Front wheel bearing

[Jackle]

I think my o/s front wheel bearing is giving up the ghost. I've been getting a noise from the front thats gradually been getting worse over the last couple of months. On the way home from work yesterday I had a proper listen, and gets alot worse going round left-handers and also gives some vibration through the steering wheel. Going round right-handers the noise fades.

I haven't had the wheel off the ground for a spin yet but will do in the morning.

I've done a search and from what I found it would appear that changing the bearing/hub myself should be quite easy(?), and I'd need a 36mm thin wall socket and a decent breaker bar/scaffold bar.

Is there anything else I would need? I've got a three-legged gear puller somewhere, would this do to get the inner race off if it stucks? Does the kit from GSF include the hub nut, grease cap, and rubber boot?

Any other advice guys? I don't really want to start the job only to find another bit of kit!

[smithy318i]

you pretty much have what you need to do the job. a socket set and allen keys are also needed.

the bearing doesn't come with a new nut or cap. and you dont have a CV boot on the front.

[Templ8e30]

I've got a set of GSF bearings here, they come with the nut but no caps.

Cheers,

Iain T

[Jackle]

I thought getting the bits to do the job would be the easy bit, I should be so lucky.

Got the bearing from GSF this morning (came with hub nut), but couldn't get a gease cap or the rubber dust cover - dealers would have to get these in...

Then I been running round all over the place trying to get hold of a 36mm socket, nobody stocks them anywhere! The closest was GSF who had a 36mm, but it wasn't thin walled so wouldn't fit in the bearing
A local motor factors even measured the nut that came with the bearing as they couldn't even get a 36mm socket on it, they measured it at 37-38mm.
So have I got a dodgy hub nut, or is 36mm not the correct size, or is it even actually an imperial size I need? And where can I get the correct socket from???

[gcorky]

i bought a 3/4 impact and groung the bitch down,36mm im sure....pricey but needed it.

[smithy318i]

deffo 36mm. deffo available from Halfrauds.

[Jackle]

Ok guys, I'll trust you!

I'll take the new nut with me and pop into Halfrauds tomorrow after work and see what I can find.

[DRIFTBOY]

Yeah, even if you can only get a thick walled socket that fits the nut you can grind down the outer edge of it with an angle grinder. I've done it a few times and have never had a socket break, even when high torque settings have been involved. The hardest part potentially is getting the inner race off of the stub axle, but you should be ok with the puller.
Good luck!

[Templ8e30]

I've just fitted my GSF wheelbearings today and the nut isn't 36mm as it should be, it's 37mm

Feking things haven't been made in tolerance.

I've ended up filing mine down to size

Cheers,

Iain T

[Ant]

did my fronts yesterday too, must be the time of year

both mine were 36mm nuts .

[Jackle]

Ant, you're obviously getting better parts than me and Iain!

I had to get the angle grinder to my new nut as well, it was just over 37mm

Apart from that it was one of the easiest jobs I've done so far

[RussDuk]

I got my front wheel bearing from GFS and had the same problems with the 36mm nut being the wrong size. I ended up getting the hub nut from a dealer and used a stanadrd 36mm socket no problem. Moral of this thread is don't use the GFS hub nut.