Here's a write up that AndrewT on ausubaru made:
I got my bearings from Coventrys but I think they are probably cheaper directly from CBC bearings.
Make sure you get the sealed type - the ball bearings themselves are obscured from view by coveres in the sides. These are more resistant to mud, sand etc.
Lemme see....this should basically cover it.
First side;
- Remove the split pin from the large castellated nut
- Use a 36mm socket and large breaker bar to crack the thread on this bolt and loosen it slightly
- Put front of car on axel stands (or an umbrella stand) and chuck a few rims under for added safety
- Take front wheels off
- Remove the roll pin from the inner CV cup
- Take the two bolts out of the strut which hold it in the top of the hub
- Stomp on the top of the hub with your boot to separate it from the strut - at this point the inner CV cup may slip itself off the gearbox stub
- Finish taking the castellated nut off (take note of exactly which way the flat washer goes, it isn't actually flat)
- Unplug the inner CV cup off the gearbox stub if it didn't fall off already
- Push the outer CV through the hub and remove the driveshaft all together - you may need to hold a softish block of wood against the outside part and give it a few thumps, sometimes they can be stuck pretty good - key point here is to protect the thread because if you bugger it up it's time for a new outer CV joint
- Unbolt the steering rack tierod ends from the hub and separate them.
- Now the only thing holding the hub to the car is the balljoint. Either undo the nut that holds the balljoint in the hub, or undo the nut that holds the balljoint to the control arm and separate them - doesn't really matter which way you do this.
- Now the hub is completely separate to the car. There are two bearing races in it, an outer and an inner (they are both identical) and two round rubber seals (a big and a small).
- Unbolt the outer hub bit and take the brake disc rotor off
- Remove the rubber seals by levering them out with a flat screwdriver. Remember which one goes where (big, little), I can't at the moment.
- Now to remove the bearings. There are probably a few methods to doing this but this is how I've done it.
- Rest the hub up on two blocks of wood so it's raised and the middle bit dangles down towards the ground instead of sitting on it.
- Use a crappy old socket extension bar (or some other similarly sized rod of metal) and pass it through the hub and push it against the bearing race which is at the bottom.
- Tap the bearing race out, a few taps alternating opposite sides until it gradually works look.
- Flip the hub over and do the other side.
- There is a metal ring in the middle which will fall out, don't loose it and don't forget about it.
- At this stage you will be completely filthy with old dirty grease absolutely everywhere so take the opportunity to clean everything up. Basically you want to completely clean the hub and have it free from all sand etc. Then move to a new cleaner location to re-assemble it.
- Grease the inside of the hub abit then start installing the first bearing race. Tapping it in with the metal rod is abit dangerous because you can easily slip and bash the side of the bearing and ruin the side seal so I find it safer to use one of the old bearing races - hey it's exactly the right size! Just make sure it's clean first.
- Then put the middle ring thing back in the middle.
- Then install the second bearing race in the other side.
- Then install the two rubber seals - with enough grease you should be able to actually push these in with your fingers as they flex a little.
- Now pack the hell out of the middle of the hub and the bearings with axel grease, too much is okay as it squeezes out when you put it back on the car anyway.
- Put the hub back on the car and tighten the balljoint up.
- Re-insert the driveshaft through the hub (this can be a real ******* - sometimes it's actually easier to do this outside of the car and re-install the hub to the car with the driveshaft already in it).
- Plug the driveshaft back into the gearbox.
- Re-insert the strut back into the top of the hub. You will probably need to push the hub down with your boot to get this to work, it's abit of a squeeze.
- Re-tighten the bolts from the strut to the hub.
- Put the castellated nut and washers back on, not tight yet.
- Put wheel back on and drop the car back onto the wheel.
- Tighten the castellate nut up with the 36mm socket and breaker bar, excess grease will come out in a snake. This needs to be done up *very tight*.
- Go do the other side.
The rear bearings can be done at home - I've done mine without a problem. The hardest part I reckon is getting the nut off the back of the hub. Then its a case of hammering the old bearings out followed by carefully hammering the new bearing casing in...
Shame you got a mechanic to do the work cos it sounds like you could've done it yourself with a free weekend for the front and another for the rear - being your first time it'll take you longer. I can now do my rears in an afternoon without a sweat...
With water crossings expect to do more wheel bearings in the future...
Cheers
Bennie
