Hi Guys,

 

Hoping for some advise. My front nearside wheel bearing seems nakard so need to get it changed. I'm no mechanic but reasonably practical and like to give things a go if I can.

 

I've bought a new bearing and hub kit but it came with a 40mm nut, so finding a socket big enough has delayed it a few days. During this time I've been told by a local mechanic that ill struggle to get the old hub out and even more so to get the new one back in unless I use either an in-situ bearing puller/pusher tool, or by removing the whole hub carrier and pressing it in.

 

I was just planning on knocking the old one out with some brute force and gently taping the new one back in with piece of wood and rubber mallet.

 

Is this a very stupid approach or would it actually work fine? Alternatively is there any other way to do it using standard tools? Or do I need to bite the bullet and get a mechanic to press it for me?

 

Any advice much appreciated.

JMac  

They can be drifted out / in but this can be a) hard work and can arguably lessen the life of the new part and any other parts that are bearing (forgive the pun) the brunt of the brute force.

So it's your call really.

The half way house option if you want to diy and minimise cost is to remove the hub yourself, take it to a local workshop with a press and just ask them to press the bearing in/out (possibly for beer tokens) and then take it home and reassemble yourself

I'd happily do that and know someone who'd press it out however, the issue of living in country villages 3 miles from the garage is once I dismantle it, I can't drive it up there, and don't fancy a walk with all that in a rucksack!

As suspected it's one for the professionals then.

 

Cheers for the advice

Your chance of getting the new one in is virtually zero. You need to press it home straight whilst only making contact with the outer shell. If you push on the inner the bearing has had it.

Some bearings are very difficult to get out and if it's not out by 14T you will need some heat as well as a press.

The standard kit doesn't include the three wishbone to ball joint bolts. That's fine if you are going to do it the VAG way and release the ball joint. If you don't have the right tool, then there is a risk you will damage the ball joint or its gaitor.

You can remove them, usually if its not siezed through lack of lubricant it should pop straight out, however if its stuck..blowtorch in a can followed by a hammer usually does the trick!

They can be drifted out / in but this can be a) hard work and can arguably lessen the life of the new part and any other parts that are bearing (forgive the pun) the brunt of the brute force.So it's your call really.The half way house option if you want to diy and minimise cost is to remove the hub yourself, take it to a local workshop with a press and just ask them to press the bearing in/out (possibly for beer tokens) and then take it home and reassemble yourself

Plus 1. Did this recently.

Not a chance of getting it in yourself with out the right tools. I thought I'd be able to do it too but realised a press was needed.

Getting any old part out is usually do-able with a bit of effort and sometimes resorting to fairly destructive measures (I should have kept some of the rubber bushes I've changed over the years and exhibited them as modern art) but as people have said, getting the new one in, without damaging it, is the tricky part.

No chance of calling in a favour from a mate to give you a lift to the garage with the parts once you've got it all apart?

If you damage any one of the races with a hammer or vise etc you'll dramatically shorten the life of the bearing.

Is it not possible to use a threaded rod as a draw rather than bashing the poor things?

Is it not possible to use a threaded rod as a draw rather than bashing the poor things?

The problem starts with ABS reluctor ring. You would need a special tool to pull the hub without wrecking the the ring.

If you don't have a press or special tools, the only viable option is a slide hammer. It's very difficult to brace the knuckle so you are not also hammering on the other suspension componects.

Only once the hub is removed, can you use standard bearing tools or diy pullers.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Do not use a press or pullers as our cars have a newl kind of wheel bearings that clip into hub.

please watch this video before doing it as will cost both time and money done wrong way.

The correct tool can be hired too.

http://www.specialist-tools.co.uk/productDetails.php?prdID=194

Edited 23 January, 201412 yr by spud31

...Do not use a press or pullers as our cars have a newl kind of wheel bearings that clip into hub...

