Old Library

Jeff-

Just replaced my front wheel bearing this weekend. Two bearings($35 each at
local dealer). Had them pressed in at local machine shop ($15). Check your
hub to make sure it's still true and not worn in any place(any grooves or
lips and I would replace it like I did mine($70 at dealer). As far as the
disassembly and installation, no problem. Unbolt the ball joint, tie rod
end and spindle, loosen halfshaft retaining nut ans take the spindle off. A
Bentley manual will help.

Mike Pancheri

In a message dated 7/5/2001 10:42:39 AM Eastern Daylight Time, &#74;Hohlfeld&#64;aol<img src=/i/dc.gif border=0 width=35 height=15> writes: 
|  Hi Everyone 
|  I have a question. 
|  Has anybody had to replace there front wheel bearings before?  At how many 
|  miles was in the car when you had to change them?  What did it cost?  I 
|  think 
|  that is what started making noise in the front of my car.  It makes more 
|  noise turing right than it does turning left.    
|
|  Thanks 
|  Joel 


Joel, 

I have replaced both wheel bearings, drivers side at around 60k and passenger 
side last week at 90k. 

I work at a dealership so I did them myself but the "book time" to do one 
side is 2.1 hours X whatever the labor rate is per hour, plus the part of 
course.  You will most likely be looking at  a minimum of $210.00 total. 

Scott 
96 gti "2 new wheel bearings edition" 
95 gti "no new wheel bearings edition" WTF!! 

• Take of hub caps (yes I still do have them)
• Loosen the drive axle nut. Leave your car on the ground to loosen this one. This is a 30 mm nut. You will need to rent a 30 mm socket to loosen this and a really long wrench or a long pipe because it is tightened to 195 ft/lbs. You will also need to replace this nut with a new nut becuase it is a self locking nut. How is it self locking? Well, it is oval on one side to keep it from sliding out. If you get a wheel bearing kit, it should already come with these new nuts.
• Loose the 4 wheel lug nuts.
• Jack up the car and use jack stands.
• Slide out the wheel and put it underneath the car (Beneath the passenger door). That way if the car falls on top of you, the wheel might help cushion the blow a little.
• Get out a piece of cloth to lay out parts and bolts.
• Start by take off the two bolts (lower bolts first) for the calipers. Take the calipers and hang it from the coils using a piece of sturdy wire. Put the bolts on the cloth. Take the brake pads and put it next to the bolts on the cloth.
• Next undo the two bolts holding the caliper housing from the steering knuckle aka as the wheel bearing housing. Put the bolts aside and slide off the caliper housing from the rotor.
• Unscrew the screw holding the rotor to the wheel hub. If the screw has sieze, just drill it out. You really don't need it anyways.
• Now take out the rotor from the wheel hub and put it on the cloth
• Now the fun part begins. There is three things you need to undo to get out the steeting nuckle aka wheel bearing housing [URL]  http://img.eautopartscatalog.com/live/K404549855.JPG [/URL] .

  [ In case the above pic is missing, it's also available here. aqn ]

  They are the tie rod, strut assembly, and the ball joint.
• I left the wheel hub in the steering knuckle assembly. If you want to take it out you would need a wheel hub puller.
• I would start first with tie rod. You would first unscrew the lower retain nut bottom but not all the way to protect the threads on the bottom of the bolt. Then you have to use a tie rod remover. I used a fork even thought they advised against it. Use the remover to remove the bolt from the steering knuckle assembly.
• Now go underneath the assembly and loosen the 3 bolts on the bottom holding the ball joint.
• Now loosen the two sets of nuts and bolts holding the steering knuckle to the strust assembly.
• Remove the drive axle nut that you loosened early and take out the washer.
• Now remove the 3 bolts from the bottom of the ball joint and the retaining bracket.
• After that, remove the nuts and bolts from the strut assembly.
• You can now slide out the steering knuckle with the wheel hub still attached.
• Take this to a machine shop or any automotive repair shop that will replace the wheel bearing for you. I had

Since I too was unwilling to pay the stealership $800 to change my front
bearings, I decided to do it myself.  In addition to the basic tools I
already had, I had to purchase the following:

	Bentley manual: 					$50
	Hydraulic press (Northern) 			$120
	Bearing Separator (Northern)			$10
	Performance Bearings (Rapid Parts.com)	$90
	TOTAL COST:						$270

It took me a good part of a Saturday to do the job on both sides.  The
hardest part was taking off the axle nuts.  BTW, I didn't buy new nuts
as the manual suggested because the stealership wanted about $15 apiece
(and they're the only game in town).  I just used locktite on the old
nuts.

I saved about $500 from the dealer cost, and I got to add some neat
tools to my garage to boot.

Dominic

HI ALl

Strainght to point

Do you need a press to change front wheel bearings?

Or will a large vice do, combined with heating knuckle
and freezing bearing/ cleaning knuckle surface?

SHould you replace both sides irelivant to condition
of other side (i.e. like pad and rotors) or just the
bad one?

Any tips from anyone who has done it will be
appreaciated?

thanks
JIm

Your gonna need a PRESS, to do it
or you can pound it out with a hammer and round punch
if you have a good vise to hold it
its not difficult, i have done it both ways

=P

te: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 16:37:22 -0700
From: semperjim &lt;&#115;emperjim&#64;hotmail<img src=/i/dc.gif border=0 width=35 height=15>&gt;
To: &#108;ist&#64;gti-vr6<img src=/i/dn.gif border=0 width=35 height=15>
Subject: Re: [gti-vr6] Wheel Bearing (Shorter!!)

having a machine shop with a press is well worth the hassle. make sure the
installer puts the ABS ring back on before he presses it together, i've had
that happen to me twice and at 50 a pop its not cool. the hub may wiggle in
the knuckle until the axle is tightened, so make sure the outer stub is
tightened before you drop the car on it. I have replaced my drivers side 3
times in under a year, so ask if you can watch the guy do it to make sure he
does it right.
James 97 ginster