Front wheel bearing replacement?

[bookemdano]

I've searched high and low, but could not find the procedure for replacing front wheel bearings ('94 Q45). If it exists somewhere on the forum, could someone kindly post the link? TIA

[Q45tech]

Page FA -9 shows the order of assembly. It is assumed that the technican has completed 2 years of technical school where these SIMPLE things are taught.

Generally all RWD vehicles follow the same bearing pressin/out proceedure using an off vehicle hydraulic press.

Failure to perfectly seat and bottom bearing will result in an error in wheel hub trueness and run out. This run out will be transferred to rotor and amplified created a quick warp of rotor.

This fast warping will constantly reoccur unless corrected with correction plates or fixing bearing.

A new bearing will be quickly worn after impoper installation.

[oldmako]

If you end up doing them yourself, I'd love to know how it worked out, and where/who/how much you ended up spending did the press work for you.

My 99 has 150k and I am planning on doing the front wheel bearings fairly soon. I'd like to do them the next time I go after the struts. I looked at the FSM, but have not ripped into them yet.

Thanks.

[bullittandy]

I replaced my left front (97 Q45) after I bought my car when I hit a brick and developed a noise that I THOUGHT was a bearing but it was not-but I digress.

Even though I haven't attended 2 years of tech school I was able to tackle the job myself-excpet for pressing in the new bearing. The front hub is held on with a 32mm nut and comes off as a unit. I took the hub down to a local machine shop, swapped the bearings and put it back together.

Pretty easy job, but Mako I wouldn't replace them unless you've got a noise or can feel a grind/looseness as there is a chance that you may run into the problems that Tech was talking about.

[paranoidjack]

My Durango : 4 bad bearings (all stock brakes/tires) by 105k.

My Q/J30: Nearly 400k miles, never had an itch of bearing noise.

[oldmako]

Thanks Andy for the info.

I looked at doing it earlier, but decided to wait. The truth is I am not certain that they're bad. I have a vibration which I feel through my butt and slightly through the wheel. The problem is that it's intermittent and I can't decide what the hell it is. I have nothing to indicate that they were ever replaced and the car now has 155K, so they may be toast. Or as Jack mentioned, fine.

I have my tires rotated and balanced every 5000 and that helps, which leads me to believe it's a tire issue...but, at certain times, and at certain speeds the front end is wonderfully smooth. At 90 it's a gem. Problem is that I can't run the thing at that speed for very long, and the problem comes and goes. I would think that a bearing issue would be prevalent no matter the tire condition, and would manifest itself above a certain speed.

With old cone bearings you knew when it was shot due to high freq vibration in the steering wheel with perfectly balanced tires.

I have also heard others suggest that it could be my transmission mount, but I am unable to search on this site and find any info. No matter what I input to search, I get nothing. Not sure what's up with that. Perhaps I need to try a different PC.

I was going to do them last summer when I did my brakes but decided to pass because the issue wasn't that big a deal.

My current tires have 50K on them and still show an amazing amount of tread left, but by next summer I suspect they will be toast. Perhaps with new (and better quality) rubber it will be easier to diagnose.

[paranoidjack]

Thanks Andy for the info.

I looked at doing it earlier, but decided to wait. The truth is I am not certain that they're bad. I have a vibration which I feel through my butt and slightly through the wheel. The problem is that it's intermittent and I can't decide what the hell it is. I have nothing to indicate that they were ever replaced and the car now has 155K, so they may be toast. Or as Jack mentioned, fine.

I have my tires rotated and balanced every 5000 and that helps, which leads me to believe it's a tire issue...but, at certain times, and at certain speeds the front end is wonderfully smooth. At 90 it's a gem. Problem is that I can't run the thing at that speed for very long, and the problem comes and goes. I would think that a bearing issue would be prevalent no matter the tire condition, and would manifest itself above a certain speed.

With old cone bearings you knew when it was shot due to high freq vibration in the steering wheel with perfectly balanced tires.

I have also heard others suggest that it could be my transmission mount, but I am unable to search on this site and find any info. No matter what I input to search, I get nothing. Not sure what's up with that. Perhaps I need to try a different PC.

I was going to do them last summer when I did my brakes but decided to pass because the issue wasn't that big a deal.

