HOW TO: Replace AWD Front Hub Bearing Assembly

Hmm I get a noise like that, but it's only around 50mph and then sorts of goes away.

Maybe I do need to get the hubs replaced - sigh...
 
All right, after replacing my rear hub (which I wrote about copiously in another post) I am getting noise with the one remaining bearing that hasn't been replaced on the right front. Grrrrr. I am vacillating between spending about $200 and getting the FHBA as pictured above (and which I HIGHLY recommend for the rear replacement due to the idiotic bearing hub bolt placement) or saving mucho bucks and just getting the bearing races (about $50 for the pair). The part that was the worst on the rear bearings was pressing the wheel hub into the bearings in the new bearing hub. I used a huge vise and it was not at all easy.
Since my rear bearing experience I have seen many posts on other forums where guys made their own bearing presses out of long pieces 5/8" threaded rod and some caps, washers and nuts that properly apply the pressure to the bearings' outer rims. Put the bearings in the deep freeze for several hours, grease them up, and they seem to press right in with this homemade setup on the videos and pictures I've seen. The only thing that worries me a little is getting the hub off and getting the old bearings out. On my rear bearing the races were so shot the wheel hub pulled right out of the bearings with no effort, and it was easy to dremel them to bits for removal. My front bearings are in better shape, based on the symptoms.

So, anyone ever remove the wheel hub from the bearings in the bearing hub?

Or anyone ever cobble together their own bearing press out of ready rod?
 
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Artifex said:
All right, after replacing my rear hub (which I wrote about copiously in another post) I am getting noise with the one remaining bearing that hasn't been replaced on the right front. Grrrrr. I am vacillating between spending about $200 and getting the FHBA as pictured above (and which I HIGHLY recommend for the rear replacement due to the idiotic bearing hub bolt placement) or saving mucho bucks and just getting the bearing races (about $50 for the pair). The part that was the worst on the rear bearings was pressing the wheel hub into the bearings in the new bearing hub. I used a huge vise and it was not at all easy.
Since my rear bearing experience I have seen many posts on other forums where guys made their own bearing presses out of long pieces 5/8" threaded rod and some caps, washers and nuts that properly apply the pressure to the bearings' outer rims. Put the bearings in the deep freeze for several hours, grease them up, and they seem to press right in with this homemade setup on the videos and pictures I've seen. The only thing that worries me a little is getting the hub off and getting the old bearings out. On my rear bearing the races were so shot the wheel hub pulled right out of the bearings with no effort, and it was easy to dremel them to bits for removal. My front bearings are in better shape, based on the symptoms.

So, anyone ever remove the wheel hub from the bearings in the bearing hub?

Or anyone ever cobble together their own bearing press out of ready rod?
Click to expand...


You don't have a local machine shop that can press the bearings in for you? I used to work in autoparts store back in the day. On the wife FX I just bought the complete front hubs. My old school back ground said it was cheaper just have them pressed in and out. However that was where I lived back home. Don't know of any machine shops in the area. They are probably there...but need to do more home work.
 
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Hi Guys -

Just joined the forum. Found this thread while searching for a good write-up of the Front Wheel Bearing Hub Assy for my 2003 FX45 AWD. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to see this excellent "photo essay" along with tips, pitfalls and copious use of PB Blaster. Nice job.

I had bearing noise get very loud back when I was under 100K miles, and brought it half-way across NJ to the Infiniti dealer I originally bought it from. They diagnosed the FBHA, then recommended I get both replaced, followed by an alignment. Total bill, I found out later was $1000. I almost always do my own repairs, so this really stuck in my craw.

I have just reached 152K miles on my FX and an FHBA is starting to sing again, currently very low volume. I just ordered a pair of them from Infinitipartsusa which should arrive shortly. BTW - I have also had my VDC, ABS, AWD lights on for the past month or two, and have pulled out the front speed sensors to inspect them. I haven't put a meter on them, but will do that while I have the wheels off. I am hopeful that the deteriorating FBHA caused the lights to go on, and will see after the install. I still hear the ABS twang periodically, so I suppose there's no problem with the pump unit itself.

