front wheel bearing
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the first one we did - it took a 12-ton shop press, a freezer (for shrinking parts), and a torch (for expanding parts).
I pressed on the hub to get it out and instead of coming apart like I was seeing everywhere - the damn thing bound and popped the c-clip right out. So - long story short - the bearing was splattered all over the concrete.
About 4 hours for the 1st one on a Friday, then about 2.5 hours for the other that following saturday.
Penetrating oil on the axle stub coming through the hub will help (PB Blaster FTMFW!) it come out easier.
I pressed on the hub to get it out and instead of coming apart like I was seeing everywhere - the damn thing bound and popped the c-clip right out. So - long story short - the bearing was splattered all over the concrete.
About 4 hours for the 1st one on a Friday, then about 2.5 hours for the other that following saturday.
Penetrating oil on the axle stub coming through the hub will help (PB Blaster FTMFW!) it come out easier.
Getting the bearing off the spindle and out of the knuckle is HUGE PITA. (Some guys bought a 20 ton press and nearly blew it up pressing the bearing out). If you can get the entire knuckle off and take it to a machine shop along with your new bearing (Rock Auto) you will still save huge labor costs. Make sure the guys at the shop press on the proper race when installing the bearing or they'll wreck it. Outer race to press into the knuckle,.. inner race to press it on the spindle. There's lots of threads here about it.
I assume you forgot to take out the big c-clip first?? Did that wreck the Knuckle ??
Installshield 2
Gothenburg Superiority
^I was going to ask the same thing? I haven't needed to do mine yet, but there are a lot of videos on youtube for these specific cars...even a video on how to do it with just a hammer and some blocks of wood, instead of a press...but, that wasn't exactly full proof...with a proper press though and the right sized washers (some were renting a kit from autozone), it looked pretty easy...
You press out the hub assembly from the knuckle after removing that lock clip iirc, which will destroy the original bearing...leaving an inner race on the hub, and the outer race still stuck in the knuckle...then use a puller and a washer to match the spline section of the hub, which will pull off the inner race of the original wheel bearing from the studded hub......you then use a larger washer to press out the outer race from the knuckle...use the press to push in the new bearing (into the knuckle) with pressure on the outer race...then press the original hub back into the knuckle...done...the videos for this have it finished in 20 minutes, once the knuckle is removed from the car of course...
ihone...again, i've never done it...but i've watched numerous videos of those who have (and its very similar to most bearing systems on FWD cars)...and i've never seen anyone have problems like that...I've only witnessed those trying to do it without a press, and it not going nearly as smoothly...it seems that you may have not removed that locking clip, which prevents the bearing from 'walking' out once pressed in...without that removed, yeah...it'd be a nightmare...that clip is there to purposely prevent the bearing from breaking into its two pieces while cornering...
also, to the OP...there was a thread a week ago or so where someone had the dust shield on the back of the rotor coming in contact with the rotor surface...and it made a ton of noise...it can easily be bent away from the rotor and will no longer come in contact with it...i'd check that first, it could be simple as that...
You press out the hub assembly from the knuckle after removing that lock clip iirc, which will destroy the original bearing...leaving an inner race on the hub, and the outer race still stuck in the knuckle...then use a puller and a washer to match the spline section of the hub, which will pull off the inner race of the original wheel bearing from the studded hub......you then use a larger washer to press out the outer race from the knuckle...use the press to push in the new bearing (into the knuckle) with pressure on the outer race...then press the original hub back into the knuckle...done...the videos for this have it finished in 20 minutes, once the knuckle is removed from the car of course...
ihone...again, i've never done it...but i've watched numerous videos of those who have (and its very similar to most bearing systems on FWD cars)...and i've never seen anyone have problems like that...I've only witnessed those trying to do it without a press, and it not going nearly as smoothly...it seems that you may have not removed that locking clip, which prevents the bearing from 'walking' out once pressed in...without that removed, yeah...it'd be a nightmare...that clip is there to purposely prevent the bearing from breaking into its two pieces while cornering...
also, to the OP...there was a thread a week ago or so where someone had the dust shield on the back of the rotor coming in contact with the rotor surface...and it made a ton of noise...it can easily be bent away from the rotor and will no longer come in contact with it...i'd check that first, it could be simple as that...
