front wheel bearing help

Hello guys need some help regarding my front wheel bearing, basically today I went to get my new tyres fitted and when I shook the front passenger side wheel it wobbled like a nut was loose, I asked the tyre fitter have you undone the bolts he said no not yet, and said it could be the wheel bearing I held the drive shaft and moved it and it shook the hub, I went straight to the mechanics and he said £75 for labour or if I get it off and he just presses the old one out and new one in he said £25, which I thought was dear for me getting it off, I also need the cv boot done on the same side so will ask him to do that as he's already got the shaft out the hub,  the febi ones from eurocarparts is £36, lucus is £28, v-tech from gsf is £22, and first line is £26 from motor parts direct, I will be going with febi but does anyone have any recommendations also is there anyone around Buckinghamshire that can do this and also what sort of price should I be looking at, I know some people say it can be done with heat and hammering it out but how long would it take and is it a job that will make you swing that hammer across the garden lol all help appreciated,

Try and get it out yourself without the right tools. You'll soon realise £25 isn't dear!

True, but I was just looking at bearing presses, on of those ones where you have a rod and different size races to drive it out and in, its on for about £44, so was thinking had some one used one of these before, I normally do work on my own cars so this can be a investment for future cars I can do, I personally would like to do it myself but just weighing up the odds

An old bearing can take as much as 10 tons of force to press it out. I am friendly with my local Independant VW specialist (read £'s spent in the past) and they pressed mine out and in for nothing :-)



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Back in the day, when I owned my MK1 as a teenager, I did a front wheel bearing on my own. It was a nightmare, it took me a whole Saturday afternoon and I was at a point where I was gonna go to the scrappy and get another hub! Dad helped me in the end but we had to use heat and all sorts. Back then I couldn't really afford to pay someone to do it as I was about 18 and an apprentice earning sod all money! Now though I would recommend getting someone to press the old one out and the new one in and the whole job probably won't take an afternoon!

I used to do things the hard way, but since managing to get a little 25 ton press, I wouldn't want to use anything else.

Getting old bearing out can be a nightmare 10 tons plus but new one has to be pressed in carefully and then the hub pressed into the bearing. Easy to stop down and easy to do cv but worth every penny to get someone to press bearing out then back in

I bought a Wheel Bearing Press Kit, and a Bearing Separator, I have replaced about 10 Wheel bearings on different things over the years.

The kit was about 100, and the Separator I got for 40.

The last set I had pressed in was 85USD for both.

Either way.  

Doing it on the CAR, which is my way and about 35 minutes.
Wheel Bearings, on the Car

Doing it off the car.
http://www.driversfound.com/scirocco/techtips/suspension/wheelbearingsfront/

What the heck do they mean pre-load?
What is that PRE-LOAD when replacing Front wheel Bearings. | Volkswagen Owners Club Forum.

Hello guys I seen a 23pc bearing removing and installing kit, its about £36 on ebay so I'm tempted by this, I want to do it myself so I'm.thinking getting it off the car if needed and having a go with heat and the bearing kit, if all fails run it to the mechanic, now guys these track rod ends, is there a way to get them off without spinning, someone suggested tighten then loosen and work you way down or use a G-clamp to clamp it down,

First,  those looks similar to mine.  You will also need a couple of 10 inch bolts, those are screwed in to the hub where your lugs go they are the same as the lug bolt size just longer… They will be screwed against the spindle to take the hub out of the bearing.

You will need a bearing separator to take the outer race off the hub.

similar to:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12pcs-Bearing-Separator-Puller-Set-2-and-3-Splitters-Remove-Bearings-Kit/262572951604?_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555014%26algo%3DPL.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150817211623%26meid%3Dbcb65094381c4c02b633e6e1fd616855%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26

For the Tie-rods what I have done is to smack them with a 4 oz ball pean, and that usually seats then to allow me to remove the nut.

To separate the tie-rod from the spindle you can use a Tie-rod remover, (leave the nut on the tie-rod at the end) to keep the threaded portion from mushrooming.  and it will Pop up.

You can also use the double hammer method that is smack the spindle on each side of the tie rod with force at the same time and usually within 5 or 6 smack the tie-rod will fly out.

Are you sure it's the wheel bearing?
Normally if a wheels bearing are shot it makes alot of noise  when driving and usually goes quiet when you load it under pressure, eg turning left it goes quite and it's the right hand one and if it goes quite when turning right it's the left hand one. I've got a shot wheel bearing and at 30 mph I can feel it through the steering wheel as well as hear it!
If there is play in the wheel hub it's usually the track rod,  bottom ball joint, top mount so play in the strut or I know you have just had your camber done are the nuts done up tight or is the hub nut coming lose as you should always fit a new nut if you have undone it.
Jack the wheel up and feel for play, top and bottom is ball joint or strut and left and right is track rod.
Find a friendly garage or if you regularly use the same garage for the MOT ask there to press the bearing in and out, I pay between £0 and £5 to get mine done but I've been using the same garage for many years so it's worth asking and offering some beer money…It's safer than doing it your self because if you damage the new bearing getting it in you will have to it all again.
One thing you will need to do when you remove the hub is get your camber set up again as you will disturb the setting removing the 2 bolts and nuts holding it to the strut.
     