Now - my questions:

1) Has anyone tried a large-sized puller (8" or so) to retract the FBHA from the axle and spindle once the 4 bolts are removed - without having to detach it from the strut? Does it work, or is there some obstacle I am not foreseeing?

2) Did anyone try removing the hub nut or other bolts using an impact gun? (I have an electric one with the right size impact sockets, so I am hoping to save time and effort with it).

3) Is an alignment really mandatory after doing this work, especially if I avoid detaching the spindle from the strut assy?

4) Has anyone had the multiple yellow dashboard lights on, then go away once the FBHA's were replaced?

All responses (even the goofy ones) are appreciated!! :tup:
 
sungunner said:
Hi Guys -

Just joined the forum. Found this thread while searching for a good write-up of the Front Wheel Bearing Hub Assy for my 2003 FX45 AWD. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to see this excellent "photo essay" along with tips, pitfalls and copious use of PB Blaster. Nice job.

I had bearing noise get very loud back when I was under 100K miles, and brought it half-way across NJ to the Infiniti dealer I originally bought it from. They diagnosed the FBHA, then recommended I get both replaced, followed by an alignment. Total bill, I found out later was $1000. I almost always do my own repairs, so this really stuck in my craw.

I have just reached 152K miles on my FX and an FHBA is starting to sing again, currently very low volume. I just ordered a pair of them from Infinitipartsusa which should arrive shortly. BTW - I have also had my VDC, ABS, AWD lights on for the past month or two, and have pulled out the front speed sensors to inspect them. I haven't put a meter on them, but will do that while I have the wheels off. I am hopeful that the deteriorating FBHA caused the lights to go on, and will see after the install. I still hear the ABS twang periodically, so I suppose there's no problem with the pump unit itself.

Now - my questions:

1) Has anyone tried a large-sized puller (8" or so) to retract the FBHA from the axle and spindle once the 4 bolts are removed - without having to detach it from the strut? Does it work, or is there some obstacle I am not foreseeing?

2) Did anyone try removing the hub nut or other bolts using an impact gun? (I have an electric one with the right size impact sockets, so I am hoping to save time and effort with it).

3) Is an alignment really mandatory after doing this work, especially if I avoid detaching the spindle from the strut assy?

4) Has anyone had the multiple yellow dashboard lights on, then go away once the FBHA's were replaced?

All responses (even the goofy ones) are appreciated!! :tup:
Click to expand...

1. Don't know of any large pullers that you can do it right on the car. The real pro's could answer that question.

2. Hub nut was one of the easiest to remove. Impact gun not necessary. However if you remove spindle from the strut assembly, I found my impact air gun helped putting it back together go really fast. Hardest bolts to break were the two attached to the strut. I had started to change the bearings after work and had to quite even though I got the nujt off of both of them but could not back the bolt out of the hole (real reason was because it got too late for the neigbors). You will need a breaker bar, lots of WD40 and sledge hammer with a short handle. I ended up whacking the breaker bar in the center several time before I could loosen the nut. I would order 4 new bolts with nuts. My next project is replacing the new struts but waiting for the springs and other components to come in. I will replace the strut bolts with 4 new ones with 4 nuts. It cost me $32.00.

3. Not sure if the alignment is mandatory but I don't want to find out the hard way. I'm going to waite 30 days before aligning and replace the lower control arms and all the links. If the lower ball joint breaks it could cause signicant damage. Then get it aligned once and be done with it.

4. Don't know.

Tomorrow I will replace the second front bearing. I took a test drive with just the front one done and the sound was significantly dropped in half. Both front bearings were definitely bad.
 