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One of the big problems with this job starts with getting the axle nut off the axle, one guy had a 6 foot extender bar on the breaker bar and had to stand on it then jump on it.
Then #2 getting the splined axle end out of the "Wheel Hub Component", they're supposed to just slide out but you'd better not expect it to. (you can thread the nut on backwards until it's flush with the axle end so you can pound the snot out of it while protecting the axle threads a bit better)
Then #3 pressing the "Wheel Hub Component" out of the knuckle (which may or may not include various parts of the old bearing,.. usually both races stay stuck on they're respective mating surfaces,.. in the knuckle and on the wheel hub component.
Then #4 removing the outer race from the knuckle which may require a 20 ton press (that's where you need to take off the big c-clip first.)
Then #5 removing the inner race from the wheel hub component which requires using a grinder (unless you were lucky enough to have it stay with the bearing when it was pressed out) being careful not to grind into the hub component itself. There is nothing for a puller to grab on to. You grind slots on both sides of the old race then use a chisel to break the two pieces off the hub component (I know a guy that lost an eye doing this exact thing,.. But remember it's only funny when someone looses an eye,... then it's a sport).
Then #6 put the new bearing in the freezer while torching the knuckle. If you're lucky enough it just falls right in. (I had a problem with the bearing"sweating" from being cold,.. so it kinda steamed and stuff when I dropped it into the knuckle (it was hot and humid out). Some guys worry about the moisture getting in the bearing but I didn't care about that,.. it's got to deal with all kinds of crap during its service life,.. might as well christen it.
Then #7 press the hub component into the inner race of the bearing. You can freeze the hub component but be careful not to heat up the knuckle too much because of the grease and seals inside the bearing. I'm gonna put it in the oven at what ever the maximum operating temperature is while in service while the hub component is in the freezer.
(back yard mechanics are chefs too). It is possible to install the hub component in the bearing as far as you can get it in then put the axle in and use the big nut to pull the bearing onto the hub component (it pushes on the proper race) as long as the axle threads are far enough through the bearing and hub to get the threads started.
#8 throw the rest back together
Here's the replacement hub component at Rock Auto,.. it could save some head ache, I'm going for the cheap one, I don't see the value in the expensive one.
VALUE PRO Part # SPK552
Front CAD$23.92
DORMAN Part # 930552 {#C10033060} 5 Lug
Front CAD$115.43
Here's the bearing,.. I don't know which one I'm going for,.. probably the cheap one,.. it's "hearted" and I might wreck one during this process, so I may get a spare instead of having to wait for another delivery to arrive.
2002 MAZDA PROTEGE5 2.0L L4 : Brake/Wheel Hub :
Wheel Bearing:
TIMKEN Part # 510003
Wheel Race Front
CAD$18.97
BECK/ARNLEY Part # 0514065
Wheel Race Front
CAD$24.71
SKF Part # GRW237
Wheel Race Sealed; Front
CAD$25.81
NATIONAL Part # 510003 Wheel Race
Front
CAD$29.90
I don't know how to cut and paste the PDF pictures but here is the service manual page: DRIVELINE: 03-11-3
If you study the picture long enough you can see how it all comes together,... there is four layers: axle,.. wheel hub component,... inner race,..outer race,..then the knuckle.
If your bearing is going bad and you're sure that is the problem (wiggle the wheel around looking for free play)it is a really good idea to get on it quick. The heat and vibration of a bad bearing tends to seize things up making this job even more difficult.
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yeah - I was tired and not paying close enough attention - we left the circlip in on the first one. It literally exploded all over the floor with the press.