Track rods ends.

Use this type of spliter as you are less likely to split the rubber boot on the track rod end compare to the fork style spliter.
Undo the nut and take it off completely then either find a normal nut to refit on the end (the one fitted properly has a plastic insert to stop it coming undone) or refit the one took off but only screw it on upto the plastic insert so it can easily be removed, then split the joint as one it's split it will spin. Feel for any play in the shaft of the track rod and renew if very lose.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ball-Joint-Splitter-Separator-20-60mm-Tie-Rod-End-Lifter-Scissor-New-Garage-1518-/131773549827?hash=item1eae50cd03:g:w9oAAOSwJQdXBQiI
   

mark1gls said

One thing you will need to do when you remove the hub is get your camber set up again as you will disturb the setting removing the 2 bolts and nuts holding it to the strut.
     

This all depends on the Method that you choose.  If you do it on the Car, you don't upset the camber adjustment at all as the strut is still assembled as a whole, and you but remove the axle and remove the strut assembly off the ball joint  (Which is what I have been doing for years.).

If you remove the Strut as an assemble that is removing the two 13mm nuts at the top, remove the Caliper assembly, tie-rod (track), and lastly the lower ball joint off the pinch. You can remove the whole assembly to replace the wheel bearing and still not upset the Camber adjustment.

Only if you loosen the two Camber bolts to effect repair will you dink the alignment.  

The two scenarios above do not effect the camber at all.

I have been replacing my struts, and bearings for years without removing the camber bolts, but undoing the struts bottom ball joint.  

This tool,



Or this


Will not split your boot,  You place it in between the tie-rod boot and the spindle.  (Spraying wd-40) helps the insertion if your boot is dry or dirty.

The first time I used one of the above tools, I tightened and tightened the thing and the loud "Bang" when the joint popped out, startled me.  I thought the tool broke.

Leave the Castleated nut on the tie-rod at the bottom on the bolt, this is what will prevent the tool from slipping and damaging the threads, and or mushrooming the bolt.

Yes you can use a pickle fork, but I have damaged two too many on my Midget to ever use them again for the tie-rods or track-rods as y'all call them.

Either way you go, as in DIY or Send out is ok with me.
I don't have issues either way.  I know that I can screw up an install just as well as the shop, and the last time I had a shop replace the bearings,  the bearings still went out in about 5K so I suspect that the pre-load wasn't maintained… After that I bought the kits and DIY.

Last hints….
If you DIY, use plenty of grease on the thread of the press….

Place never-seize on the inside of the spindle where the ball joint or tie-rod hole, as it keeps them from seizing and easier to remove the next time.

The "C" clips that hold the bearing in have flat ears, and not rounded.  If your clips ears look rounded instead of flat, they can interfere with the axle movement and bind it so it won't move at all.  If yours don't have the profile of the flat one in the photo, don't use it, but re-use your old ones.  A couple of the bearing kits I have bought recently had the wrong c-clip.

Oi Thanks guys lots of info, I will order a ball joint splitter, also I think I would take the whole suspension leg out so I don't have to undo the camber bolts, but I think I might give it to a garage my dad uses so might get it done cheaper, also guys how do I remove the drive shaft, as I read some have a circlip, as I need to do the cv boot, but don't want to take the drive shaft out the gear box is there a way of doing it without taking the whole driveshaft off the car,

The camber bolts are ok I shook the wheel and had a look and they seem tight, the track rod I need to see and lower bolt, but this is a very bad wobble.like.its completely lose, when I hold the drive shaft and move it , it does like move the hub , also the car is fitted with a loud exhaust so I don't really hear much lol  it be a week or so till I get her up so hope its ok just want to double check and order my wheel bearing, I seen vwspares do a febi one so might go for that

Do you have a mig welder? I use that to get the old outer race out of the hub. Makes it so much easier to extract.

If the bearings that goosed that you can wobble the wheel, it would have been making a right racket for hundreds of miles, and would have vibrated/hummed the entire car esp when turning a corner.

Also if you jack it up and rotate the wheel by hand it will be RAF (Rough As F..). Have you checked this?

Is your problem a badly worn lower ball joint?

Il have a look at that its tilted from the top so sits like a very negative camber, but would it wobble badly with the bottom ball joint was gone, I can't really hear much when I drive, I will get it off the ground and spin the wheel and see what I hear, hope its simple as a ball joint lol cheers guys and also how would I use a mig to extract.the race thanks

BAZ-GTI said

 how would I use a mig to extract.the race thanks

Once the inner races are out, turn the mig up to max and run a weld all around the outer race where the balls would have ran on both races. As the weld cools it shrinks the outer race. Use the weld applied as purchase to tap out the outer race.