Rear Wheel Bearing replacement (on a scale of 1-10)

[Pickel]

Hi all, this is my first post.

 

I've recently bought a 2005 Octavia, the 2.0 TDI 140BHP Elegance.  Apart from a couple of niggles, its nice to drive. I do some longish runs twice a week, 50 miles down the motorway, but now I've got used to the car I've noticed that a rumbling noise has appeared. It first started to be noticeable around 50mph and above, but now I can hear it at speeds from 20mph onwards. Its much louder on smooth roads, but perhaps thats because the road noise is reduced. 

Long story short, I'm pretty sure its the offside rear wheel bearing. I've only just done the rear pads, and I'll have a go at most things, so I'm wondering who else has done the bearings on this car, and if it was as easy as it looks?  Attached is the guide I found. ( My Haynes manual is next to useless in this case ) 

EN-How-to-replace-the-rear-hub-bearing-on-Skoda-Octavia-1Z.pdf  (80% sure its the right car)

The hardest bit i can see is getting the hub nut out, but I don't mind buying the torx bit and a budget torque wrench, I just wanted to find out if there are any really tricky bits or pitfalls to be aware of? 

PS. I've given the forum a good read and I've noticed it could possibly be the sawtoothing issue, but it really does seem to be getting worse over the last week, and its a deep consistent rumble.

Edited 6 June, 2018 by Pickel
Additional info

[FatblokeVRS]

Check the tyres. There was an issue with them sawtoothing on the inside edges a while back and it sounded like a wheel bearing on its way out.

 

Skoda did eventually release new geometry settings.

 

Try moving the rear wheels to the front and see if the noise moves.

 

 

[Pickel]

Thanks for the reply,

 

I'm actually in need of a full set of tyres, so I'll be getting those put on early next week. If it turns out to be that, bonus.  I did just go out and jack the back wheels up and give them a spin by hand, and the offside one has a definite drone compared to the nearside, which is silent.

[labman1001]

I'd a really bad droning noise on mines about 18 months ago which turned out to be the rear tyres as it disappeared after fitting news tyres and having the alignment done... Tyres where seriously worn on the inside.

 

Same noise returned about 4 months ago, more news tyres, and alignment ... I'd put the old front tyres on the back and they where pretty worn but the noise was still there and it was the NSR bearing that had gone yet noise was virtually identical... 

[Pickel]

I'm tempted to buy an M18 spline bit, a torque wrench, and a hub, and have a crack at it...

[SuperbTWM]

Its pretty easy to do, if you have the right combination of disk size you don't even have to take the caliper bracket off to do it.

 

Be careful not to damage the ABS sensor. It may be partially damaged anyway depending on how long the bearing has been bad and if it has had any play.

 

I bought a 3/4" drive M18 spline so I could use my big boy ratchet as it is pretty tight and needs to be done up pretty tight as well. Its a new bolt and IIRC its 180NM and 180 degrees so make sure you have a breaker bar and possibly a piece of tube or pipe to make your life easier

[Pickel]

Thanks @SuperbTWM 

 

Yes it doesn't look too bad, i think the trickiest part for me would be getting the torx bolts out the back of the caliper frame, as I won't be able to raise the car up into the air like a workshop could. I'll have to play twister with the wrench to get enough ground clearance to crack the bolts, but it looks doable.

[Vegasphil]

I did it on my mk5 golf after buying the bits. Relatively simple job and there is a good video on YouTube of a guy changing the bearing / ring sensor

on a grey golf gti. 

 

You will need a pole/tube to get extra leverage when loosening and tightening that hub nut. I used my jack handle

over my breaker bar 

[Vegasphil]

I did it on my mk5 golf after buying the bits. Relatively simple job and there is a good video on YouTube of a guy changing the bearing / ring sensor

on a grey golf gti. 

 

You will need a pole/tube to get extra leverage when loosening and tightening that hub nut. I used my jack handle

over my breaker bar 

 

machine mart sell the m bits too. 

[Black vRS Oct]

Reverse up some Ramps to get access to the caliper bolts, loosen them off first and drop it back down

[Pickel]

Thanks for the replies everyone. This is really useful for when the next side goes. I ended up not being able to crack the hub nut, as it had been ridiculously overtightened, so i took it to my garage. He did the whole thing for me for £75 all in. He had to get a scaffold pole on the end of his torque wrench as he said its a common trick for unscrupulous types to over tighten a noisy wheel bearing before selling a car?