The second one - I removed it well ahead of time - and it went smooth as silk.
Note - the Inner Bearing Race that will almost always stay on the hub - you don't absolutely have to have a grinder. We torched the race to expand it, and used an air hammer to walk it far enough away from the hub-face to get a puller on it. With a little 'oomph' and some heat - both of them slid right off once we got them far enough away from the hub face.
The second one - I removed it well ahead of time - and it went smooth as silk.
Note - the Inner Bearing Race that will almost always stay on the hub - you don't absolutely have to have a grinder. We torched the race to expand it, and used an air hammer to walk it far enough away from the hub-face to get a puller on it. With a little 'oomph' and some heat - both of them slid right off once we got them far enough away from the hub face.
MazdaSpeeder
Member
- :
- Protege5 (5-spd)
High pitched metallic squealing doesn't sound like a bearing to me. Mine (I have replaced three) all sounded like a roaring noise and would change or go away when I turned the wheel a certain way at speed (reducing the load on the bearing). I would check the brakes first...they are a lot easier than the bearing, and if you have worn down the pads, they might squeal all the time. I'm not saying it isn't the bearing, just that I would check other things first before going for the bearing.
Installshield 2
Gothenburg Superiority
^oh ok cool...
as far as heating and 'freezing' these parts...I haven't seen how that is necessary if you have the proper equipment...First and foremost you should probably attain a 'bearing puller kit' or something like that, which includes multiple different thick 'press' washers as well as a 3 jaw puller...for getting the inner race off the hub (once its been pressed out of the knuckle), you use a small washer that fits only over the splined area...where the axle presses through...then the large bolt of the puller rests on that washer, and you fit the 3 jaws over the outer edge of the remaining race..and slowly tighten it...which evenly pulls the race off the hub...
As far as freezing the new bearing and heating the knuckle to the degree that it drops right in there...i can't say thats the correct approach...The press fit design of these parts are not as tight as you might believe...the stress of the heat on the knuckle can very likely weaken the entire thing, and again...the reason its just dropping right in there is because the tolerances aren't nearly as tight as you might expect...with the knuckle extremely hot, a lot of that thermal energy is going straight in to the 'cold' bearing...you risk destroying the grease inside of it before the car is even driven...
pcb...if you did this and it worked...thats cool...All i'm saying is its an 'easy' job with the correct equipment...and it kind of sucks that the correct equipment isn't exactly cheap or even easy to find...of course, road grime and dirt will make the job that much more annoying...so after getting all components of the old bearing removed...the entire knuckle and hub should be completely degreased and cleaned with alcohol...and the new parts installed in as clean a fashion as possible...if you follow all those tedious steps, it should go very smoothly...
as with anything automotive...90% of the hard part is getting the right tools...and undoing stuff that got messed up when you try to do it without them...
as far as heating and 'freezing' these parts...I haven't seen how that is necessary if you have the proper equipment...First and foremost you should probably attain a 'bearing puller kit' or something like that, which includes multiple different thick 'press' washers as well as a 3 jaw puller...for getting the inner race off the hub (once its been pressed out of the knuckle), you use a small washer that fits only over the splined area...where the axle presses through...then the large bolt of the puller rests on that washer, and you fit the 3 jaws over the outer edge of the remaining race..and slowly tighten it...which evenly pulls the race off the hub...
As far as freezing the new bearing and heating the knuckle to the degree that it drops right in there...i can't say thats the correct approach...The press fit design of these parts are not as tight as you might believe...the stress of the heat on the knuckle can very likely weaken the entire thing, and again...the reason its just dropping right in there is because the tolerances aren't nearly as tight as you might expect...with the knuckle extremely hot, a lot of that thermal energy is going straight in to the 'cold' bearing...you risk destroying the grease inside of it before the car is even driven...
pcb...if you did this and it worked...thats cool...All i'm saying is its an 'easy' job with the correct equipment...and it kind of sucks that the correct equipment isn't exactly cheap or even easy to find...of course, road grime and dirt will make the job that much more annoying...so after getting all components of the old bearing removed...the entire knuckle and hub should be completely degreased and cleaned with alcohol...and the new parts installed in as clean a fashion as possible...if you follow all those tedious steps, it should go very smoothly...
as with anything automotive...90% of the hard part is getting the right tools...and undoing stuff that got messed up when you try to do it without them...
