Pressing the Bearing into the front hubs / Rotors

[Some guy]

So my next job is to replace the Rotors. (The car sat so long that the area where the brake pads were rusted at a different rate then the rest of the rotor)I read on hear that the bearings will probably fall apart when i remove the hub from the spindle.

When it comes to pressing the bearing in and out, is a press all that is required?

I just started going to a Do it Yourself garage, and they have a press i just used on my swing arm bushing. (i think it is a 30 ton press)

I was going to use a socket at the right width to forced the old bearings out and then do the same to press them back in. It is that simple right?

[Delorean Industries]

So my next job is to replace the Rotors. (The car sat so long that the area where the brake pads were rusted at a different rate then the rest of the rotor)I read on hear that the bearings will probably fall apart when i remove the hub from the spindle.

When it comes to pressing the bearing in and out, is a press all that is required?

I just started going to a Do it Yourself garage, and they have a press i just used on my swing arm bushing. (i think it is a 30 ton press)

I was going to use a socket at the right width to forced the old bearings out and then do the same to press them back in. It is that simple right?

You will need to press the bearing in and out. The hub can (and should) be removed from the rotor for this. It is secured by four 8 mm bolts on the back side. Prior to trying to take the snap ring out it is advised to press on the bearing downward on the snap ring side. This will take the pressure off the snap ring prior to removing. Then flip it over and push it out the other side. Make sure you support the hub on the inner edge and not the wheel studs.

[dustybarn]

You will need to press the bearing in and out. The hub can (and should) be removed from the rotor for this. It is secured by four 8 mm bolts on the back side. Prior to trying to take the snap ring out it is advised to press on the bearing downward on the snap ring side. This will take the pressure off the snap ring prior to removing. Then flip it over and push it out the other side. Make sure you support the hub on the inner edge and not the wheel studs.

+1 on everything Josh said. One thing I did (which is optional) was to heat the hub to about 200F in an oven, and chill the bearing in a freezer. It still didn't just drop in, but the force required to press the bearing home was minimal.

[Some guy]

awesome thank you!! i will let you know how it goes

[Mark D]

Not sure how helpful these will be but here are a few pics I took when pressing in new front bearings. Rather than buying a large socket to press the bearings in and out you can rent a ball joint joint press kit that comes with a bunch of different sized steel rings and discs.

Autozone and other auto parts stores rent these for free. You pay the full cost of the kit up front ($50-$100) and then you can return it whenever you want for a full refund.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/OEM-Ball-joint-U-Joint-press-set-with-4WD-service-set/_/N-264q?itemIdentifier=516524_0_0_

Harbor freight also sells a kit specifically for bearings for $100. I ended up needing this kit to press the rear wheel bearings in and out. It has a bunch of different size discs that allow you to only press on the outer race of the bearing.

http://www.harborfreight.com/fwd-front-wheel-bearing-adapters-66829.html

As Josh already mentioned make sure when pressing the old bearings out to support the hub from below... otherwise if you support it resting on the wheel studs you'll end up pushing the studs out of the hub. Pressing the new bearings in this is a non-issue...just be sure to only press on the outer bearing race so you don't ruin your brand new bearing.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=24717&d=1390506397
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=24716&d=1390506397

[Elvis]

I still don't get why one replaces the bearing just because it "falls apart" when taking it off.

Replacing it because you're in there and making everything new - OK.

But not because that little rubber lip can't hold the force to pull out the inner ring.

50000 miles on bearings that "fall apart" proves me right !

[Bitsyncmaster]

I still don't get why one replaces the bearing just because it "falls apart" when taking it off.

Replacing it because you're in there and making everything new - OK.

But not because that little rubber lip can't hold the force to pull out the inner ring.

50000 miles on bearings that "fall apart" proves me right !

I agree the bearings would still work but fear the grease will weep out in time.

[Some guy]

So i finally did the brake and bearing job. It went as smooth as any one can hope for. I cut the rotors and one bearing fell apart so i used the press and replaced it. The press was amazing. For most of my life i used a sledge hammer for bearings.

The one thing i noticed is that there is still a slight wobble to the rotors. I can't feel it when i hit the brakes. When i was cutting the rotors, they looked perfect. I only noticed it after everything was put back together. Has anyone every had that happen to them?


I also replace the fuel lines and the last of the old cooling hoses. It was a long day.

[Mark D]

I'm assuming you also installed new brake pads?

Did you properly bed in the new brake pads to the resurfaced rotors? You can find various procedures listed online.... I just did a few long drawn out stops from 55 mph to 5 mph to distribute a thin layer of pad material across the rotor surface. Afterwards you'll want to drive around and let everything cool off before parking the car. Avoid any hard sudden stops. Often what can feel like a warped rotor is unevenly dispersed pad material on the rotor that grips unevenly. You want an even film distributed across the rotor.

If that doesn't solve the issue then do a visual inspection of the rotors with the wheels removed to see if there is a noticable wobble to the rotor. It's possible that when you bolted the resurfaced rotors to the hubs they didn't fully seat so the rotor is not perfectly on-axis with the rotor/bearing axis. Also, if you cut the rotors yourself it's also possible that they're not cut square to the mating surface of the rotor where it bolts to the hub.

If there is no visual indicator of a warped or improperly seated rotor you can have a shop check runout with a dial indicator.

I'm not sure where I'd go from there, but I'd guess you just need to bed in your brake pads and that should solve the problem.

[David T]

I'm assuming you also installed new brake pads?

Did you properly bed in the new brake pads to the resurfaced rotors? You can find various procedures listed online.... I just did a few long drawn out stops from 55 mph to 5 mph to distribute a thin layer of pad material across the rotor surface. Afterwards you'll want to drive around and let everything cool off before parking the car. Avoid any hard sudden stops. Often what can feel like a warped rotor is unevenly dispersed pad material on the rotor that grips unevenly. You want an even film distributed across the rotor.

If that doesn't solve the issue then do a visual inspection of the rotors with the wheels removed to see if there is a noticable wobble to the rotor. It's possible that when you bolted the resurfaced rotors to the hubs they didn't fully seat so the rotor is not perfectly on-axis with the rotor/bearing axis. Also, if you cut the rotors yourself it's also possible that they're not cut square to the mating surface of the rotor where it bolts to the hub.

If there is no visual indicator of a warped or improperly seated rotor you can have a shop check runout with a dial indicator.


I'm not sure where I'd go from there, but I'd guess you just need to bed in your brake pads and that should solve the problem.

If ANY of the 4 rotors is not perfect, the brake pedal can pulsate. If you only cut the fronts you may have a problem with the rears. As posted above, get a dial indicator on each rotor. Not only must you check for runout, you must measure for parallelism. Just because you cut the rotors is no guarantee. Maybe the machine that cut the rotors needs adjustment or they didn't mount it carefully.