Wheel bearing removal tool....

[capriman]

Well my car is making some rather horrid whirring and droning noises from the front again. Its had wheel bearings but i do a LOT of mileage and I guess they need doing again. A local garage are wanting to charge me £40 per side just to press and repress the bearing if i take the hub and bearing to them. I thought that was a bit steep so i'm considering one of these but not sure if they are any good. Has anyone got one or used one?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/72mm-Front-Wheel-Bearing-Removal-Tools-Kit-For-Audi-A1-A2-Seat-Ibiza-Skoda-Fabia/382213839073?epid=2214248806&hash=item58fdb858e1:g:PzcAAOSwZElZpnhJ

[sepulchrave]

Buying a cheap tool is fine, buying cheap bearings notsomuch, push the boat out on the bearings if you do mileage.

[capriman]

Thanks. I usually buy MOOG bearings. Happy to take suggestions of other brands though....

 

I've a sneaky feeling the noise isn't all bearing either..... i've noticed a bit of gearbox oil on the bottom of the box and to my knowledge the oil has never been changed in its 250k mile history....something thats easily overlooked but from reading on this forum earlier, should have been done. 

 

The plan is sort the bearings and give it a gearbox oil change and see where i'm at.

[garethw]

The most I have ever got out of a wheel bearing is 120k or so.

If you need a gearbox I have one.

[capriman]

These have done about 50k. 

 

Whats the mileage on your box and whats it gonna cost me?

 

[sepulchrave]

Oil doesn't need changing in the gearbox, however it may need topping up if it's been leaking slowly over a long time, if the level has dropped low enough for a bearing to start grumbling then it's too late and you should replace the bearing or the gearbox, not the oil.

 

Some people believe that changing the gearbox oil is necessary, it isn't, it certainly doesn't do any harm as long as the correct oil is used but it won't make any difference to a mechanically worn gearbox.

[capriman]

Agreed. Checking it will rule it out of the equation. To be fair i think its a wheel bearing (or both) with a bit of old aged diff whine thrown into the medley just to keep me entertained on long drives. At 250k its getting old now and once the winter is over or the right car pops up itll be time for a new one i think.

[sepulchrave]

To be fair, many SDI owners on here haven't got anywhere near 250k on their original gearbox, some not even half that figure, I guess VW used Eastern European subcontractors for many of the cheap boxes and the QA isn't really good enough.

[capriman]

I had heard the boxes were a weak point and im surprised its not given me trouble before. I drive the darn thing more like a VRS than an SDI too! Having said that, a huge swathe of my mileage is long distance motorway work, so nice warm gearbox and in relative terms not too much stress. 

 

Any ideas the kind of extra life a set of diff bearings would give the box and at what sort of cost?

[Breezy_Pete]

21 hours ago, capriman said:

Well my car is making some rather horrid whirring and droning noises from the front again. Its had wheel bearings but i do a LOT of mileage and I guess they need doing again. A local garage are wanting to charge me £40 per side just to press and repress the bearing if i take the hub and bearing to them. I thought that was a bit steep so i'm considering one of these but not sure if they are any good. Has anyone got one or used one?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/72mm-Front-Wheel-Bearing-Removal-Tools-Kit-For-Audi-A1-A2-Seat-Ibiza-Skoda-Fabia/382213839073?epid=2214248806&hash=item58fdb858e1:g:PzcAAOSwZElZpnhJ

 

I have one like that, at a similar price. I haven't used it in anger yet, but had a quick practice on a spare bearing carrier - only removal of the hub/bearing though.  With a sturdy bench/vice it took a long breaker bar and a fair bit of grunt to get the bearing moving on the way out.  I made sure the thread of the removal tool was well greased, and it didn't seem to suffer from the brutality involved. Insertion may be a little easier, but I wouldn't underestimate this job. £40 per side doesn't sound unreasonable to me, though it's always nice to acquire tools and the ability to DIY in future.

Let us know how you get on if you do go this route, please.

[capriman]

Thanks for that wino. I'll let you know for sure if i end up that route.

 

An update for anyone interested. One of the caliper bolts was barely holding on the near side due to many brake changes over its long life so I had already decided to get a hub and go from there. The local scrappy did me the hub assembly for £30 and as luck would have it the bearing felt reassuring firm but smooth to turn so I was hopeful it was good. 

 

Taking the old hub off it was clear the bearing was shafted, it was very tight and graunchy to turn. It was all changed and put back together relatively painlessly.

 

The gearbox took almost a litre of oil in through the reverse switch hole.

 

Upshot is I now have a pretty quiet car again! Sounds like theres a bit of wheel bearing noise from the off side but nothing serious and i'll change that one soon enough.

 

Thanks for the help and support guys!

[garethw]

Good work at least you didn;t swap your gearbox out only to find the bearing was mashed when putting it back together.

So the box has 120k on it, 90k of that was on the motorway in 5th.

If I was using it again I would split the two halves of the casing to cure the small leak it has (from new).

Synchro is not the best on 2nd, but certainly more than usable.

Not certain at the moment what a reasonable price is but I would deliver.

PM me your postcode so I can work out how much grief it is to get there.

 

Dont throw your old hub assy I have a repair kit for the guide bush pin.

[vindaloo]

Just in case: If the previous bearings were pressed in rather than wound in with the right tool, it's likely they were half knackered before they even turned. They have to be moved by the outer of the bearing, not the inner. The inner comprising the whole rotating bit.