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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.
 
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#56 ·
Are you sh*ting me!? That thing unplugs!? :angry: All pics I have seen of the ABS sensor show one long cable. I thought it WAS stupid to have one long cable.

Anyway, I would still remove it as a precaution so that shop does not accidentally damage it when they press the bearing. I had the opportunity to watch while the shop worked on mine, but everyone else might not. I don't think the shop has a vested interest to make sure that the sensor is ok.

Still, that really grinds my gears! :angry:
 
#57 ·
Plug is inside the body- one of those big plugs with a hole in the middle, just pulls out. My experience is that you're much more likely to damage/destroy the sensor taking it out of the hub (at least here in corrosion country) than when pressing out the bearings.

BTW, you didn't mention getting a wheel alignment after having all that front susp gear apart?
 
#61 ·
one thing i'd like to add regarding removal of the spindle, the speed sensor is a muthafcker to remove!

i literally spent like 1.5 hours just trying to remove it!

i ended up breaking it in half , oh well at least the helicopter noise is gone :)



i ended up breaking the sensor in half, then after removeing the knuckle i used a 10 mm long socket and tapped the inside of the sensor, this is what i should have done from the begining.


i also had to soak it in PB blaster
 
#63 ·
Thank you sooooo much for posting this!!! you are a life saver for sure. i performed this a couple of weeks ago, followed your directions almost to a t and they proved to be more han helpul, and the pics you included were excellent reference points. i would also like to add that the rotor shield can be saved. i avoided bending mine up by slightly pressing the the hub apart from the knuckle while using metal plates for spacers. ultimately working the shield off as that too is pressed on. and do note its orientation on the knuckle. also (lol) i wound up with a new impact, with a compressor producing 80 PSI my impact rated for 135ft lbs could not free the spindle nut. i did find that 90psi to an impact rated to 160 does the job just dont get over zealous and use it to put your calipers back on!
 
#65 ·
You don't mention the metal ring that goes between the axle and the hub, outside the inner grease seal. I just replaced the axle on my 91 G20 and this metal ring seems loose. The wheel still spins but there is some resistance and I get a metal on metal scraping sound occasionally. Anyone know about this metal ring and how it should be installed?
 
#67 ·
Quick note on using the HF wheel bearing press I talked about: use an impact wrench (I used the orange HF electric one) with the kit to remove the old bearing. Then, grease up the new bearing and it should go in pretty easily. I used the impact to put it in, too, but that could conceivably somehow be bad for the bearing, so I don't know whether or not I can recommend it.
 
#68 ·
gonna revive this again. the OP correctly pushes the bearing into the spindle by placing the socket on the outer race of the bearing, However he presses the hub into the bearing and doesn't support the bearing at all. this could cause enough side load on the bearing to ruin it. you should use the old inner race or something that diameter to support the inner race of the bearing from the back while pressing the hub in.
 
#75 ·
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.
he uses a 36mm socket on the bottom and supports the knuckle not the bearing. should have supported the inner race of the bearing. not saying this was a fatal mistake, just that it isn't the proper method.
 
#81 ·
At least 5 SCFM at 90 psi, preferably over 6 SCFM. With that said, it's going to be a lot cheaper if you're just starting out to get an electronic impact. Air tools will be $250+ to get decent stuff; an electronic impact is $80 from Harbor Freight.
 
#83 ·
Hope this is still alive! I need to remove both axles on my '96 g20. They need new cv boots. Can I use part of this sequence to get the axle out of the hub? After that, it looks like there are a few bolts holding the passenger side axle to the engine which may be a real chore.
 
#85 ·
Lots of good info in this thread. I am more inclined to use a shop press rather than that HF tool kit though.... but I understand its good for those that don't have access or room for a press.
 
#86 ·
Heya! I figured I would post my troubles here instead of creating a new thread, in case anyone runs into the same trouble as me.. I am attempting to get to my wheel bearing so I can take it to a shop to get pressed.

I have removed the brakes, axle nut, and tie rod. (I also removed the ABS sensor, by breaking it :( it had a broken bolt and was completely rusted in place) I have removed the cover on the top steering knuckle and removed that bolt.. BUT,, I cant seem to get the hub to fall out of / separate from the top steering knuckle..

OP has a picture of a flat head being used to separate the two, but I cannot get them to come apart.. It seems like I am missing something? Do I need to take apart any other part of the steering knuckle?

Basically I am stuck at this step.


And cannot get the hub to fall out as such


Should the lower control arm just fall down, allowing the hub to slip out of the top steering knuckle?

thanks yall
 
#88 ·
Couple things here:

First make sure you are lifting both wheels off the ground preferable from the center front end of the vehicle (crossmember) this will unload the sway bar for you and make your job much easier.

Second if your on stock LCA's and they are in good condition don't expect them to fall down, by design there always in a bind.

Third only push down just enough on the LCA to remove the spindle from the king pin, you don't want to rip or tear your LCA's rubber bushings buy pushing them down to far or by standing on them to aggressively because you might ruin the bushings.

P.S. If it looks dry in the king pin area spray it with some lube and them use hard rubber melot to break free if its stuck them you should be able to separate it but not if you dont have the car jacked from the center unloading the sway bay

If you had my control arms it's even easier ;)

 
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