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Replacing Front Dust Shields with Bearings

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by jimolson, May 21, 2023.

  1. jimolson

    jimolson Member

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    In 17 years I've paid for about a dozen front wheel bearing replacements on the Gen II Priuses I've owned, but this weekend was the first time I tackled replacing one myself.

    The design of the aluminum bearing carrier ("knuckle") is terrible, its corrosion being the worst problem. There is no easy way to separate the bad bearing from the carrier when it's still on the vehicle, but it's even a challenge if you separate the carrier from vehicle with the bearing still in it.

    It's hard to support the carrier underneath a hydraulic press. It's a shame the designer didn't include support projections in the design.

    There needs to be provisions in the carrier's design (or the hub flange) to drive the four bearing retaining screws in backwards to force the two carrier and bearing apart. The dust shield could be rotated slightly to plug up the unthreaded holes, allowing something for the reverse-driven screws to push against.

    Except for a stealership, has anyone identified a supplier for the dust shield that gets destroyed when wheel bearings are replaced?
     
    #1 jimolson, May 21, 2023
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Well fortunately not in the southeast I keep a set of carriers off the car for both Gen 2 and Gen 3 I own both cars and have them loaded with new bearings while we're ball joints ready to go I find it much easier to take the whole aluminum hub assembly off the vehicle takes about 12 minutes aside and then I just put the two on that have the bearings and the lower ball joints on them. That's the car needs struts now's the time I put those on and then I send the car over for an alignment I guess Indiana is rust belt or something is going on like that because it certainly doesn't seem to happen down here.
     
    #2 Tombukt2, May 21, 2023
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Do you deliver rural mail and let the curbs and ditches steer your car down the side of the road sometimes? As in, how in the world can you go through that many bearings when many of us up in the 300K mile range are still on original bearings? Do you blow out alot of tires too? Or maybe you share your car with an especially bad driver or something? I'm trying to figure it out. This doesn't make any sense?
     
    #3 PriusCamper, May 21, 2023
    Rebound and Tombukt2 like this.
  4. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

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    #4 alftoy, May 22, 2023
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Or some sort of threaded holes so you could "screw jack" the bearing out, similar concept to the threaded holes on brake drums or rotors.
     
    #5 Mendel Leisk, May 22, 2023
  6. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Oh those things the The backing plates when I put on my cross drilled rotors those generally are taken off give me more air flow across the rotors which is irrelevant on a Prius but on Corollas and celica's. A thing. Or not.
     
    #6 Tombukt2, May 22, 2023
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