Wheel bearings

The drivers side rear wheel had a bit of play, detected at MOT. So before replacing the tyres I'm replacing the bearings. On the original build I had replaced oil seals but for some reason left the bearings as they were - just delaying the inevitable!

Procedure is as described in my old Sierra manual plus a useful page compiled by my car club: RhoCar Changing a wheel bearing assembly (Sierra).

The rear assemblies are relatively straightforward - no special tools required - but an oil seal puller is useful.

I have a 1m breaker bar and hub nut socket, used on the original build, which loosened the hub nuts with relative ease - pressure applied with the car on the ground, wheels on, in gear and handbrake applied. Then jack up, wheels off, brake calliper off, disc off then finally a puller to pull the hub plate off the drive shaft.

Offside

Now that is a spanner!

Just nuts and bolts - however the 4x bolts holding on the bearing carrier went back on with nuts on the outside - much more accessible on the completed car.

Drive shaft bearing surfaces a little discoloured, not blue - but straw coloured so ~300ºC at some point in its life. Feels smooth to the touch, a little muck on the rear edge where the oil seal rides - but looks serviceable to me - no change required here other than a wipe down.

Part way through the job, old bearings and seals out. Tools: oil seal puller works well to hook underneath without damaging the carriers, steel drift and hammer to knock out the old bearing races and install the new, wooden packing and g-clamp to hold things steady.

Drivers side carrier with seals and bearings removed - looks and feels ok to me.

Re install is the opposite of dismantling, straightforward - precise application of pressure taking great care not to damage any of the new components and keep everything clean of dust or other contaminants (other than copious grease).

Notes:

• Hub nuts are handed, both loosen towards the back of the car, tighten towards the front. Interesting reason why to do with precession which I found out on the original build.
• Keeping the bearings and the seals in the freezer beforehand makes them possible to fit.
• Need to keep the bearing inners with their own races.
• Pre fill the back of the oil seals with grease before chilling so they can come out of the freezer and straight into the carriers before they warm up.
• The vice was useful for balanced pressure on the oil seals to get them started back in. Stacked with the old seals to avoid any damage on the new - this is the trickiest part of the job IMHO.
• The old bearing runs and oil seals are useful as drifts to help install the new ones without damage.
• The grease is messy - everything gets messy - gloves useful, if only to have one clean hand to get back in the house!
• Nylocs and hub nuts are one use only - so all replaced during the procedure

Drivers side complete, test run not showing any issues, passenger side is next!

Update - passenger side complete 13/5/17

Nearside

Disassembly,

Oil seal puller,

Bearings out - again this carrier looks clean inside,

Re-assmbly - bolts on the outside now for accessibility reasons, left handed hub-nut this side.

If I got it right, that should be it for the life of the car.