wheel hub bearings

[retta]

im going to buy a beretta gtz 1990 on saturday..it has a bad wheel hub bearing..left front..do someone here have some pictures on how to change it`?And anything special i should think about?

[IsaacHayes]

Buy Timken bearing. Other cheap brands will fail in less than a year... Trust me.

You need torx bits to remove the bearing from the knuckle, big ass socket for the axle nut, torque wrench (1/2") and that's about it for "special" tools. Oh and an impact gun would make it a LOT easier..

[retta]

ok then it cant be so difficult...I dont know the brand i bought some korean crap..But i dont think its easy to find parts here in sweden for theese cars..specially in short notice.

[Money pit Beretta]

Well it does get a little harder. It is best to change the seal in the knuckle. You would have to pull the CV shaft to do that. I can't remember what size that nut is on the CV shaft. After you get the new hub on you will need to torque the CV nut down to 70lbs-Ft first and when the wheel is back on with it on the ground tighten it to 190Lbs-Ft. For the hub bolts it's 70Lbs-Ft. They would be done before the CV nut. There is one big hole on the hub and that is the only one you can use to get to the hub bolts. I hate to say it, but you really need a Chilton's manual. You could do without it for this, but it might help. These cars do need alot of repair and it would help later.

[Barry]

30mm nut on cv shaft

[IsaacHayes]

Eh, don't need a LOT of repair. My car has been daily driven for all it's life in the city, and driven hard, and I've done less repairs than my friends who have cars that were made in the 2000's.. But a manual will help if you've never worked on a lot cars before.

MPB: my car never had seals for the bearings. I tried putting one in once since the new ones come with it, and went to put the bearing in, well didn't fit, so I tightened up the bolts to draw it in. After that the bearing would not turn at all!! It was crushing it. So either it was remove the seal, or take the knuckle off and have it machined larger to accept the seal... I tossed the seal and put it back how the factory was... no seal... And you won't have to pull the CV to put a seal in... If it was really in your way, you'd disconnect the ball joint, loose the strut mount 3 top bolts from the strut tower, and swing the knuckle out so you could push the axle through... That's how I replaced my axles before....

Barry, IIRC I used a 28mm socket on mine and that was too big IIRC but worked. (I did it outside of a shop, pulled up to the door, pulled the air hose out with an impact gun, rolled a jack out, and got to work... LOL

[Money pit Beretta]

Yeah, I was going to put in that post that you would have to undo the ball joint. I started to feel that I was in over my head on this. Without knowing how much he knew about working on cars I felt it was best to talk about the Chilton's. Also I'm a very slow typer. I got cought up and kept adding things(that's why it's not in order).
Oh, and I was talking about the seal that goes in the back of the knuckle. The one you have to work in with a seal tool and a hammer. There is a drawing of it on page 8-15 in the Chilton's(fig. 22).
I had to use a big jaw puller to get the bearings off. Did you?
So far the ones on this car are ok. I did them on the 90GT, but that was years ago.
I see a new memeber asking for help and I want to try to help them as fast as I can so they stick around and feel welcome. I need to focus my thoughts better before I post.

[3X00-Modified]

MPB: my car never had seals for the bearings. I tried putting one in once since the new ones come with it, and went to put the bearing in, well didn't fit, so I tightened up the bolts to draw it in. After that the bearing would not turn at all!! It was crushing it. So either it was remove the seal, or take the knuckle off and have it machined larger to accept the seal... I tossed the seal and put it back how the factory was... no seal... And you won't have to pull the CV to put a seal in... If it was really in your way, you'd disconnect the ball joint, loose the strut mount 3 top bolts from the strut tower, and swing the knuckle out so you could push the axle through... That's how I replaced my axles before....

That is not the issue, I've used the seals on all of my bearing replacements... Even not on my car when I've done others. So I don't know what happened when you tried it but something was amiss... I'm disappointed that the GA knuckles don't have some sort of seal to keep the rust down on the splines since that's where they tend to seize up.

Also trust me, the seals make the bearings last MUCH longer, and prevent the axles from rusting into the bearing splines. Mine are still shiny silver and slide right apart and I drive the car every day in the winter.

In the end a bearing should be a quick replacement.

You should only need the large 28 or 30mm socket described for the axle, (I use a 30, I don't have a 28 ti test but it may fit)
A brake caliper socket (3/8 alan head)
and then the T55 Torque socket IIRC...

