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Third gen front wheel bearing replacement video

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Mendel Leisk, Oct 26, 2017.

  1. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Pretty good video.The old one gets fairly chewed up in the process of removal with an air hammer. He does not remove the whole assembly, does it in place, which seems to go ok. Also, He does NOT unstake the axle nut indent at the outset, not so good I think. But interesting/funny:



    (Just curious for anyone viewing: does it start at the beginning for you?)
     
    #1 Mendel Leisk, Oct 26, 2017
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2017
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  2. m.wynn

    m.wynn Senior Member

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    Eric O. ftw!!!

    Starts right at 0:00 for me, Mendel.
     
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  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    20 minutes, it would take me a day lol
     
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  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I liked seeing how that went with an air hammer, since I bought one last winter and I've been thinking that's what I'd try, if I ever have to take on that job again.

    It looks like if he had used a hammer bit instead of a chisel bit, he might even have avoided chewing up the old hub like that. (Not that it matters if you're throwing the old one out, but if you ever had a need to remove the hub hoping to reuse it, I haven't thought of any other ways to do it, but that might work.)

    But overall, I'm not sure I'll hire this guy to do my hubs....

    "If you've gotta take that off, you can probably knock this stake mark out of it if you want to, but we'll see if the impact's got enough mustard here to take it off."

    Umm ... sure ... it does ... but that wasn't the point ... the point was to avoid doing what you just did to the end of the axle, which explains why the new nut at the end of the video needs the impact driver to thread on ... and the "proper torque spec" now no longer means what it did ....

    In the process of tying a wire onto the caliper (why? to protect the brake hose from damage), stretches the hose right over the edge of the dust shield (3:38) ... ouch! don't look at the camera, watch what you're doing! :)

    The several comments about being careful not to hit the speed sensor wouldn't have to be made if it just got taken out first, which I think is the manual's approach.

    I did like the idea of Krown all over the knuckle and hub to fend off corrosion. I've never tried that stuff. Last time, I just used a dab of anti-seize where hub fits to knuckle. I think that should help, but I never had to take that one off again, so I'll never know.

    -Chap
     
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  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Foibles aside, you can glean stuff from it I think. Yeah I watch with dismay as he chiselled the heck out of it. Maybe with a hammer tip, rotate the base enough that you can get the hammer 'round back (with dust shield out of the way) and get a few taps from the back side. As soon as he managed to that, it started coming out.
     
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    [QUOTE="Mendel Leisk, post: 2624409, member: 69191"I watch with dismay as he chiselled the heck out of it.[/QUOTE]

    I watched with relish as he chiseled the heck out of it, thinking the whole time of the ones I did by hand with a slide hammer. :D

    But yeah, I think a hammer end might possibly allow reuse of a hub (say, if you needed to replace a damaged dust shield or rear drum backing plate, but didn't want to replace a good hub just because it's in the way).

    Or maybe not ... I suppose it might still really work-harden the parts of the hub the bolts depend on....

    -Chap
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    It's too bad Toyota doesn't spec. some threaded holes on the inside flanges of these bearing hubs, similar to the rotors. Or at the least, some wedge shaped pockets around the underside of the flange, something you could put either a regular chisel or an impact chisel in, shock it loose.
     
  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    It looks like the fronts bolt through from the knuckle, and the holes in the hub have the threads. So, yeah, if he had just applied enough of Big Nasty to rotate the hub until the holes didn't line up, it might have been possible to run the bolts in from the hub side and press it the rest of the way out.

    I don't know that that would work for the rears, where I think the bolts go the other way. That might have to be All Nasty.

    -Chap
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    This second gen front bearing removal, he uses an air hammer to rotate the bearing enough that the bolt holes on either side or beyond each other, then removes one wheel stud with air hammer I'd assume) and drops a suitable longer through the hole, threads it through the bearing flange hole, and continues screwing it in against the backing piece, until the bearing pops free. I suppose if his bolt was just the right length, he could use that removed stud hole, and get a couple of bolts going thus, diagonally opposite, just to guard against cocking the bearing too much.

    Seems like similar would work with third gen. I'm wondering would this be possible without air hammer, maybe with a drift punch, big hammer and sore arms, lol.

     
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Here's a pic of (our) rear bearing. As you note, the bolts go in from the outside, and the threads are in the cross beam. And sadly I think, it nigh impossible to run the bolts in from behind, it's too enclosed.

    With all the big holes on the outer flange though, you could run a bolt from the front, with big washers, and create a jacking action that way. And hopefully not separate the front and rear of the bearing.

    IMG_7846.JPG

    Here's my thought on how to do that on the rear:

    IMG_7847.JPG
    (Something like this)

    With the front you could do similar, IF you tapped 2~3 of the studs out.
     
    #10 Mendel Leisk, Oct 26, 2017
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2017
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  11. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    I actually watched this video before undertaking the activity about a month and 2 k miles ago;).

    Let’s just say he’s a bit of a show man:cool:.

    While I do not have an air chisel, I do have an impact wrench, but didn’t use it. Got the axle nut loose with a breaker bar in about 10 seconds, rather than the ~ 2 minutes he was “grinding away” at it:confused:.

    Separating the rotor and hub assembly didn’t require the air chisel either. Sprayed some pb blaster and let it sit for a bit, grabbed a hammer, screwdriver and chisel and job done:).

    What he doesn’t show in the video is the damage to the axle threads he has caused by impacting the axle nut off without drilling out or addressing the dimpled axle nut:eek:. A nasty surprise if not prepared for that.

    Good for entertainment though(y).
     
    #11 Raytheeagle, Oct 26, 2017
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2017
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  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Can you go into more detail? I can't believe it just dropped out into your lap, lol. I really like the "didn't require air chisel" part.
     
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  13. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Also involved a hammer and screwdriver ;). But no where near the drama employed in the video.

    Probably took 15 minutes a side to remove after a pb blaster soak for 15 minutes:).

    But Our Prius hasn’t seen much salt in its life (y).
     
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  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    If the bearing was designed with a couple of pockets, say one at the red zone, and one 180 degrees around, something you could tap a chisel into:

    upload_2017-10-26_20-18-12.png
     
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  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Good to know, thanks.
     
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  16. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Pleasure;).

    Planning on undertaking more maintenance on your pampered Prius soon:whistle:?
     
  17. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Well, he kind of does show it, if you're paying attention later in the video, when he takes a brand new nut out of a bag, and needs to use the impact wrench again to spin it on. (n)

    There's the rub. That's a method that's come up on PriusChat lots of times before. OK if you're planning to throw out the hub (and you don't separate it). But not OK for any purpose where you might be hoping to reuse it. Even if you manage not to separate it, it is done for as a bearing after that treatment.

    -Chap
     
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  18. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Valid point;).

    Always fun to watch a bumpkin in action (y).
     
  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    That's my sense: leave it be till it's problematic, that's stressing the internal components.
     
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  20. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Dog with a bone here, I guess I just like to know how to get there, even if I never need to. On the rear hub assembly, here's a pic of the speed sensor wire connector, viewing diagonally up from below. The locking mechanism is a tang with a rectangular slot, that a bump on the hub side of the connection locks within. To release it, some sort pick (I used a coat hanger wire, filed to a point) reached into that recangular slot, to the end, press-and-lever down, allows you to pull the connector off.

    Back a few years after an accident the whole rear beam, and left hub assembly were replaced on ours. I noticed the tab on the left side was broken, but seems to stay connected ok. The second time I disconnected the right one it broke too, so now they match, lol.

    IMG_7852.JPG
    upload_2017-10-27_12-33-32.png
     
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