Stuck wheel bearing

And you're very first picture You now need to find a large round preferably piece of metal a pipe comes to mind etc It will be out of there You may need some very good penetrating fluid like k r o i l you may need to spray that and let it sit where it's built up and running down into the hub so that would be the bolt holes aiming towards the ground this will come out I've done it a million times not really much to it You can use a brass drift about an inch diameter and go around in a circle beating on the side that the bolts go That's the way it has to come out they're a little heat nothing serious we're not trying to melt the hub just warm it It doesn't turn red hot like steel It's just going to get warm or not trying to turn it blue May help just sitting in the sun in hot places of the country or world makes a big difference but a good dead blow hammer and a 1-in or so diameter brass or softer metal drift or piece of metal greatly will help You want to go around in a circle consistently You're not trying to beat it and kill it It will tap out of there by going around and around in a circle I promise you it is not in there permanent course I have millions of these pieces so there's always that I have not met one yet from any part of the country that I couldn't get out and I always take mine off the car so that I can change the hub bearing the lower ball joint and all of that right on the bench so when I put it back on the car I'm adding the two bolts at the top at the strut and the three bolts through the lower control arm to hold the ball joint that's it add the steering knuckle and the wheel and you're done hopefully you were doing struts at the same time because they're probably overdue but oh well that will come undone If you're not used to these practices you'll get used to it or you'll take it to somebody who will do it while you watch and you'll be like oh my goodness what part of the world is this that hub looks awfully dirty but oh well mine here in the southeast United States are always nice and silver with a little bit of break dust and that's about it.

 

You're in Chicago well that's yeah heavy cold and rust and all of that goes on there. Like I said it should come undone these hubs are a dime a dozen they should be everywhere for nearly nothing but then you'll have to change the bearing in the one you buy probably so you're back to the same place you're starting.

 

Go to a hardware store and get 2-4 bolts that match the bolt thread on the hub and are 3-4 inches long. Insert them from the back of the knuckle and thread them into the hub. Now use a hammer to hit those bolt heads and it will push the hub forward and out of the knuckle. Sometimes you have to hit them pretty hard to make the hub pop loose. It works every time for me.

Hopefully you're doing a hub swap. That's the way to go for most DIYers. Doing just a bearing swap is for more skillful DIY.

 

Especially as these are integrated hub-bearing units that aren't even built to have their bearings swapped.

As you can see, depending on the construction of the original HBU, it often isn't even possible to treat one as if it had replaceable bearings:



Sometimes there will be aftermarket knockoff replacements that are just made with a pair of off-the-shelf bearings pressed together, and if you've got one of those of course you can press it apart and press new bearings in.

As for getting the rest of the thing out of the knuckle, there's a range of approaches. "Pound bolts from behind" suggested in #2 is pretty good. If you've got an air hammer you might get some mileage out of that. If you have a slide hammer, you could reassemble the inner pieces that came out, passing the slide hammer shaft through them with a nut behind, and slide-hammer it out. (You could do this in the morning, or in the evening.)

One of my favorite methods is to take the knuckle out, drop it off at the local auto machinist place, and ask them to call me when the hub is out.

 

1st rule of brute force: if it doesn't work, you aren't using enough.

 

So I'm supposed to be buying complete hub assemblies as the bearings aren't replaceable this is the wheel bearing that holds the plate with the four lug studs That's not supposed to be replaced I'm supposed to buy a whole hub assembly the big piece of aluminum that weighs 34 lb or whatever it is I don't think that's right but hey whatever I think this kind is the kind that's made to be replaced or I don't know why it would have the four bolts now I did have a Datsun 310 GX. That was one of the cars that you bought the whole hub assembly but I even think that car you could take the hub to the machine shop and they could press out the flange put in a new bearing and press the flange back in whether that was correct or not allowed or whatever the heck I'm not real sure I know timken and the big bearing makers made the bearings to put inside that assembly but that's interesting to know so why do all these manufacturers make bearings hub bearings for the Gen 2 and Gen 3 with the four threaded holes made to be bolted into the aluminum hub I'm quite confused but don't worry it won't worry me because I've changed out about 10 of them have got two sitting on the floor loaded and ready to go and I don't know how else you'd do this I can't imagine buying the whole aluminum hub assembly doesn't Toyota sell the bearings for the rear in the front I'm thinking they do this is what everybody's talking about buying original and paying $200 a pop?.

 

If you're thinking of a big piece of aluminum that weighs 34 lb or whatever, you're probably thinking of the whole knuckle. The hub bearing unit is made of steel and installs into the knuckle with four bolts. It is the part shaded light blue in the drawing above.

As you can see from the drawing, the hub bearing unit is itself like two angular-contact ball bearings side by side, with opposite angles. But a real HBU usually isn't made so you could press those bearings out and press in new ones. You just replace the HBU.

Sometimes, when you buy a cheap aftermarket replacement hub, it really is built with off-the-shelf pressed-in bearings and can be taken apart, but that's not always true of the original HBU.

