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During a customer's torque tube replacement I noticed the left rear disk flopped around once we had removed the axle nut. The pictures below show the position relative to the backing plate. The car has a reconstructed title.
Needless to say the rear wheel bearing is toast and will be replaced this week. Is it advised to replace both at the same time?
Anybody in the Atlanta area that can recommend a shop to press the wheel bearing out and in?
..yes, both need to be replaced, how much longer would you expect the other side to last?
I would say any machine shop in the area would have the proper equipment to press a bearing.
The axle nut and the axle old the two halves of the inner bearing races together. Don't make a snap judgement about the bearing when the stub axle isn't there to do it's part holding things together. Just sayin'....
I use a Sir Tools B90 set to R&R bearings in situ. Search a little here on RL and find some guidance. Using this tool allows you to change the bearing and avoid having to deal with the worn bushings in the dogone, the rusted and bent pit through the lower part and the shock. and no need to do an alignment since the upright stays right where it is in the car. There are workarounds for part of he job, but the Sir Tools setup has what's needed to pull the drive hub out of the bearing, something the workarounds can't do. If you plan to do more than a couple rear wheel bearing replacements, the B90 tool is a good investment.
The axle nut and the axle old the two halves of the inner bearing races together. Don't make a snap judgement about the bearing when the stub axle isn't there to do it's part holding things together. Just sayin'....
Search a little here on RL and find some guidance
No disrespect Dr Bob, but he already pulled one side, why?, I don't know, but, both sides should be replaced in tandom, New wheel bearings now will eliminate one equation of mysterious vibrations in the drive train.
While the axles are out, now is the time to do the CV joints, CV joint boot kits are inexpensive.
Im with Dr Bob, you dont replace a wheel bearing,
unless its making noise or is grinding when spun off the ground, and the axle is installed,
and or it has play in the hub
NOTE With the axle installed, this holds the hub compressed ,
with it removed the disc will have play.
NOTE if the hub has play with the axle properly torqued 320 ft/lbs then the bearing is bad
They usually fail from being hammered on while replacing the rotors,
or being submerged or from the wheel hitting a curb or a big pothole,
or from using the car on the track,
otherwise the bearings are quite robust and will last many many miles.
Not saying it's OK, just suggesting that making a judgement with the stub axle removed may not be definitive. The hub is a tight fit in the two inner bearing races, and --usually-- doesn't move around on its own. But still a good idea to do your 'checking' with the stub axle in place and torqued correctly.
As far as changing both when one is noisy, I'm all in for that. There's plenty of messy WYAIT stuff like flushing and repacking CV joints, new boots, so consolidating that into one mess and one cleanup is a good think in my opinion. Plus fun activities like reassembling the parking brake cams is easiest when you can refer to the other side already partially apart. By my estimation, both bearings see the same miles and duty. And if they are near 100k miles and original, and you have everything apart, I'd change them as PM. But that's me.
I had a bad rear bearing.... when its bad, you replace it. you in no way need to change them both out.
I just took the hub off the car, and took it to a shop to replace it.... put the bearing in the freezer before I brought it over to the shop.. it all goes together easily.
as far as failure, I don't they are that common and when they go, they start to howl.. I don't think there is any advantage of changing them both out.
I think every car workshop should be able to do this. The tools required are mostly available. A press like they all have for pressing out bearings, and varous large sizes of 1/2" drive bits to fit in the hub while pressing. just take the hubs out and bring them to the garage. Perhaps you can help them holding the cables from the handbrake. My garage pressed them out and new ones in for free
I agree with Kibort. (Damn - that feels strange!) I see no advantage in doing twice the work for no foreseeable gain. (Damn - it feels even stranger to disagree with dr bob!)
The bearings are not actually a wear item - they just sometimes fail. A properly installed, properly lubed, properly adjusted wheel bearing should out-last the rest of the car.
I agree with Kibort. (Damn - that feels strange!) I see no advantage in doing twice the work for no foreseeable gain. (Damn - it feels even stranger to disagree with dr bob!) The bearings are not actually a wear item - they just sometimes fail. A properly installed, properly lubed, properly adjusted wheel bearing should out-last the rest of the car.
Well, I wonder what The PO did with the car, or didn't do perhaps. My car had 90,000 miles and both rear wheel bearings had play in them and ran pretty loose.
I am happy I renewed them both when I had the hubs out.
You can pick up a 20-ton press from HF for less than $90 when on sale, normally $129. I did both my rear bearings (both totally dried out) and it has paid for itself multiple times over. Probably one of the best additions to my garage.
05-10-2015, 12:28 AM
Rear Wheel bearing failure
