Fitting FWD front wheel bearing(pic heavy)

Nissan doctor

Following on from the cylinder head rebuild thread, here comes another, although perhaps a bit more mundane the a head repair.

Fitting a front wheel bearing.

The set up on this car is the same/very similar to the majority of FWD hatches/saloons so may be of use to some people.

Car is a 2007 Honda Civic, bearing being replaced due to impact damage rather then wear.


So, to start, fully assembled hub:



First, hub nut removed, I do this first as 1, they can be seized and 2, when removed the cv joint can be seized into the hub, so removing this first usually gives you a good idea of how awkward the job is going to be:)

On this car, all nice and free:





Next, off with the brake caliper:



Once free, Hang and secure the caliper somewhere out of the way, don't let it hang loose on the brake line:



Caliper braket is next....these bolts are very tight:



Then brake disk, on some cars the brake disk will just come off once the caliper bracket is removed, others, like here, are held on with retaining screws. These can also be very tight and an impact driver is ideal to have for these:

Nissan doctor

With the brakes out of the way its onto the hub carrier next.

2x shock mount bolts:





Track rod end, these usually have a split pin that has to be removed before the retaining nut can come off:



And off, these as with most ball joints, can require some 'persuasion' to pop out, a few taps on the hub carrier where the TR end goes through(never hit the top of the threaded part of the TR end) usually free's it. If it still won't move, a balljoint breaker is the next stop.



Next, assuming the car has ABS, the ABS sensor needs to come out of the hub carrier. These are very fragile so, once the small retaining bolt is removed, gently try to twist the sensor, if its not free, you can carefully try to prize it up:



In this case, not a budge from the sensor....so plan B. Trace the ABS sensor wire back to the plug connector and remove it from there. This means leaving the sensor in the hub....which means being very careful not to damage the sensor for the rest of the job:



Finally, the bottom balljoint. Leave this until last as it can hold the weight of the hub while your removing everything else. This also has a retaining pin which has to come off before the nut:



With the hub carrier completely removed:

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With the hub carrier off, next remove the stone guard, for no other reason then its big and in the way:



Next, the hub is removed from the wheel bearing, sometimes these will come out without needing a press, a few goes of a hammer and correct size of punch should get it out(as in this case), although really tight/seized ones may need to be pressed out. In addition, when they do come out, either way, they usually take the outer bearing race with them, revealing the internals of the bearing:



To allow the bearing to come out of the hub carrier, first a circlip has to be removed...carefully, as these can go flying:



This is the part that can make DIYing this difficult...having the press the bearing out of the hub carrier:



And the old bearing out at last:



Next the problem of the part of the bearing race left on the hub. These can be awkward to get off as they are extremely tight and you have little or nothing to grip. heating the race is the best solution and this one took a good bit to get free:

Nissan doctor

The hub carrier set up in the press with the new bearing ready to go in. You need something flat to push the bearing in squarely and without pressing on the center of the bearing:



With the bearing in, on goes a new circlip:



Then the hub gets pressed back in, you need to support the bearing from underneath so that the bearing races don't get pushed out of place when your pushing the hub through the middle:



And finally, the fully assembled hub/hub carrier....and still functioning ABS sensor:P




Refitting the hub carrier to the car is, as they say, the opposite of removal.



Have fun:P

spiggotpaddy

That fancy dandy press takes all the fun out of it, no hammers , no overnight freezing,no big sockets no blood, no cursing or tittering from the other side of the fence. Pffft.

Nissan doctor

spiggotpaddy wrote: »

That fancy dandy press takes all the fun out of it, no hammers , no overnight freezing,no big sockets no blood, no cursing or tittering from the other side of the fence. Pffft.

There is always hammers, big sockets, blood and cursing......but they don't look good in a 'how to' post:D:P

Jimdagym

Great work, as always Doc.