wheel bearing

Hi Folks,
I just want to verify what parts I need for the front wheel bearing replacement. I am buying the hub assembly (timken). Do I need to purchase new axle nuts? any other parts to replace during the procedure? thanks

 

thanks

 

Well I did the job. It took all weekend. there was no way the bearing assembly was going to come out of the knuckle while still on the car. So I took the knuckle off and then had to get pep boys to press out the bearing assembly. After 155,000 miles it was really stuck on there. I would recommend you go into the job assuming you must take the knuckle off and buy a $15 tie rod puller ahead of time. Car feels great now with the new bearings.

 

I ground down the end of a small metal rod to fit in the slot and pry out the factory crease in the axle nut. then I used an air gun to remove the nut. It was not really hard, just had to get the crease out of the nut.

Pep boys charged $40 total to press out the bearing assembly on both knuckles, Not bad considering it was Sunday morning and no one else was open. They were very helpful at Pep boys. By the way I learned the pep boys will rent tools also.

I used a puller with fork hooks and a threaded center.
Removing the knuckle from the car was really not a big deal, but I did not go into the job assuming this would need to be done since I had read online that the bearing assembly only requires the removal of the 4 bolts to get it loose. Like i said there was no way that bearing assembly would come out of the knuckle without a press. Once I had the new bearings in the knuckles ( that was easy to do just slowly tighten all four bolts and it pulls in) the re-assembly job was easy.

So a summary of the process as I remember it is:
Remove ground from battery.
Remove the wheel.
Remove two brake caliper mounting bolts with air gun and hang caliper out of the way.
Remove the disc rotor (it is now loose).
Remove the speed sensor (one screw) and hang out of the way.
Remove the axle nut by prying out the crease in the nut.
Remove the tie rod (either by using a puller where it connects to knuckle or you can unscrew at the adjustment point. You should mark both parts of the tie rod and the nut if you do this so that you can line them back up and hopefully not need to get an alignment. Better to use the puller at the knuckle).
Remove the two nuts and one bolt that hold the lower ball joint to the knuckle with air gun.
Remove the two bolts holding the knuckle to the strut tower with air gun.
Pull the knuckle away and the axle will slide out. Position the axle carefully out of the way.
Now the knuckle and bearing assembly is out of the car.
Pop the dust shield off the back (where the axle comes in) and then remove the four bolts holding the bearing/hub in the knuckle. You can do the last two steps with the knuckle in the car, but there is no reason to since you wont be able to get the bearing/hub out of the knuckle on the car.
Now take the knuckle to someone with a press and have the press out the bearing/hub.
Clean the inside of the knuckle and install the new bearing/hub. re-assembly is easy.