

Time to start pressing the new bearings in. Put the outer snapring back in. Leave the plastic piece in the middle for now so that the races don't fall out and get all dinged up. Now carefully line everything up on the press and begin to very very very slowly press in the new bearing.

Once the new bearing contacts the snapring you have successfully pressed in a new wheel bearing.

Now insert the inner snapring and pack the new seals with lots and lots of grease. Once they are packed put them in using the pvc coupler. Put it over the seal and tap around the edge with the small hammer until it seats properly. Do this with both the inner and outer seals and this time. Once the seals are in you can remove the plastic piece holding the races together.
Stack up everything in this order from top to bottom on the press:
30mm socket
Hub
Knuckle
36mm socket
Steel Plate

Slowly press the assembly back together being very careful not to damage the seals until the hub has fully seated on the outer race.
Now all thats left is to put everything back together the same way you removed it and enjoy your new wheel bearings.:D

Lastly if an 18 year old kid can do this i'm sure most members on this forum will have no problem. Hopefully this writeup will expedite your front wheel bearing replacement.
 
See less See more
21
#6 ·
Bad wheel bearings make a whiiiiring type noise, hard to explain. Typically the noise gets louder when you turn in a certain direction. As for the press I just bought the cheap on sale Harbor Freight one. Not the best quality but perfect for the home mechanic.
 
#17 ·
Perfect - EXACTLY what I was looking for. I have had a noisy front end since buying the car in 2002 but it never got any worse. Now that I am rebuilding front end (brakes, axles, struts, springs) I finally took note of the right front bearing having just a little noise when turned compared to the left front.
Note: if you are military, related to military or have a friend in the military nearby, the auto hobby shops on bases have all manner of bearing presses.
 
#78 ·
This thread looks like it will help me a lot, as I'm going to try to replace the bearing my self. My only question (for now), is can someone shed some light on what the item linked below used to be? Whatever it was was apparently discontinued or something b/c it is now a "drip irrigation kit", which I dont think will help.

Thanks
 
#21 ·
This needs to be added to the uber cool howto section.

Ok, so I need to get this done, but don't want to buy a press to do it. I would just have to get the knuckle, bearing, and hub separated so I can take it to a machine shop to press it in right? How would I know if the hub is bad?
 
#24 ·
Dont need to take the axle out of the tranny just out of the hub. Not real hard.

Take off wheel, axle nut, move brakes out of the way, remove kingpin nut, tie rod, lca ball joint, and then the hub is out. I took it to a machine shop to have em press out/in bearing because I dont have a press. Finally, reassemble.
 
Top