My current tires have 50K on them and still show an amazing amount of tread left, but by next summer I suspect they will be toast. Perhaps with new (and better quality) rubber it will be easier to diagnose.

From my experience, bearing failure is easy to diagnose (over time) because the bearings deteriorate EXTREMELY rapidly compared to any other component. If you've had this problem for 10k miles, and it hasn't worsened, it's definitely not a bearing. Even 5k I'd say...any bearings I've replaced have failed within 1-2k miles of first "making noise."

When you rotate tires, does the vibration sensation follow tires?Have you ever tested to swap rotors and see if it is a warped rotor, or perhaps a runout our of spec?

Stuck caliper could be suspect but unlikely...

My guess is 100% tires - even tires at 20k can develop these issues, even with proper rotation and maintenance. Sometimes bad things happen to good tires mako!

[oldmako]

I really suspect that you are right and it's a tire issue. As you said, even a "good" tire can be bad. I had an expensive Michelin truck tire delam with under 10,000 miles on it. And as you pointed out, once a bearing gets to the point where it's droning then it's achieved a state of deterioration that it's going to accelerate.

The last time I had the tires balanced I watched and specifically asked the guy if one or more tires required an inordinate amount of weight, or if any one rim appeared bent from impact. He replied no. However, on two occasions the day after re-balance/rotation I've gone outside to a flat tire. It seems as though one tire or one rim is faulty and loses air at the tire weight. This makes me wonder about the tires bead. The last several times I have them leak check the tire before I leave the shop.

My next set of tires are going to be higher quality than the ones currently installed and I am optimistic that they will help.

I've put 50K on the tires, struts, mounts and tension rods in less than 2 years. My thought is that the next time I tear into it, I'll do the bearings along with the struts. I'll also replace the rack mounts and any other easy rubber. I still love the car and it's perfect for what I need. It also seems to be very, very reliable.

I have just under $8000 tied up in it and that includes every penny I've spent less gas, tags and insurance. It includes purchase price, oil, wax, rags, tools, parts, everything done in my sig, etc.

Aside from the gas mileage (I consistently get 19.5 - 20.5) I can't imagine driving a car this nice for this little money. While I'm not nearly in Andy's league, I'm doing good!

Thanks for your input.
Modified by oldmako at 11:13 PM 11/13/2009

[paranoidjack]

Aside from the gas mileage (I consistently get 19.5 - 20.5) I can't imagine driving a car this nice for this little money.

100% Agreed!

...and 20 mpg is really not bad. I often forget that if I drove a v6, how hard it would be driven!!!

But if you listen to Q45Tech, we're all screwed (4cyl or not) soon enough in regard to gas prices, so we should enjoy the gas guzzlers while we can!

[bookemdano]

And that pretty much nails it; "I can't imagine driving a car this nice for this little money."

I'm a courier, and I wouldn't trade this beast for anything out there. Granted, it's a '94, and these issues are going to creep up, but it's fine. I could tell you stories of the impossible stop lights I've beaten, the Audis left in my dust, etc...

As for my bearings, I've decided to let a shop do them. Pressed bearing are not something to be trifled with, and YES, it is the bearings. The noise is speed-based, not engine based. That leaves me with three options... tires, brakes, or bearings. This time was an easy diagnosis.

I'm going to keep, protect and love this car for a very, VERY long time.

My shopping list, in order... bearings, fuel pump, tires, possibly struts. Other than that, find me a NEW car I can drive off the lot that brings this much to the table.

[yodawill2000]

If you jack the car up and spin the tire by hand you will now for sure.Mine almost felt/sounded like it had sand in the bearing whereas the other side spun silent.Although only the fronts can be done this way obviously.

[bookemdano]

Long story short...

The noise was a sticky caliper. Also noted was some corrosion between the wheel and hub. Are these magnesium wheels ('94 Q45)? My guess is the dissimilar metals leave a slight "gap" over time, leading to a slight wobble and a bit of noise. Does that diagnosis sound correct?

[maxnix]

No, they are aluminum. Magnesium is a little brittle for the street.

Corrosion on the hub surface is always brushed away by the assiuous owner. This is especially important in a salted road state.

[paranoidjack]

assiuous

I usually tout myself amongst friends as the vocab/grammar nazi. Thought you had me there....

Nicely done Brian - but then I looked it up and can't find it!!!

Were you typing "assiduous?"