Front Wheel Bearings

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CaesarBob
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Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:09 pm

Has anyone got any advice/tips on changing front wheel bearings? Looks like i shall be doing this tonite.

Cheers
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mrLEE30
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Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:53 pm

Did mine mate and even with a 3/4 inch drive and a scaffold pole 1.5mtrs long it wouldn't budge!! spent hours hammering it. still not a chance. tried a blow torch, nay chance!! even bent my finest socket drive with me and dad and uncle hanging off the end of the scaffold bar so i thought we were beaten.

Then the big tools came out, a large chisel and a heavy hammer, in the end we actually cracked the nut and broke it off.

and in a complete contrast the other side came off easy!

basically to answer your question you need a correct size socket set, a sturdy socket drive (not a ratchet type but a right angle type as you shouldn't hammer ratchets) find a scaffold bar at least a metre long and some very sturdy axle jacks. take the wheel / brakes etc off last thing at night, a can of WD40 in there and start in the morning.
Demlotcrew
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Tue Jul 05, 2005 3:13 pm

Mr lee the reason you could not get it off is because not enough force was being put into the nut. You need to have the wheel on the car and the car standing on the ground, then it comes off really easy.

A
Martinaston
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Tue Jul 05, 2005 3:36 pm

Are they both right handed threads ?
CaesarBob
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Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:05 pm

Cheers guys.

So i'm best undoing the nuts with the car still on the ground on all 4 wheels and then they're easy. But with some scaffold bars in reserve just in case.
'97 E36 B3 3.2 Touring - Alpina-Blau
'15 F32 420d M Sport Coupe - BMW - melbourne-metallic (Sold)
'11 E92 320d M Sport Coupe - BMW-saphirschwarz-metallic (Sold)
'99 E36 328iA SE "Shooting Brake" - BMW-titansilber-metallic (Sold)
'89 E30 325i
Simon13
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Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:19 pm

Martinaston wrote:Are they both right handed threads ?
Pretty sure they are i need to do one on mine after the 'ring killed one off!
Karan
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Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:25 pm

CaesarBob wrote:Cheers guys.

So i'm best undoing the nuts with the car still on the ground on all 4 wheels and then they're easy. But with some scaffold bars in reserve just in case.
yeh handbrake one... remove dustcap and loosen it.... u can remove it completely later after disc, caliper and wheel are off....

these are easy peasy compared to the reaars :cry: :cry: :cry:
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Brianmoooore
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Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:40 pm

Somebody should probably point out that the front whhel bearings come complete with the whole hub. You don't change the bearing as such, just the whole lot.
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Ade
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Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:49 pm

So the only tricky part is getting the nut undone?

How much is a front wheel bearing assembly? Ԛ£Ã”šÃ‚£?

I want to do one of mine as it rumbles a bit on LH corners, but dont want to make a mess of it..
martinclan
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Wed Jul 06, 2005 1:25 pm

As I remember the hub complete with new bearings is about Ԛ£40 from Swedish and German. The only problem you are likely to have other than shifting the nut is that sometimes the inner race gets left on the stub axle. You might need a cold chisel (used carefully) or a puller to get it off.

Oh - and remember to get a new hub nut as (if I remember correctly) it is staked to the stub axle and can't be re-used. I think you might nead to go to the dealer for that. Its also worth getting a new grease cap as sometimes they get b*ggered when removing them - only a few pence.


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Martinaston
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Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:07 pm

In answer to my own question, Yes they are both right handed threads because i remembered some tight git on here saying that rather than buy two new nuts he just swapped them over so they can be staked in a different position :mad:
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Brianmoooore
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Wed Jul 06, 2005 9:31 pm

Martinaston wrote:In answer to my own question, Yes they are both right handed threads because i remembered some tight git on here saying that rather than buy two new nuts he just swapped them over so they can be staked in a different position :mad:
Wasn't me, but that's exactly what I'd do.
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