swmic

As you may have read, the front wheel bearing in my 91 C4 was making noise and needed to be replaced. I purchased a new bearing and axle nut and thought I'd try to change it myself. I started to change it, but when I got to the part where I needed to remove the bearing, I stopped because I did not have way to remove the bearing. It seemed to be a fairly straight forward job, if you have the proper tools, so I thought having a shop do it wouldn't be too bad. I don't have an independent shops close by, so I contacted a nearby dealer who wanted $450 to do the job.

For that price, I thought I had to do it myself. After reading through the archives, I saw EBS Racing sold a bearing removal tool ($135). I ordered one and when it arrived after a few days, I was ready to give it a try.

The job was actually fairly easy except for removing the axle. You have to remove the axle to use the removal tool. The large axle bolt and six small bolts came out without a problem but trying to get enough clearance to pull the axle assembly out of the way. tested my patience. If someone has a good method of removing them, it would be a great help. The only other parts you have to remove is the caliper and rotor.

After the axle was out, removing the hub and bearing was easy. You can use the bearing tool to remove and replace both the hub and bearing. My old bearing came out in two pieces. Examining the bearing showed one of the races was badly pitted, which I'm sure created the noise and vibration. Installing the new bearing and then the hub went just as easy. I did not have cool any of the parts for added clearance using the tool. Make sure you torque the large axle nut to 339 ft/lbs.

I didn't have much time to take photos but managed to take a couple showing what the hub looks like the bearing removed and my old bearing in pieces.

Hope this helps!

Shawn

MisterRisky

Shawn, congratulations on a good job!

Would you be able to post a picture of the bearing puller as well as outer diameter and inner diameter measurements of the bearing? Not something down the the .0001" but a close measurement. I am curious if other non Porsche specific bearing pullers might fit.

jgrosjean

I have found that a big hammer and a piece of wood makes axle removal easy. First loosten the big nut while the car is on the ground and then jack the car up and unscrew the nut out to the end of the threads so the threads are protected by the nut.. Unbolt the other end from the transmission and then give it a few blows. It should come loose, and you can then pull it out the rest of the way by hand.