Front Wheel Bearing Replcement

[madassmax]

Hi,

 

Noticed a knocking noise a few days a go so jacked my X reg 20 HDI up and i have a bit of a wobble on the passenger side front wheel, i'm assuming its the bearing that's gone? Is it a relativley simple job to replace, never done it on this before but i do rmember changing my Reno 19 bearings a few years ago and it was a nightmare to get them off.

 

Any tips and what size socket will i need for the main nut, biggest one i have at the moment is 32mm but i don't think this is gonna be big enough?

 

thanks

[Guest Colin Hunter]

The job itself isn't all that difficult if you have access to a hydraulic press. I would say it's all but impossible without one! When mine went I left it to my local car guru who has all the gear. The bearing is (or was) £11 from gsfcarparts.com against £47 from Citroen, so you'll be saving enough on the bearing to pay for the job! Alternatively, you could remove the swivel hub assembly yourself and take it to someone with a bearing press to do the actual job. I'm not sure of the nut size but you needn't try loosening it with a 1/2" drive set. They're just not up to the job! If you can get it off with a 1/2" set then it probably wasn't tight enough in the first place, which may have led to the failure. I bought a 3/4 drive set from ebay for £35 all in which I can assure you will do the job of loosening the nut. The set can be found here

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PROFESSIONAL-21PC-3-...bayphotohosting

 

Cheers. Hope this helps. ;)

[madassmax]

Hi,

 

As i thought...similar to the Reno i had althoug i did manage to do the job myself, just can't remember how i did it (just remeber it was painful!).

 

Not sure but i vaugly remeber using an angle grinder to get the old bearing off the hub as it wouldn't budge, with the hub off i then used the cars weight to press the new bearing onto the hub by placing it on a trolley jack, finding a suitable part of the undersection of the car to and slowly jacking it under the car...the weight of the car pushing on to the hub eventually pushed the bearing into place, it may have needed a little bit of tweeking with a lump hammer and peice of wood to finish it off. I used to be very resourcfull when i was younger! Unfortunately as i ahve got older my memory has faded and i cant remeber if i used this technique on a pressed bearing or another one of my many cars?

 

What do you think the chances are of this method working?

I just like a challenge i guess, and i don't trust gagrages.

By the way, the socket size is 36mm should anyone else need to know, you can get a heavy duty jobby from the fraudsters at Halfrauds for under a tenner

[Guest Colin Hunter]

Not a F***IN@ hope!

 

Bite the bullet and get in the "man who can" i.e. someone with "The Gear"! Look at it this way, if you had "the gear" you could do the job, but buying "the gear" costs a fortune, which is why there are garages etc who have "the gear" touting for your business! Beleive me! it's a lot easier AND less painfull in the long run. I once spent a whole day making a bespoke bearing puller on a lathe to change a front wheel bearing on a Montego. It DID work but was useless afterwards. (BENT TO F***!). Take your time into account, total up how long it's going to take YOU to do when you could be doing something you CAN do easily!

 

(and enjoy!) Cheers Hope this helps! :rolleyes: