HOW TO: Replace AWD Front Hub Bearing Assembly

I tried to replace my wheel bearings today. I bought all the tools and even the sliding hummer which I was going to return after the installation. Everything was going fine, I removed all the bolts even the ones holding the bearing (which were a real PITA) and just when I thought it was going to be a piece of cake I got stuck trying to pull out the bearing. I got a very expensive sliding hammer which even have to attach to the bearing using the wheel lugs and screwing a bar through the the center of the bearing I was there for like 2 hours PB blaster did not help much. So I put everything back together and I will return all the tools I bought for this tomorrow. I guess I will take the car to a local shop since the dealer is going to rip me off. My plan was to replace both front wheel bearings. How much does the dealer charge for this usually and what is the estimated price for this kind of job in another shop than taking it to the dealer. I bought my bearings from partstrain.com $50 each. Now this is the million dollar question. Since i am going to pay for the install, should I just return these bearings and buy the OEM ones for $150+ each and take it to a shop? or just take it to the dealer and get screwed. I am on 107K miles and I have to do spark plugs, belts, differential and bearings, unfortunately for me all this needs to be replaced now and I was trying to save some money doing it myself but looks like the bearings are going to take all the money available, no Christmas for me this year View attachment 214464
 
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I just did this repair about a week back, the only difference being that I bought the complete assembly and not just the bearing. Removing the old hub assembly was a real pita. I had to release the plate that holds the hub aseembly from the shocks and control arms so that I could access the back of the assembly and give it a good whack - a sliding hammer wouldn't have cut it.

What slowed me down was a broken bolt in the brake caliper mount - Other that everythink worked out.

Thanks for the write-up.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL
 
The slide hammer does nothing for the removal, but a good small sledge will always do the trick, Im not sure why anyone would have to remove the shock or control arms either. I did the removal myself and it took all but 3.5 hrs and that was because I didnt have a heavy hammer.
 
I don't see how you can find a good spot to hit it with a sledge if you don't remove the drive shaft off the hub. That's good for you. For me to remove the drive shaft, I have to remove the two 19mm camber bolts to drop the knuckle to slide the drive shaft off. Well unless your hub bearing was so bad that you can wiggle it out without doing that.

Curious, how easy/hard was for you to remove the wheel sensor before you sledge the hub bearing off the knuckle?
 
let me try to explain: 1) the drive shaft presses inward 2) I used a small sledge hammer (handheld type) after a few hits on the sides of the hub and top it usually breaks the bond from the assembly although you still have to spray some stuff on it. the sensor itself well you can either leave in when installing your hub or pull it out. if left in then you have to angle your hub and slide it bck in gently. otherwise it wont fit back correctly. Maybe I shouldve took some pics myself while doing the job. Im not saying that the way you did it is was wrong but just longer is all. The sensor was hard which is why I resulted to just removing the Hub Assembly and not removing the sensor at all. That's how I came to the conclusion on how to remove it much quicker. You know its like hey there must be a better way to deal with this with less pain and agony and still get the job done . Had I did one side only then then I wouldve stuck to the original way everyone else did it but I replace both of them.
 
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I got you man. Interesting that you can remove the hub without damaging the sensor as it is stick in passes into the hub. Anyhow, glad that you noted there is an easier way without remove the knuckle from the strut.
 
you guys do some amazing things on here and I just try to modify them to makem easier is all. One of my skills is modifications to ones abilities (ADA SPECIALIST).
 
My first mod to the FX35, and took a little over 1hour to complete. my passenger front went bad. Ordered 2 wheel bearings with hub.....but only replacing the bad 1.....wonder if anyone may want to buy the unopened one?
 
Same issue here. Just order new rotors,pads and bearings for all 4 since I got good deal on these part. Hope to installs next week. Thanks for info.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G 2
 
This whole process is almost identical to my 2004 mini cooper s i just traded in on my 2007 FX35. LOL I`d say it`s a 98% match on steps.

A tip from the mini forums. Place a block of wood against the axle shaft and smack it hard inward with a large hammer to help break it loose from the hub. Then never mention breaking the joints loose.
 
