Sab

I had the car at the track on the weekend for a DE in Moroso.
Towards the last run I started hearing some noise in the right front in hard right turns. As soon as I got out on the street driving home i noticed a strong grinding noise going straight, getting worse in right turns and going away in left turns. Braking produces a nocking sound and the left front wheel hub is hot versus the right one cold...
So diagnostic pretty sure front wheel bearing toast.

How can I change it and what special tools will i nedd?
Thanks,

LndShrk

I have an 83' so I'm not sure whether or not this will help....
On my car I had to remove the entire wheel hub and inside the hub are two bearings(inner/outer). I had to carefully hammer out the bearings using a flathead screwdriver as a chisle. The bearings were available at the local Murrays Autoparts, and were pretty cheap to.

Tony

jon928se

Heat the hub (180degC = approx 375F ?) in the oven for 20 minutes, then gently tap the outer races out of the hub - they'll come out easily.

Cleaning the grease outof the hub first helps prevent divorce.

Install new outer race by freezing outer race in freezer over night, heat hub as above, drop race straight in, tap it home with a brass punch or a piece of copper pipe or even a piece of broom handle.

Remove inner races by cutting a groove (not all the way through) with a dremel - chisel ad BFH to shatter race. replace by heating ineer race as above slide onto stub axle. tap home with brass,copper, wood punch.

It is possible without heat but the hammering involved risks damage to the hub and stub axle.

mark kibort

From the racer that gets tires out of the garbage, you can always just change the bearings and leave the inner race in place.
Mk

SharkSkin

If it's grinding, the race is probably destroyed. IMHO they should always be replaced regardless, but in a pinch(100's of miles from home, limited tools) you can just replace the bearing as Mark says. You generally may not have go to the lengths that Jon describes to get the inner race off; the left may come off relatively easily with just a bit of heat. But if the bearing is so bad it's heating up the hub the inner race may be galled to the spindle, in which case drastic measures are called for and the spindle will have to be cleaned up.

Sab

Thanks for all the advice.

Mark, so changing the bearing is quick and easy? That may get me back on the road for a couple of weeks? It would not be a good time right now having the car down for a few days...

Sab

Does anyone have part numbers for the bearings?

mark kibort

Usually noise just means the bearings are toast and sometimes there is minimal damage, if any, done to the race. A new set of bearings both inner and outer are easy to install. outers are real easy, but the inners require to pull off the brake mounts and get the hubs off the car. easy, but more things to unbolt.
then, pry the inner bearing cover off and the bearing comes out. you can usually examine to see if the damage is too great. heck, i would just do the outers and see if the noise goes away, then replace the inner as a precaution. i had some big left to right noise on my fronts and did it this way. ive raced for 3 years since that happed on one side. if the noise is REAL bad, there may be race damage, then you need it done the right way

mk

Sab

Sorry for all the posts... but I am looking at the PET and don't see any mention of races and part numbers.

Thanks,

UKKid35

That's what I usually do, but Jeez did I get some grief when I posted that before.

Unfortunately the one in the picture had to come out.

UKKid35

eBay - 280079592215 - I've only just bought them so can't tell you anything about their service

SharkSkin

Bearings are normally sold with inner and outer races. The manufacturer normally verifies that all three components that make up the bearing are well matched within the spec tolerances. I may take some flak for this, but IMHO failure to replace inner & outer races with the bearings is laziness. BTW there is a seal adjacent to the inner bearing that may need replacement or not. Personally, if I already have it apart to replace the bearing I'll do the seal too, whether it seems to need it or not. Just a WYAIT -- an inexpensive one.

JHowell37

Believe it or not, front wheel bearings are normally stocked at your local discount auto parts store. Now some folks will get their panties in a bunch for recommending this method, but there are only a small handful of companies that make wheel bearings and the rest are companies that buy them and put them in their own box. NAPA, Autozone, and Advance all carry them. You'll pay almost as much in shipping charges to get them mail-order. Now for the rears, I'd go to one of the vendors because they do seem to be a lot cheaper then the other places.

Sab

Great, I just got them at Bennet auto parts. $10.31 each bearing, $5 for the seal and $5 for the grease. At the very least it looks like it is going to be cheap...

Hopefully I can figure it out.

Jim bailey - 928 International

The REASON they are readily available is they are ......911 parts ! also fit 914 but as you can probably figure out they have much more work to do on a big front engine 928.