My 05 626 had a bad rear bearing and it was a rumble I could feel while driving. (as it turned out, I didn't punch back the tab on the locking collar of the axle nut and just reefed it off. A piece of metal (the tab) fell into the bearing and I didn't notice. I managed to remove the bearing again and noticed that just a single roller bearing had a flat spot on it after I cleaned it, so I opened up the cage and replaced it with a single roller from the old bearing,... It worked,... no more rumble,.. Cheers to all of us cheap ass back yard mechanics)
There is also a gasket on very early model 02's that was placed on the fat part of the cv joint that was supposed to seal up against the knuckle,.. but it was causing problems and was deleted. I doubt that would give a high pitched sound though, more of a muffled rubbing I'd think.
Yea I did it and it worked,.. it took a long time but I got it done.
I didn't have the proper tools to change a tire on my Tracker either but my neighbor at the time told me that he could seat the bead of a tire with ether (that spray for cold starts) and a match. He worked in the forests of Northern Ontario driving trucks with no access to proper tools so I took his word for it and decided to try it myself.
I bought some bead seal and borrowed my dads tire iron and went to work. I got the old tire off and the new one mounted but I didn't have enough air to seat the bead. So I sprayed the inside of the tire with WD-40 for a few seconds then sat back a foot (the tire was laying flat on the floor of my dads garage) and lite the spray coming out of the can and shot a 18" flame towards the tire (I turned my head and pinched my eyes shut first).
With a huge bang my tire jumped three feet off the floor and we all cheered (I may have used a bit too much WD in there),.. the bead was set and I'm not dead,... so all was good.
Another neighbor came over to see what all the commotion was about and said 'ya know they'll do that for you for ten bucks' we said yea but this way's funner. He smiled shook his head and drove off.
Maybe I'll tell you about fixing my gas tank with a micro torch next but I've gotta take a shower and head out (I'm a two finger typer). That had similar explosive results.
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yeah so i have just had a quick skim through this... but you don't even need a shop press to remove the Wheel bearing.
socket on the inner shaft (the hub flange) couple of hits and its off.
REMOVE C-CLIP!
then get a press plate with an extension and belt out the bearing... easy as pie!
If you don't believe me... go have a look at my build thread "Hi from Oz" in the lounge. i have a pic of all that you require to remove the bearing
then clean up the knuckle with some sandpaper... grease lightly and press back in.... you don't need a crazy amount of force to press the bearing back in either.
as for inner race on flange... angle grinder most of the depth... then a good solid whack with a cold chisel will crack the inner race... then slide off.
press flange into hub (with new bearing and C-Clip already in). and your done.
socket on the inner shaft (the hub flange) couple of hits and its off.
REMOVE C-CLIP!
then get a press plate with an extension and belt out the bearing... easy as pie!
If you don't believe me... go have a look at my build thread "Hi from Oz" in the lounge. i have a pic of all that you require to remove the bearing
then clean up the knuckle with some sandpaper... grease lightly and press back in.... you don't need a crazy amount of force to press the bearing back in either.
as for inner race on flange... angle grinder most of the depth... then a good solid whack with a cold chisel will crack the inner race... then slide off.
press flange into hub (with new bearing and C-Clip already in). and your done.
MazdaSpeeder
Member
- :
- Protege5 (5-spd)
Just a suggestion here...A shop pressed mine out and the new ones in (both fronts) for $25 apiece. They knew about the c-clip and did it exactly right. I decided that rather than press it wrong or mess something up, I would just pay for that, and it was well worth it. I felt like it was the easiest route, but that's just me.