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Thanks dgoode -

It sounds like your situation is pretty extensive on the damage/replacement. Since I'm just doing the hub assemblies (yeah, I'll do both, since my mileage is so high), my goal is to do it as non-invasively as possible.

The pullers I have are just a three-jaw standard unit you would use for yanking gears, pulleys, and I assume bearings or hubs.
 
sungunner said:
Thanks dgoode -

It sounds like your situation is pretty extensive on the damage/replacement. Since I'm just doing the hub assemblies (yeah, I'll do both, since my mileage is so high), my goal is to do it as non-invasively as possible.

The pullers I have are just a three-jaw standard unit you would use for yanking gears, pulleys, and I assume bearings or hubs.
Click to expand...


Not damage/replacement but doing preventative maintanance. It's the Mrs car and you want her to be safe. Guys/Gals after looking at the inner\out tie rods on this FX35 they are all sealed\non-greasable not like the old technology. What does that mean? I used to work in autoparts years ago. The auto parts business has been suffering for years (due to the economic crisses of 2008 its been hot recently because people are keeping there cars longer) because sealed bearing\ball joint\tie-rods are what's used today. They are usually spec for a lifepan of 100,000 miles and you just replace the whole component and in the old days we would press in\out bearings\ball joints without thinking about it. So at 150k to 170k ... I got my moneys worth out of the suspension parts.

When a tie rod breaks the car is not drivable and has to be towed. Usually end up with the inability of not being able to stear the car.

When a ball joint breaks, the offending wheel turns a hard right, it will snatch the stearing wheel out of your hand and you will end up on a curb, hitting a park car or cross the lanes into oncoming traffic.

My lower controll arms seem to be okay but for $220 why take a chance totalling the car? If you are doing it yourself you can splurge but if you have to pay someone to change it?? Well I guess that is why we are here.

I finished the other front bearing. This went pretty quick and took about 2.5 hours changing it by myself. Took it for a spin and it drives near new however I will need rear bearings sometime in the future (the noise is in the infancy stage). It's possible I could get 180k to 190k or 200k miles out of the original rear bearings which is probably double the design life. The question is do I replace it now or later? If I replace them later I will have to get it aligned a second time.

---------- Post added at 03:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:18 PM ----------

sungunner...do you have a picture of the puller and where you got it from? Good tool to have.

 
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I talked to a couple of people and not sure if replacing front lower controller arms is necessary especially if they are not giving me any trouble as of now.

Probably the best course of actions is to inspect the ball joints and outer links when I do the struts. See how much play it has. None of the boots are toon neither.
 
InfinitiPartsUSA Short-shipped me

Oh well - I arranged to have time this Sunday to get both front hub assemblies done, and my package from InfinitiPartsUSA arrived today......BUT THEY SHORT-SHIPPED ME!! I only received one FBHA. The package only weighed approx 7 pounds, so I knew something was wrong as soon as I picked it up.

I left them a message and an e-mail, but was a little too late to speak to someone. Let's see if they even try to get the other unit out to me the fast-way, or if they try to have me pay expedited shipping to rectify their mistake. I already paid $30 bucks for shipping, I'm not going to pay more.

I'll update as soon as I know what they're going to do about it.
 
Anybody out there at IP-USA?

After two e-mails and a phone message to IP-USA asking for the plan to get my order fulfilled correctly, I have received no response at all, which takes me from merely frustrated to very annoyed. I wouldn't let any of my people treat our clients this way. If I don't get the other FHBA, or at least hear from them by sometime Monday, I'll give American Express a call (they always know how to give me satisfaction).
 
I bought my hubs from here.

discountautoparts dot com

They had a listing on eBay but here are some others venders.

My springs came in today from infinitpartsusa.com.

However I have some other strut components that have not come in. They have the strut bearings in stock but other parts are holding up the order.

I confirmed that there is a more pronounced shimmy because the stearing wheel shakes a little when you take my hands off. It wasn't as noticable before.
 