Remove caliper, remove rotor, remove axle nut, remove 3 bolts holding bearing in, tap on axle to push it back, then pry bearing assy from knuckle. Reverse procedure to install.

As noted if your adding the seal included it goes on the inside of the knuckle, you need to pop the ball joint, pull the knuckle toward you so you get enough room to remove the axle from going through the knuckle, tap the seal into the backside of the knuckle, then take the included o-ring and put it around the bearing and slide it up to the flange area that is flush with the outside of the knuckle... Install bearing then put the axle back into the bearing and re-attach the ball-joint.

I just did this a few weeks ago in about 30 min... Granted I can swap a motor in one of these cars in 6 hours alone... but it shouldn't take all that long if nothing is welded together with rust.

[IsaacHayes]

To get the old bearing off, I think I tapped it a few times with a hammer to break the rust free, then pried it out with a screw driver/pry bar until I could go all the way around it and it broke free... Next time I replaced the cheap $50 chinese wheel bearing was less than a year and it came right off of course.

Seal goes in the back????? OH!! I was putting it in the front. LMAO! I had no idea since from the factory it did NOT have seals!!! Hmmmmmm.

Oh well, no biggie, the factory bearings lasted over 200,000 miles, so it's not like having a missing seal made them wear out fast enough for me to notice!!! As far as the splines on the CV, mine were brown, but not deep rusted or anything. A slight tap with a hammer and they slid right out of the bearings.

[Money pit Beretta]

I lost some TRW's after a few months because I didn't change the seals. I know that they were sitting in the parts store for a long time, but that shouldn't have done anything to harm them.

[Cliff8928]

The ACDelco bearings specifically say not to use the seal. And that's how they've been for a LONG time.

[Barry]

I throw the seals in the trash. I thought it was a sealed bearing?

[3X00-Modified]

Issac, there is a steel seal with rubber lip that goes on the inside of the knuckle to seal against the axle, and then there is an included rubber o-ring, that goes around the part of the bearing that protrudes into the knuckle, it seals the seem where the bearing bolts to the knuckle. I use both seals on my bearings on my red car and I get a lot of miles from them.

If you tried putting the rubber o-ring between the axle and the bearing then yeah I can understand why it didn't quite work out for ya...

Cliff I was unaware of ACDelco bearings say to not use the seal, but we are talking about Timken bearings here... And Barry... as far as it being a sealed bearing... Maybe Timken doesn't do such a good job at it hence the included seals... where the original ACDelco ones are sealed much better and don't need those extra seals. I use whats included in the box and they last... I have yet to have one die in under a year.

[IsaacHayes]

Jon, I didn't get that far. I installed the metal press in seal in the front of the knuckle, put the bearing in, and started pulling it in with the bolts. Then it was bound up, so I said screw this nonsense, took it out, ripped the seal out, and put the bearing back in. (this was the Drivers side cheap one, which is still holding up) I might still have the timken seal, not sure. Maybe the seals are for other applications??

Here is how it all went down with my car.

* Passenger bearing was a little loose. No noise. Replaced it with cheap $50 no-name brand.
* Less than 1 year, car developed a high frequency vibration in the steering wheel, (remember I thought it was the transmission after replacing everything Jon?).
* Drivers side wheel bearing replaced to try and resolve the vibration issue, with a different brand, but still $50 cheap bearing. Bearing was tight but did feel gritty when I had it off.
* Replaced both CV Axles. No change. Figured it was the transmission.
* Went to take off Passenger side wheel, stud spun in the hub (WTF). Drilled out lugnut, replaced bearing with Timken this time. $70 and made in the USA.
* What do you know, the first Passenger wheel bearing was doing the high frequency vibration. Didn't last but maybe 5 months before it started.

* Replaced transmission mount, shake at certain load conditions went away, as well as the metallic noise when braking. Trans was rubbing subframe. Transmission is OK. Worries gone.
* Drivers side bearing still holding up just fine. The Passenger side brand must have been a POS (wheel stud spun, doesn't surprise me).

I still get some shake at WOT from the drive train, like something out of balance. Probably the cheap CV axles I put on. One required a core, the other side did not, so I still have one original axle (drivers side).

[retta]

thank you all for the info,,i think om going to buy a Haynes book tomorrow..i have help with doing the change its just that im going to pick up the car on saturday and its a few miles from where i live so im going to do the change in a friends garage in the same town where the car is located so i just want to be prepared since im driving the car home..

and btw im a SHE not a HE...