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View Full Version : replacing rear wheel bearings - how?!



MarkSanne
17-07-2012, 03:30 PM
I've searched high and low but I can't seem to find an idiot-proof guide/article/how-to regarding replacing the rear wheel bearings.

I have disconnected pretty much everything except the hand brake cable and the ABS sensor as I don't know how to disconnect those. The drive shaft is out, the 4 bolts holding the bearing in place are loosend up, but the complete handbrake assembly is 'in the way'. How on earth do I get rid of it?! Do I even need to get rid of it to get to the bearing?

Would be great for some insight!

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TAR
17-07-2012, 04:01 PM
I have done this by replacing those 4 bolts which hold the hub in place with 4 much longer ones, I then whack each bolt with a hammer. This is usually enough to shift the bearing. The rear brake shoes don't need to come off nor does the handbrake cable or ABS sensor wiring.

:happy:

MarkSanne
17-07-2012, 09:50 PM
Thanks Tim! That seemed to be the winning ticket!

For future purposes I've timelapsed the process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB6Ln54DvrI

In order explained:
- remove wheel
- remove central wheel nut (size 32)
- remove the 2 brake caliper bolts and remove the caliper from the disc
- remove the brake disc (use 2 bolts that you hopefully have and use them in the 2 theads that are in the brake disc to force the disc outwards and get it free)
- remove bolts from the lower 2 arms at the wheelhub side
- I've removed the ABS sensor wiring bolts to tuck it aside safely (however I did not disconnect the ABS sensor itself as there's no real need for it!)
- remove the bolt from the biefier arm (slide the central bolt out through the hole that is made for it that goes near the rear CV boot of the drive axle
- remove the top bolt where the wishbone connects to the curved arm
- remove the central bolt which holds the coilover/shock arbsorber

All parts are now loose and this should give you plenty enough way to manouvre the drive axle out of the splined centre. If it doesn't go automatically, use a (preferably heavy) plastic hammer and hit the drive axle piece that's still sticking out. If you don't have a plastic hammer use a spare / old central locking nut, screw it halfway on and hit it with your metal hammer or use a block of firm wood and hammer on it to free the drive axle. Anyway: avoid the drive axle threading from deforming!

Once you free the axle from the bearing/hub keep it tucked away. I've used a piece of rope to tie it away. Main concerns for this are the ABS ring that you don't want damaged. Same goes for the rubber CV boot.

Next:
- re-connect two bolts; I've bolted the centre lower arm and the coilover back up again which gives enough strength back to the assembly to be able to withstand the upcoming hammering that is to be done soon
- undo the 4 bolts that are behind the hub assembly which are finally accessable now that the drive axle and CV stuff are out of the way.
- I now bolted 4 longer bolts back in that stick out around 3cm
- hammer away with a rather heavy but compact size metal hammer, but do it with some sense and switch regularly between the between bolts
- keep at it! it'll come loose eventually. after just around 1-2 minutes I got it loose
- before unbolting, check if the central bearing and the anchorplate where the brake assembly is still mounted onto are both free/loose from each other!
- when that's done, take the longer bolts out and the complete central bearing with 5-stud wheelhub should now be free. the handbrake assembly will remain hanging on the handbrake cable (it's now a lightweight assembly, no problem

Yay! you've got what you wanted now; the bearing. But... the 5-stud wheelhub stuff is still attached to the bearing. How to get it loose?! You'll need a press. I don't have one. So I'll go to a friend who has one and press the old one out and the new one in.

Then it's simply a matter of bolting up everything in reverse order.
I bought these bearings online http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190531435905 and now that I can compare them with the orginals, I'm happy to see these are exactly the same. Not just 'the same', but exaclty the same brand! NTN to be exact. So theyll be just as good as the originals and at least good for 150000kms.

Timelapse thanks to my iphone 4s, the iphone 4x holder from dealextreme.com and the TimeLapse app and the idea for this from Barry (BraindG).

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wintertidenz
18-07-2012, 09:06 AM
If you have a slide hammer it's really easy to remove the bearing assembly - just secure the adapter with the wheel nuts onto the assembly, screw the slide hammer into the adapter, and then give it a good pull with the slide hammer.

MarkSanne
19-07-2012, 11:29 AM
Haven't got a slide hammer (yet). Will buy one at some point though. Darned handy tool! Anyways... went to my friendly MOT garage yesterday and with their hydraulic press the bearings were pressed off. Well... almost completely. Just half a bearing stayed on. On both sides. So that was a bummer. I used an angle grinder and my trusty Dremel with the stronger and larger cutting discs and carefully cut trough one side until the pressure made a hairline crack. A few taps with a small chisel made sure it was removed. Then we pressed the new bearings back on. While I was there I MOT-ed the VR2 which was one month overdue. No real troubles so that was a nice combo-visit :)

Today I've put everything back together and just came back from a testdrive; all is quiet again! No more droning noise (esp while cornering) so very happy with the result as I'm about to drive to Italy tomorrow for a week of sun and fun :)

A few pics left:
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BraindG
19-07-2012, 11:46 AM
Would love to see timelapse..

MarkSanne
19-07-2012, 12:48 PM
Yeah, I've seen that too on my iphone. Don't know what I have to do to make it play on mobile devices. Will look into it. It runs fine when viewed via PC/laptop though.

MarkSanne
19-07-2012, 09:24 PM
fixed the youtube link, it will now play on mobiles/iphones

MarkSanne
29-07-2012, 08:44 PM
Important update for anyone doing this procedure!

The central bolt the the a-centric whashers that hold the beefiest (central) arm are to be tightend firm! And moreover: they should be put back EXACTLY how they got off! If you don't do this, the wheel alignment is off and the steering can/will be SH*T.

I only noticed this after 250km on our way to Italy when my wife who drove that first part suddenly felt a strange wiggle from the rear-end of the car. At closer inspection I found out the nut that holds that specific bolt had worked it's way loose. That gives massive play in the rear wheel! We phoned our roadside help (dutch ANWB) who arranged their german counterpart (ADAC) to help us out. We drove to a nearby workshop which evaluated. The special washer was fubar and couldn't be used to get the wheel properly aligned. They had no other choise to simply firmed / secured it.

Having to drive another 1000kms to Italy and then all the way back with a f*cked up alignment truly s*cks especially when the roads are bad and/or wet... the rear end of the car feels like it want to take over the front and the only option to get there and back safely it to drive slowly. So we did.

Next bit of bad luck was at 600km when the top coolant hose decided it was necissary to spring a pinhole leak... Ducttape to the rescue for 200kms, after which I topped up the radiator with 1 - 2 liters of water every 200-300kms. In italy I bought a new hose that had at least some resemblence to the VR4 hose and cut it to lenght & it fits like a glove! At least that problem was tackeled before our trip back to holland.

Anyway: we did have a wonderful week in Italy (Peschiera del Garda)!

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Gly
30-07-2012, 01:35 AM
i have a spare rear sub frame with all the fixings,

if you get stuck looking for the missing bits.

MarkSanne
01-08-2012, 09:25 PM
Thanks Casten! It's all sorted now. Just needed a new orginal Mitsu alignment washer (MB911283) which was only a few euro and a couple of hours for tracking/alignment at a local garage who have the proper tracking equipment. The (almost brand new) Goodyear Eagle F1's at the rear wheels are horribly worn and I think I'll replace them as they slightly push the car to one side, although the tracking is set to near perfect. Costly lesson for me!