What would you have to notice on an FX to know if strut replacement is coming-up, or imminent? How does the ride change?

I've replaced springs and shocks in the past, but only struts with obvious physical damage on a Honda.
 
So - rather than wait for a 2nd FBHA, I decided to install the one I have on the front driver-side, and at least get part of the way there.

I had to go to AutoZone to get a 32mm hub-nut socket (couldn't find my large sockets, and got behind on time while looking for it). It was just as well, since I used the new socket with my cheapie impact gun from Harbor Freight to zip the axle-nut right off in a few seconds. I hit everything with PB Blaster to let it soak-in.

I've already had the sensor out of its hole a few weeks ago, so I used only light torque on the bolt, and a thin screwdriver with controlled pressure to back out the sensor. The bolt was replaced later with a coat of anti-seize compound.

Caliper bracket, the four bearing bolts came loose with a 1/2" breaker bar and hammer (also couldn't find my small sledge) - and I took off the spindle-to-strut bolts off with the impact gun. I had originally hope that one of my 3-jaw pullers would be useful in separating the FBHA from it's force-fit hole, but with the floating axle, I was afraid I would cause some unintended CV-joint damage or such. I left the bottom spindle bolt and steering rod bolt in place, gaining enough access to work on the removal of the FBHA itself.

Without a small sledge, I found that pounding out the FBHA was the biggest pain in the neck of the whole job. First-of-all, I hate to damage any part while removing it, in case I run into a snag and have need to re-assemble with the old part. But it was a necessary evil while trying to noisly coax the hub out of it's tomb. Once I made a little headway, and the backplate was able to rotate between the hub and spindle, I rotated it around to use the small indent as a way to insert a screwdriver to do some wedging at each hub bolt flange, which required patience. A surprisingly tough job, but it finally popped out.

I cleaned up the surfaces, used anti-seize where it made sense (almost forgot to put the backplate on before tightening down the four bearing bolts), and re-assembly went smoothly, using the breaker-bar and hammer again for the big bolts. Broke the cotter pin, so I temporarily used a bent nail as a substitute.

It would have been sweet to get both side of the front axle done in one session, but it was not meant to be. Thanks again for the photo essay on the procedure, it served as a good what-to-do-and-not-do manual. Now I just have to get a response on my missing FBHA from InfinitiParts-USA or halt the credit-card charge and buy it elsewhere.

---------- Post added at 01:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:43 AM ----------

Called InfinitiPartsUSA early this morning (opening time for AZ) and spoke to someone about my missing FBHA. Their records showed a complete transaction, but the FedEx package weight supported my missing part claim. The guy said he would get the part pulled and send it overnight to me. Assuming that they follow-through, I'll just chalk it up to a simple mistake in order fulfillment, and get my FX45 back to primo condition.

I noticed the improvement in my ride and decreased noise on the highway, so I think my choice of replacing the front driver's side FBHA first was a good one. Have to reset the yellow lights before I know whether I have any further problems.
 
I received the 2nd FBHA from InfinitiPartsUSA (I finally spoke to someone, and they overnighted the part).

I got the chance to install it today, and it went down quick and smooth. Since I knew which tools I needed (and located my mini-sledgehammer), I was done in approx 90 minutes, including clean-up. Much quieter ride, now I have to replace my tires.
 
Ditto's on the copper-coat antiseize. When in doubt, coat it! I learned this from working on 3/4 tons trucks!!!

Fabulous writeup! Thank you. I have to do my wife's bearings in her FX and you have helped me a lot!!! Thank you!!!!!!
 
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I am in the throes of doing just this, and everything that can go wrong is going wrong Question I have - The two upper bolts that hold the hub assembly to the strut, how did you get them off? I got the nuts off, but the bolts will not budge for anything. I torqued my breaker bar trying to even get one to turn. Do I need to jack up the bottom of the strut (somehow) to relieve the pressure?
 
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