Hi,

I suspect I've got a grumbling driver's side front wheel bearing on my '06 vRS. Anyone had the same and got a step by step guide to changing them? Simple or a PITA?

Any help appreciated.

Cheers,

Steve

Fairly common problem. Unless you have access to a press that can deliver 10 tonnes of force, it's best to replace the hub and bearing as an assembly. About £150 using OEM parts. Sometimes the driveshaft nut puts up a fight. Sometimes the driveshaft is seized into the bearing, and loads of heat and bashing is required to get them to part company with each other.

Hi,

I suspect I've got a grumbling driver's side front wheel bearing on my '06 vRS. Anyone had the same and got a step by step guide to changing them? Simple or a PITA?

Any help appreciated.

Cheers,

Steve

Before you go to the expense of changing the bearings - see if you can borrow another pair of wheels/tyres.

I thought I had bearing rumble - was really bad at about 40mph - have just changed my tyres and all the rumbling is gone.

Before you go to the expense of changing the bearings - see if you can borrow another pair of wheels/tyres.

I thought I had bearing rumble - was really bad at about 40mph - have just changed my tyres and all the rumbling is gone.

Mine have all (seemingly) got louder over time. I'll listen for any harmonic rumbles now you mention it. At least I can have the window wound down without getting soaked as someone's imported a summer to my part of the UK. :-)

I'm glad I found this thread, I was just about to start one.

My mothers car (1.9TDI Fabia) seems to be nosier now. I first thought it was tyres being worn or the road surface, however I have found it seems to get nosier if I go round right hand bends. All tyre pressures are correct. Does this mean the front left (near side) wheel bearing has gone? I have not yet jacked up the car to see if there is any play in it. I guess it's more than likely to be a front and not the rear.

Do I really need a press? With previous cars I have tapped it out with a parallel punch or used a bit of old tubing. Will the bearing be very tight, and therefore need a press?

Do I really need a press? With previous cars I have tapped it out with a parallel punch or used a bit of old tubing. Will the bearing be very tight, and therefore need a press?

Yes you will need a press for the front wheel bearings - but not for the back.

Unfortunately the front wheel bearings on the Fabia/Ibiza/Polo are only held in by friction so they take quite an amount of force to remove.

They arrive as a hub/bearing/abs sensor ring assembly that needs carefull pressing in so as not to damage it.

As I found-out, the front hub nut requires a 36mm 12point Thin walled socket to remove it.

I bought a 'Laser 4146' set of 3 sockets, 30/ 32/ 36mm from E.bay £33.00, not cheap.

Believe rear hub nut 32mm with same format shaped nut.

Would suggest if wheel bearing hub is removed, take it along to garage with all the (recommend Skoda) bits you want fitted,

and get them to fit them.

Would save labour costs and get the job done right (hopefully) and quickly??

See 'marktaylor' member excellent input 2 posts down.

Edited 30 July, 201015 yr by giandougl

I've just had my front one go on my Ibiza, paid £230 inc parts to get it replaced, think the part alone is about £110.00. If it was the back I'd have done it myself but the front is a garage job really.

I've just done my front wheel bearing, if you know how to use a set of tools then do it yourself you will save a fortune. OEM part from tps is about £70 that includes the wheel bearing in the flange.

Simple how to : (not great)

1 : Before you jack the car up, loosen off the hubnut.

2 : loosen wheel bolts

3 : jack car up & remove wheel

4 : spray lots of wd40 / similar ptfe spray.

5 : on the back of the hub, loosen the two 19mm bolts holding the brake calipers on, remove brake calipar and hang it on the spring up high in the arch with a hook or something.

6 : Loosen the Nut and bolt at the bottom of your suspension / coilovers (so the hub can drop off the bottom of this)

7 : There are a couple of hoses that need to be released from the hub

8 : take the hubnut all the way off

9 : On the left / right of the hub you will see the rod that moves when you turn the hub, remove the nut on top. TIP : if this nut doesnt come off or is fooked, then raise the jack onto the bottom of the rod to hold the nut in place, this will alow you to remove the nut.

10: Turn the hub once remove the nut so you can nock that pin out of the hub leaving that rod hanging loose, move it out the way for now.

11: at the bottom of the hub, you will see 3 13mm nuts ( DO NOT REMOVE THESE) if you remove them, then you will adjust the camber and you dont want that.

12 : Next to those 3 nuts you will see a swivel pin ball joint, remove the nut on top of this, it will be a pain but it must be removed. once the nut is off, turn the hub to the left or right, it should be nice and loose now. Nock that pin out by jacking up JUST the hub, not the wishbone, and then hit that pin very hard if its tight in the hub and the wishbone will drop down about 3 inches.

13: If you havent already done it, slide the driveshaft out, may need to turn the hub at an angle.

14 : With a rubber mallet, if the hub sits around the suspension tightly, just hit it down.

15 : now take your hub to the garage with your new bearing and flange, they will know what to do. They shouldnt charge you any more than 10 quid, its a 10 minute job.

You should now have your hub removed. Here is a picture for you with no hub.

Hope this helps, pm me if you need anything else.

Mark

hi ive a brand new hub/bearing full unit for sale. i bought it for my o4 fabia vrs and sold the car before i fitted it.its a brand new genuine part u want 50

+ postage.mail me or text on 07807020871 if you want it mat

Below is a link to my bearing post

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/162118-droning-whining-sound/page__p__1999213__hl__whining__fromsearch__1entry1999213

I'm glad I found this thread, I was just about to start one.

My mothers car (1.9TDI Fabia) seems to be nosier now. I first thought it was tyres being worn or the road surface, however I have found it seems to get nosier if I go round right hand bends. All tyre pressures are correct. Does this mean the front left (near side) wheel bearing has gone? I have not yet jacked up the car to see if there is any play in it. I guess it's more than likely to be a front and not the rear.

Do I really need a press? With previous cars I have tapped it out with a parallel punch or used a bit of old tubing. Will the bearing be very tight, and therefore need a press?

Mine did it when i went right, so i did the left. still didnt solve it, did the right wheel bearing and it fixed it so be carefull what one you chose to do. The noise can mislead you.

Mine did it when i went right, so i did the left. still didnt solve it, did the right wheel bearing and it fixed it so be carefull what one you chose to do. The noise can mislead you.

Was there any play in the wheels when you jacked it up?

Was there any play in the wheels when you jacked it up?

None, but i tried other things like swapped wheels from front to back (still same noise)

Its likely to be the wheel bearing to be honest, do you have standard wheels on it?

Its likely to be the wheel bearing to be honest, do you have standard wheels on it?

Bog standard 14" steel wheels with Vredestein Hi-Tracs (4-5mm tread) on them. Remember It's my mothers 1.9TDI not my vRS.

Hi will the car need re-alignment or tracking done after a new front wheel bearing?

Hi will the car need re-alignment or tracking done after a new front wheel bearing?

I would have thought that if you don't touch those 3 nuts that affect camber that Mark pointed out, you don't need to check tracking. On previous cars I have never checked if after changing wheel bearings.

Unless you want to check if the tracking was the cause of the failure. People now seam to always check tracking after fitting new tyres, I never do.

Edited 30 July, 201015 yr by Jim H

Thanks dude,

My car is getting a new wheel bearing under warrenty, just wondered if I needed to get it tracked afterwards.

thanks for clearing that up