When Changing a Hub Bearing Assembly.........

[u118224]

....what do you use the clean the bore before installing the hub bearing? In the past I'vek used a wire wheel and a dremel tool but am not happy with either. I am thinking of using a straight air die grinder but I don't know which attachment is most suitable. What do the techs here use?

 

[Bigrob88]

to be perfectly honest, I dont think many techs clean them up unless they are exceptionally dirty or crusty preventing the new hub sliding in.... you want the hub to fit as tight as possible, its not just the bolts that hold the hub in place its the tightly machined mating surfaces as well. I dont mess with them unless needed

 

[zmotorsports]

If there is a lot of corrosion I will take a piece of emery cloth and run around the inside of the bore to knock the rust off. Upon installing a new unit bearing I also apply a small amount of anti-seize around the bore to aid in removal next time.

Mike.

 

[Heel2toe]

^I use whatever I have kicking around to knock the rust off, typically a simple wire brush or wire wheel on a drill. I dont want something too aggressive, just enough to get rid of that surface rust and keep its original shape. But as Mike said, the most important thing for me is the antiseize upon re-installation. Living in MA salt will be the death of me. It's amazing what an extra 30 seconds applying antiseize will do for you down the road.

 

[md21722]

Knotted wire wheels tend to work better for heavy rust removal than crimped type. They also last a good while. A powerful straight grinder helps as well, as they won't stall like the little ones meant for cookie wheels. If you think you are removing too much material with a wire wheel you probably need to replace the knuckle lol. Coat the inside and the flange of the hub bearing assembly with anti-seize. It will hold tight and next time you can just pull it out once you loosen the bolts. You should be able to find knotted wire wheels online at places like Lehigh Abrasives, MSC, or McMaster; locally at Fastenal.

 

[Ramblin Man]

^I use whatever I have kicking around to knock the rust off, typically a simple wire brush or wire wheel on a drill. I dont want something too aggressive, just enough to get rid of that surface rust and keep its original shape. But as Mike said, the most important thing for me is the antiseize upon re-installation. Living in MA salt will be the death of me. It's amazing what an extra 30 seconds applying antiseize will do for you down the road.

I follow this procedure with great results.

 

[wafrederick]

Some are horrible to get out,the Chevy Equinox is one of them.Dealerships change the spindle at the same time,wheelbearing will not come out.Did find a trick that works on these,heat the spindle up with a torch.I like to run my die grinder with a burr on around the spindle where the wheel bearing goes into.Basically clean it up good until the corrosion and rust are gone.Takes a little bit to do this.

 

[stearn786]

I use a straight die grinder with a carbide burr. You can't even get most of the wheel bearings in NY back into the knuckle without cleaning the bore up.

Had a 2014 I had to clean today before reinstalling the bearing because it wouldn't go back in. The carbide burr is a little aggressive but I've never had a problem afterwards.

 

[Heel2toe]

If you have to go at it with a carbide burr I think its time to chuck that heavy clunk of cast iron and pick up a new one.

The first time around when I did wheel bearings on my car it probably took me close to an hour of beating prying swearing bleeding and all the other fun stuff associated with getting the thing removed. I lubed up the new ones nicely and when I went to replace one that I thought crapped out on me last season, the thing popped right out just by looking at it! Of course my sound ended up being the pinion bearing in my rear diff, doh! But point remains antiseize is your friend.

I hate living in MA but luckily for me Im not a mechanic and I've pretty much touched every single bolt on my car so at this point so its gotten easier. Whatever I remove goes back in with either antiseize or locktight.

 

[jumpstart]

Yup, salt *****. Antiseize is king up here. But I usually end up like this.....

 

[stearn786]

If you have to go at it with a carbide burr I think its time to chuck that heavy clunk of cast iron and pick up a new one.

The first time around when I did wheel bearings on my car it probably took me close to an hour of beating prying swearing bleeding and all the other fun stuff associated with getting the thing removed. I lubed up the new ones nicely and when I went to replace one that I thought crapped out on me last season, the thing popped right out just by looking at it! Of course my sound ended up being the pinion bearing in my rear diff, doh! But point remains antiseize is your friend.

I hate living in MA but luckily for me Im not a mechanic and I've pretty much touched every single bolt on my car so at this point so its gotten easier. Whatever I remove goes back in with either antiseize or locktight.

I would love an iron knuckle. 80% of what I work on has aluminum knuckles. Mix steel and aluminum, add a good dose of salt and 3-4 years later it might as well be welded. Have to blow the bearing off with a good air hammer and then grind away what's left in the bore. I mostly use the carbide because it's small so I can go around CV axles. Add to it that I'm flat rate and most wheel bearings pay .6 hr or less. Efficiency is what I'm after

 

[ex-x-fire]

I use a bit in my die grinder that I can roll up emery cloth on to. Works good.

 

[Wes J]

Here in the rust belt we start with the needle scaler and work our way down...

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I usually just hit it with a wire brush to knock the big stuff off and then apply a slight film of grease to help it push in. If it's not all crudded up and the old one came out fairly easy, i just throw the new one in.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

If you have to go at it with a carbide burr I think its time to chuck that heavy clunk of cast iron and pick up a new one.

The first time around when I did wheel bearings on my car it probably took me close to an hour of beating prying swearing bleeding and all the other fun stuff associated with getting the thing removed. I lubed up the new ones nicely and when I went to replace one that I thought crapped out on me last season, the thing popped right out just by looking at it! Of course my sound ended up being the pinion bearing in my rear diff, doh! But point remains antiseize is your friend.

I hate living in MA but luckily for me Im not a mechanic and I've pretty much touched every single bolt on my car so at this point so its gotten easier. Whatever I remove goes back in with either antiseize or locktight.

Lol. I live in CT, same thing here. I did a ford exploder left front wheel bearing and after trying the air hammer trick (thread bolts in, hit bolts with air hammer) for a while it wouldnt move. 5 lb sledge and my neighbor 3 houses down could hear me wailing on the thing. I ended up denting it really bad and loosened it more than it already was, but it came out. That took A LOT of smashing. When i worked in a shop i had gotten an air hammer stuck in a hub trying to remove it. Boy was that fun to get out. No room to get to the locking collar and not even a pry bar would remove it. I think i ended up just disconnecting it from the air and gave it the old "here goes nothing" and it came out with only a few scratches.

 

[u118224]

Great answers, I appreciate hearing how others do it. In N Michigan the new hub bearing will not go in without cleaning up the bore some, especially on the iron truck knuckles. I too always use anti seize on the new one.

 

[damnesia]

Yup, salt *****. Antiseize is king up here. But I usually end up like this.....

haha, so true.

 

[JJThrasher]

Die grinder with a carbide burr if needed. Takes 5 seconds.

 

[[memphis]]

Fire crackers or tootsie rolls work well for this if you are worried about the carbide removing too much meat. Fire cracker is a cartridge sand paper roll. They explode/unravel when you install them backwards

 

[Farmall 1066]

Ditto on sanding flap wheel or "firecracker" as stated above.