Rear Bearing Replacement, Without a press Options

[RocketScott]

With the back of my car all torn down to replace the suspension bushings I figured it would be a good time to replace the bearings. Despite having a box full of pullers I couldn't find one that would work for getting the spindle out of the bearing, so I had to improvise. Here's a 'how to':

ETA: The spindle nut comes right off with an impact wrench. Don't try bending the flange of the nut out of the groove in the spindle.

Put the two hubs together using two fine pitch bolts. The picture shows four but you really only need two. Tighten each side a few turns at a time:



After pushing one spindle out back the bolts off and put a prybar (or socket) in between. Tighten again in the same fashion and the other spindle will come out:



Once the spindles are out pry off the outer seal ring:



Then you can use a puller to get the outer race off:



You may be asking "Why not just use the puller to get the spindles out?". Well, I couldn't get the jaws wide enough and still be able to get the clamping bolts in. The two bolt method I used was faster than trying to rig up something special.

I have the new bearings on order. Once they come in I'll do another 'how to' for getting them pressed back together.

This post has been edited by RocketScott: Jun 3, 2015 - 5:32 PM

[mkernz22]

I'm surprised you had to do the rears. Mine have over 284,000 miles on them and are still going strong. It's usually the fronts that go bad