It is possible to use a press if you know what you are doing. The big no-no when installing Gen2 bearings, is pressing on the hub flange. If you do this, the bearing raceway is toast as you are effectively pushing on the inner race. You need to use a 'side-door' tool.

Hi guys!

 

I bump this thread, instead of starting anotehr one (there are dozens, see links below).

 

First, I haven't had a wheel bearing failure just yet, but since this -03 Fabia has passed 170000 km and we have driven it >30000 km just since we bought it about 1½ year ago, it feels like at least one wheel bearing could give up any day, haven't read anything in any service manual about any wheel bearing ever been replaced, so. The further reason to worry, I suppose.

 

Now, as said, I've been looking around several threads here on Briskoda that handles this delicate issue.

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/324488-wheel-bearing-tool/

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/148753-fabia-front-wheel-bearing/

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/315947-tools-needed-for-pad-and-wheel-bearing-replacement/

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/169282-fabia-vrs-front-wheel-bearing-replacement/

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/168784-grumbling-front-wheel-bearings/

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/306372-fabia-i-rear-wheel-bearing-replacement/

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/336015-front-wheel-bearing-puller/

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/290522-vrs-mk1-front-wheel-bearings/

 

All of these comes with interesting input on the matter, but the most confusing part to me is whether I should replace just the bearing or the entire wheel hub. I do not have access to pressing tools (other than a simple ball joint presser, anyways) and since everyone seems to pretty much agree about the fact that you need proper pressing tools for new bearings to be installed, I am more and more thinking about a whole new wheel hub, with bearings included. We have a big store chain in Sweden that sells pretty cheap [non-OEM, of course] replacement parts, and after surfing I soon landed this deal.

 

Now, this is where I need to be corrected if I'm wrong.

I'm (wishful thinking, anyhow) hoping that replacing the bearing in a hub is pretty much a PITA / nightmare, whereas changing the entire hub (like sold in the link above) is not much harder than changing a fuse or a light bulb in your house. Can anyone please correct me if I'm entirely wrong in this?

 

Also, @rwbaldwin mentions the ABS reluctor ring.

 

The problem starts with ABS reluctor ring. You would need a special tool to pull the hub without wrecking the the ring.

If you don't have a press or special tools, the only viable option is a slide hammer. It's very difficult to brace the knuckle so you are not also hammering on the other suspension componects.
 

 

In the deal that I've linked above, it says "Anmärkning: komplett nav med inbyggd magnetisk sensorring", which translates to "Note: complete hub with built-in magnetic sensor ring", so, does this mean that I don't even have to worry about this at all? It's just a matter of ripping the old hub and installing the new hub? Pretty much like changing a light bulb or a fuse at home? I'm partly j/k, of course, I understand that this project would probably take at least >8 hours on the parking lot, if not due to corrosion of parts. But anyways, am I somewhat on the right track here? Getting a garage change just the bearing is damn expensive around here, whereas 649 SEK is less than £ 50, which seems affordable to get the whole kaboodle, so to speak.

 

Any(!) input on this would be much appreciated. And again, this is not acute, since no bearing has failed, and I (of course) won't try anything until they do (if it ain't broken, don't fix it, right?), but I'm trying to prepare myself for what to come.

 

Cheers!

On 01/03/2019 at 11:49, Keith6775 said:

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Can be done with a vice , but is hard work. Old one can be removed with two lengths of threaded bar and item same diameter as bearing. 

2 hours ago, Daveb1 said:

Can be done with a vice , but is hard work. Old one can be removed with two lengths of threaded bar and item same diameter as bearing. 

 

Can't be done with a vice. Needs the proper Gen 2 tooling or the bearing will be ruined. And the link you've given is Citigo information. This is the Fabia MK1 forum.

Citigo appears to have a separate wheel hub and bearing: https://skoda.7zap.com/en/cz/citigo/cit/2012-727/4/407-407000/

Not relevant to the mk1 Fabia unfortunately.