That's $25 very well spent in my opinion. I spent days doing that job on my 05 626 and tracker. You're still saving hundreds of dollars in labor and parts markup costs.
The biggest advantage of doing it yourself is the fact that you get to play with fire, ice and twenty gigatonne presses (about $200 on sale by the way) get half corked and hang out with your crazy friends.
I paid $40, brought dude my front knuckles and 2 new bearings and got them back on the car within a couple hours. I think I lucked out, he was waiting for one of his guys to finish blasting a fender, so he just did it real quick. Guys who build old hotrods get shizz done.
AzzA SP20's thread has some awesome photos of the knuckle (and the rear mount for another thread) and shows some of the proper tools for doing the job. I noticed the knuckle has the notch cut out of it to drain water that was added in mid 2001 models (build date,... mine was built Sept 01 and has the "notch")
http://www.astina gt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18330&page=21
Quote from AzzA SP20: yeah so i have just had a quick skim through this... but you don't even need a shop press to remove the Wheel bearing.
If you've been neglecting to do this job for a long time especially in a warmer climate (I'd figure) the heat and vibration (and rust in my case,... I should start my own rust thread but I suck at body work), can seize those races on there like mad. I remember reading the thread about the guy who had a 20 ton shop press and thought it was going to explode,.. he broke a huge (32 mm?) socket. I know a mechanic who hates these Mazda (specifically) wheel bearings,... he takes them to a machine shop.
It must be nice to work on such a rust free car,... I almost didn't recognize the under side in your pictures.
http://www.astina gt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18330&page=21
Quote from AzzA SP20: yeah so i have just had a quick skim through this... but you don't even need a shop press to remove the Wheel bearing.
If you've been neglecting to do this job for a long time especially in a warmer climate (I'd figure) the heat and vibration (and rust in my case,... I should start my own rust thread but I suck at body work), can seize those races on there like mad. I remember reading the thread about the guy who had a 20 ton shop press and thought it was going to explode,.. he broke a huge (32 mm?) socket. I know a mechanic who hates these Mazda (specifically) wheel bearings,... he takes them to a machine shop.
It must be nice to work on such a rust free car,... I almost didn't recognize the under side in your pictures.
Yeah dude, J48 knuckle's have the drain notch. Here that is the '03 models.
Mind had one side j48 and the other was the design without a notch..... Now take a guess which CV was seized into the hub! Lol
Yep... Side with no drain.
Both of mine are now the j48 style.
See... That's why you should all move over here to Aus!
(bring your pro5's with you)
Wheel bearings have never been changed in both the knuckles that I did... 100K miles of driving... And can still remove them by hand! only thing I have had seize was that CV in the hub.
I would completely freak out if my car looked like alot of you guys ones underneath :/
Cars built and driven in the '50's have less rush underneath! :/ lol
Mind had one side j48 and the other was the design without a notch..... Now take a guess which CV was seized into the hub! Lol
Yep... Side with no drain.
Both of mine are now the j48 style.
See... That's why you should all move over here to Aus!
(bring your pro5's with you) Wheel bearings have never been changed in both the knuckles that I did... 100K miles of driving... And can still remove them by hand!
only thing I have had seize was that CV in the hub. I would completely freak out if my car looked like alot of you guys ones underneath :/
Cars built and driven in the '50's have less rush underneath! :/ lol
Did your non j48 knuckle have the accompaning gasket on the CV or were the guys at the assembly plant just using up old stock without a simple application of a grinder?
Yea the cars over here in the salt belts are all pretty nasty but on the bright side,... they're cheap, around $1000 which also brings down the price of the well maintained ones.
Yea the cars over here in the salt belts are all pretty nasty but on the bright side,... they're cheap, around $1000 which also brings down the price of the well maintained ones.
