[shane1992]

I learnt how to replace wheel bearings and took a few photos on the way.. I put my first set on the wrong way and had to grind them off and put new ones on.. So I am doing this so it dosnt happen to anyone else!
Feel free to add in more pointers or corrections

Firstly, Secure the front wheels with chocks or bricks to secure the vehicle even put it into Low range and lock the hubs.

Once you have jacked the car up and have 2 axle stands securing the vehicle, remove both wheels.

You need to remove the axles from the diff housing.
Step 1, disconnect all 3 hard break lines (10mm) from the wheel cylinder (2 on drivers side/1 on passenger side)
Step 2, unscrew the 4 bolts (10mm) on the back on the back on the bearing retaining plate.
Step 3, unscrew the 4 bolts that hold the drum in place, remove drum.

Those 3 steps can be performed in any order, aslong as they are all done.

So far, you should be up to this stage


Now, to remove the axle, I bolted a chain onto the axle flange, and yanked it for about 5 minutes until it popped out, (It will be abit hard to get them out if the bearings have never been done before).

Removing Old Bearings:
Secure the axle in a vice, use a rag, or wood so the vice dosnt damage the axle Grind the collar and the old bearing as much as possible.


Then Using a cold chisle and a hammer crack the collar to remove it,


Use same method for the bearing too, It should all then slide off as shown


You will now be left with bare axles, and the backing plate will be able to come off.. Make sure this remains on before pressing the new bearings on..

Installing the new bearings

Prepare the new spacer, bearing and collar


And this is the order of how they are applied'
Spacer (counter sunk side sits againts the axle flange) Bearing, collar.
Put the spacer inbefore the bearng is a critical part, if it is put in after the bearing, the axle will sit 5mm inside the diff centre more, causing the drum to make contact with the bacing plate, NOT what you want!
Some bearings have the spacer built into the bearing, make sure the side with the inbuilt spacer faces the axle flange..


They need to be pressed on with abit of force, so a bearing press will be handy, and is the best option to use..
If you do not have a bearing press, a 1 inch piece of pipe will do the job.. Like I have used, I taped the end up so it was abit softer and didnt damage/mark the new collar and bearing.


You can hammer it or use 2 hands and slide the pipe up and down the axle hammering the bearings in place (easier then using a hammer)

Once the bearings are presed in place, installation is the reverse of taking it all apart.. Use a soft hammer or a piece of wood to push the bearings and axles back inside the dif housing..
Hook up the break lines.. And bleed breaks..
bolt up the 4 bearing retainer plate bolts..
Put drum back on, bolt it up, and put wheel back on..

[Scrawny]

Good write up mate! There is a similar thread here somewhere that was put up a while ago tho

[shane1992]

Scrawn wrote:

Good write up mate! There is a similar thread here somewhere that was put up a while ago tho

Thanks mate, Yeah that one was good but it didnt have enough detail on about making sure the bearings are put on the right way etc.. and I put thm on the wrong way.

[SierraDan]

I did mine yesterday after it collapsed on me.
My bearings had that little spacer bit built into it. I put my backing plate on the wrong way haha, had to press it off and do it again.

But i cut my original ones off the same as you did. grind it till there was about .5mm left then a chisel.

Good write up!

[Scrawny]

SierraDan wrote:

My bearings had that little spacer bit built into it.

Just read through the whole post, mine had the spacer as part of the bearing too

[shane1992]

Yeah the first ones I bought had the spacer in too, they were HD ones... But I didnt wanna pay another $120!

Dan how did you repress them off? I took them to a dif place and they said theres no way to repress them off to use them again,, cause the backing plate is in the way..

[SierraDan]

I used the backing plate.

I wasnt buying another bearing so it was either the backing plate works and all is well or the backing plate is fucked and i put another one on. but it held fine and the bearings went on.

although, we hadnt got the bearing collar on yet when we realised it was on backwards haha. so that would have made it better.
You can do it though there is this thing that works in conjunction with a bearing/gear puller with some chain and stuff. but i didnt have on at the time.

[foolsp33d]

difference between the backing plated bearings and non backing plated ones are the difference between NT and WT.. Pretty sure that got covered in the "old thread"

good job on the pics fella!

[foolsp33d]

another thread on rear bearings, exactly the same procedure.. but showing how the the two different bearings (spaced/not spaced) will work..
http://www.zukikrawlers.com/showthread.php?t=2905