 

You can take your knuckle to a machine shop with a press to get it out. However, it will be cheaper and quicker to order a used knuckle without wheel hub from an online marketplace and install your new wheel hub.

I was lucky when I ordered my knuckles to get the left and right including hub bearings from a rust free low miles donor car for about $50 each. They still work great after 5 years and 50,000 miles.

 

Hub (photo from Rock Auto). RA has various manufacturer front and rear Gen 2 hubs available from $30 to $180



Also from Rock Auto:

Symptoms Of A Failing Wheel Bearing & Hub


Wheel hub units are low maintenance parts, but that doesn’t mean they last forever. Uneven road surfaces, heavy driving conditions (such as towing or racing), and under-inflated tires put extra strain on the hub bearing and can lead to premature failure. Common signs of a bad hub unit include:

• A humming, rumbling or growling noise that increases with acceleration
• A loud constant whining or grinding noise when the vehicle is in motion
• Excessive play in the steering wheel
• Steering wheel vibration that changes with the vehicle speed or as the vehicle turns
• ABS system malfunction

How To Identify The Faulty Wheel Bearing & Hub

It is often difficult to pinpoint which hub unit has gone bad while driving because noise and vibration travels through the frame of the vehicle. Here are a two tests you can do to help identify which hub unit has gone bad:

Shake Test: Identifying Play or Looseness

1. Lift your vehicle so the wheel is off the ground
2. Place your hands on the sides of the tire and try to shake the wheel
3. Now place your hands on the top and bottom of the tire and try to shake the wheel again
4. If you feel movement in both directions, you have play in your bearing and it needs to be replaced
5. Note: If you feel movement when shaking the wheel left to right, but not top to bottom, you could have a worn out tie rod end. Similarly, if you have movement top to bottom, but not left to right, you may have a worn out ball joint.

Spin Test: Identifying Noise or Grinding

1. Lift your vehicle so the wheel is off the ground and can spin freely
2. Spin the wheel, in either direction, and listen for a grinding or howling noise
3. If you hear a loud grinding or howling noise, that increases with the speed of the wheel, you have a failed bearing that needs to be replaced
4. Note: It is best to test both front or both rear bearings at the same time so you can compare the difference between the two sides. If you have a failed bearing, there will be a noticeable difference in the amount of noise you hear during this test

 

Soon as I hear a noise. Then when I can get around to it I just swap out the two that I have ready to go and re-bearing the two that I'm taking out when time permits I just find it quicker to do it this way In my older Corollas not so much those bearings press apart course those go well I just had a failure at 465,000 mi in my O2 AE 111 Corolla. That car's been with me for all of those miles

 

When @marhuu mentioned more noise when turning right, my first thought was check the CV for wear. Not so easy now that the hubs off, but might be good to check it out after re assembling the front end.

For the center stripped bearing wouldn't an impact socket that fits through the hub hole but grabs what's left of the bearing be doable in a pinch, if a press isn't available?

Than gonna have to press the new bearing in anyways and that;s not something you wanna be hammering to much on, especially the center of the bearing, like already found out.

 

I just don't understand why you want to make your life complicated. Just replace the HUB. Not the knuckle, not the bearing, the HUB. Quick and easy and there's no chance of damaging the bearing. For what you paid for bearings and help, you could have 2 new Timken hubs that will last 300k miles.

 

That's certainly what Toyota expects you to do, and it's easy in non-salt-belt places where the hub comes easily out of the knuckle.

Now if you're in a salt-belt place, and you're easily frustrated, and you have a cheap source of used low-mile knuckles with the hubs in them ... or just cheap knuckles you can put your new hubs in, maybe you approach the job that way just to get it over with more quickly.

However, if you do change out the knuckle instead of just the hub, you oughtta get the alignment checked.

 

After having made the mistake of using a hub puller/slide hammer on my first set of Gen 2 hubs, I tried the long bolt method. Regardless of corrosion, the hub has no chance against a BFH. I about killed myself trying to use that slide hammer, for hundreds of "slides", before each hub finally came out. NEVER AGAIN. First time I did the bolts, I only had 2 in the shop of sufficient length. Alternating back and forth with hammer blows and it was a 2 minute job. Now that I've got a few under my belt? Probably one minute and the hub is on the floor. Takes longer to put the bolts in and take them out than to knock the hub out of the knuckle. I prefer this method, even over the 20 ton press I have in the shop. Next time I may try to do it with the knuckle still installed. I made an air hammer attachment that has a socket welded on the end so it will slide right over the bolt head to keep it aligned. I just don't know if the air hammer has as much 'hammer' to it..

 

An air hammer may not have as much 'hammer' to it, but it's got a lot more of 'em (2,000 a minute or so), and that makes mighty short work of a lot of things.

 

I have a 20 ton press in my garage but I just used the BFH (big freaking hammer) and it did come out in 3 whacks.. Seems to me BFH was the first option with bearing in place but I don't have enough space to swing.. taking the knuckle out gives you a lot of option.. BFH or 20 ton press.

paying $150 for somebody to do it when you started the DIY doesn't make sense.. you could have invested in a 20 ton press and will be able to use that tool for the next hub.