are there any how-to guides for replacing any of the wheel bearings?

Fronts need the use of a press and a lot of care to avoid damaging the abs rings. So its recommend that a competent garage do it

Sent from my Galaxy S2. Not a Crapple!

yes i did a pair on fri, its def not a diy job (unless you have access and can use a press), if you want to diy, take off drop link, undo lower balljoint nut and remove wishbone from hub as its mounted, disconnect abs sensor connector carefully, remove caliper carrier and disc, undo hub nut, seperate drive shaft/cv from hub, remove shock from hub (undo bolt and split hub to relieve pressure) then remove hub.

Then take hub to a garage, get them to press out old bearing, and press in new, then you can refit everything again, this will save on garage cost big time.

I did rears on a mk2 golf without a press not long ago, i used the old bearing to press in and out the new ones, but you wont do this on a mk4 bearing, a proper press is really the only way as you will just damage the bearing as Raf says otherwise.

hth

as already said, fronts are a poo bag.. i did both fronts and rears on my Bora and ill never do fronts again.. Absoloute ball ache even with a press.

Rears are a doddle with a cheap hub puller. Gonna do my other next week.

Edited 17 June, 201214 yr by Lofty79

Ive got plenty of bits to fit (Bilstein suspension struts, new wishbones with TT bushing, new ARB bushes, new brakes etc), and with a suspect rear wheel bearing needing doing I thought Id replace them all.

So with the hub completely out - whats the tricky part of pressing the actual wheel bearings?

Just got a 10 ton press and happy to have a good go

Ive got plenty of bits to fit (Bilstein suspension struts, new wishbones with TT bushing, new ARB bushes, new brakes etc), and with a suspect rear wheel bearing needing doing I thought Id replace them all.

So with the hub completely out - whats the tricky part of pressing the actual wheel bearings?

Just got a 10 ton press and happy to have a good go

Even with the right bearing driver/cup, you may not be able to get the bearing out with a 10T press. I did one recently on a Mk4 Golf that required 14T and some heat to get it out.

I did a front one on mine and didnt have to much of an issue pressing bearing out but it just left inner race on hub and i had to grind if off without damaging hub or abs ring.

If bearings are ok leave them alone

If bearings are ok leave them alone

+1 on this i decided once to replace the pair even though only one was moaning, turns out the one i put in place of the one that was fine, had a defect, and the old one was ruined so had to wait carless for a replacement.

Even with the right bearing driver/cup, you may not be able to get the bearing out with a 10T press. I did one recently on a Mk4 Golf that required 14T and some heat to get it out.

this

I did a front one on mine and didnt have to much of an issue pressing bearing out but it just left inner race on hub and i had to grind if off without damaging hub or abs ring.

If bearings are ok leave them alone

and this, which is a pain!

if you are not careful with the press the bearings get ruined.

I found it easy to do but i have done them on all my cars and have a hydrolic press and a cheep hub puller from halfords.

If you use a press then use a big socet the same diamitor as the baring to push it in and go very slowly.

The backs come off easy enough but some times the inner ring of the baring gets stuk on the shaft and you need to cut it off with a grinder.

Hope this helps.

Marko

Here is a detailed step by step description to do the rear wheel bearings:

http://www.njnoordhoek.com/?p=905

A cheap and easy fix is to just get the whole front hub from the breakers and fit that if a wheel bearing is noisey.

i found the cheapest way was buy the bearing, remove the hub myself and just take hub to garage for them to press it out/in (half hr labour) and reassemble myself. £25 for bearing and about same for fitting so £50 all in. That way your bearing is brand new! A hub from a breakers may get a duff bearing soon and will cost more than this method with same work involved for yourself.

Edited 8 July, 201213 yr by Lofty79

easiest yet is get a spare hub from breaker, and get garage to press in your new bearing.

then you can fit it at your leisure!

Still more expensive than my way. buy new bearing then buy spare hub then pay for pressing. Mine is remove your own hub buy bearing pay for pressing, that's at least 30 quid cheaper. And its the same amount of work ad you still have to remove and reattach.

Edited 8 July, 201213 yr by Lofty79

I got my bearings for 12 quid a side and used my mates press. But if you havnt got a mate with a press then just buy a hub from the breaker and throw it on. keep your old one to fit a new bearing to if ever needed. Lets face it how many front wheel bearings have I needed to change on a quality german vehicle in my 30 years of being a mechanic.

The answer is not many.

Mine only needed a pair as it was fished out of a river when I bought it.

Edited 8 July, 201213 yr by joeboy

All you need ti do is be-friend someone with a press and get your hand dirty whipping off your hub, simple LOL

Marko