VERY helpful!! I would try the DIY if I were at home, but it's great to have this education before I talk to some shops here in ChiTown re my daughter's. now I know exactly what they'll be doing.:good:

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VERY helpful!! I would try the DIY if I were at home, but it's great to have this education before I talk to some shops here in ChiTown re my daughter's. now I know exactly what they'll be doing.:good:
 
Great write-up. I have only one comment, buy a 20in breaker bar that swivel at the head instead of using a normal wrench and pipe. Breaker bars cost as little as 20 bucks at Autozone. Having a 20in breaker bar made removing the rusted bolts so easy when I changed my wheel bearing assembly, plus the metal in the breaker bar is a lot thicker so it will not break as easily as the socket wrench.
 
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Going to be doing both my FBHAs this weekend, and would like to be prepared for problems. That means I'm going to buy M6 cap screws for the speed sensors before I even start the job. Anybody know what length to buy? It looks like they s/b about 20mm, but that's purely a guess on my part.

BTW, I know the write-up said M6-5mm, but that doesn't seem right. Thread pitch should be standard 1mm (M6 x 1.0), but I guess they could be fine thread. Thoughts? Comments?

Follow-up: According to the article titled "ISO metric screw thread" on Wikipedia, M6 fasteners only come in coarse threads - fine threads start with M8 (and larger).
 
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I just ordered my front hubs from RockAuto and will be following the DIY to put those suckers on.
 
Just used this DIY for installation. Went very smoothly, and i even had the same issue with the speed sensor bolt shearing due to the rust and torque applied. Great write-up, big thanks
 
Thanks for the detailed write-up. I replaced the left FHBA using this DYI. However, I ran into a problem that I cannot resolve; I am experiencing a delay in the speedometer. I did not run into the same problem as some people of breaking the sensor bolt but for some reason there is a delay in speedometer after everything was put back together. I am in the process of resetting the ECU right now (battery reset) but does anyone know of a reason for the delay and a possible fix to this?

(To be specific, there is about a 0.3-0.5 second delay and it is most noticeable going from 0 mph to 5 mph (and vice versa). In other words, it's most noticeable when accelerating from a stop and coming to a stop. When coming to a stop, the speed seems to "hesitate" to come down to zero from about 5MPH to 0 MPH but eventually comes all the way down to zero after the car comes to a complete stop. Other than the delay, the displayed speed is accurate)

Any help will be appreciated!
 
Guys, This write up is amazing and was great help in making me feel comfortable with diving in on this project yesterday. I had 4 new rotors, new shoes and emergency brakes to replace on top of the two front wheel bearings so I knew it would be a busy day. Since I have often pulled axles and changed the 9" Ford center section on my early Ford Bronco, I was pretty familiar with these tools, and I thought I would share.

This is the single set of tools that will make your day MUCH more enjoyable for this bearing job. There is no need to pull the spindle down and bang from behind or do any other awkward work to get that bearing out. These tools are easily rented at your local Autozone for a returnable deposit (NO actual out of pocket cost!). The item in the red case typically comes with only the LARGE slide hammer for rent. This is WAY bigger than the auto body style slide hammer shown in earlier posts. I had to also rent the front wheel drive hub puller as shown in the other photo in order to comfortably match the Infiniti hubs.

Simply unscrew the black bolt out of the center of the silver puller, and bolt that apparatus to your hub using three lug nuts. Then screw your giant slide hammer into the center threads on the puller attached to the hub. Then whack away. It will take less than a minute or two of solid whacks to have the bearing/hub assembly pop right out. This makes the job MUCH easier!!

PS: I tried to add the photos below to my post but I probably don't have enough posts here to have rights to post photos... Maybe someone else can post the photos for others. Good luck guys!

http://images116.fotki.com/v695/photos/5/265225/12784134/th-vi.jpg

http://images108.fotki.com/v1629/photos/5/265225/12784134/54__55460_1339691818_1280_1280-vi.jpg
 
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