Front wheel brg change 2006 UK Prius

Hi Guys and Gals. Having recently detected a rumble from the LH front wheel bearing after 105300 miles I approached my local Toyota dealer for a rectification quote ~ 2.5 hrs for £500.00!!!!
Following my recovery I went on-line to see if I could find anyone who had done the job and had some guidance on what a DIY attempt would involve. Fortunately I came across this site and after reading several posts began to understand the mechanics involved. So for starters, thanks to everyone who has previously posted regarding brg replacement. As an aside, the price you guys pay in the USA for spare parts and servicing seems cheap compared to UK - my wheel brg hub cost me £118.00 (£158.00 from the T-dealer).

After I successfully did the job I couldn't help but note that there were one or two things that were not mentioned In the help-posts that I read before tackling the job that are worth a mention. Apologies to anyone if this seems like old hat and just ramblings from a UK wrinkly!

Un-peen and slacken the drive-shaft hub-nut before jacking the vehicle.

Firstly, remove the steering knuckle ball-joint from the alloy stub-axle assembly so that the strut can be rotated by hand for best access to the required nuts and bolts. If the ball-joint is tight in the stub-axle then remove its castellated nut completely, screw it back on upside down so that its flat underside can be struck with an instrument of appropriate percussion without damage to the thread or castellated head.

Remove the lower of the two strut bolts before trying to remove the upper caliper bolt (the strut bolt obscures socket-access).

When removing the caliper have a 3/4'' thick piece of wood handy to place between the brake pads. This will prevent movement of the caliper pistons for any unplanned reason.

Be very careful when removing the speed-sensor bolt. This is an unusual bit of poor Toyota design whereby a steel screw is fitted directly to an alloy component. After a few years they become married and as one. If you eventually strip the head off the bolt (like I did) then don't panic (Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy), simply carry on with the job and remove the sensor from the brg-housing. The problem can be cured and the poor design rectified on the bench after the stub-axle has been completely removed from the vehicle. This is done by carefully drilling out the remainder of the steel bolt left in the hub (2mm, 3mm, 4mm and finally 5mm dia drill max). Re-tap hole M6 and screw in a piece of steel studding (I used stainless) long enough to support the use of a nut and washer to eventually retain the sensor.

When I finally had the alloy brg-housing on the bench ready to remove the brg and hub assembly It became obvious that once again the steel hub of the brg-assembly had become married to the alloy housing. No attempt by me at home could separate the two components. Fortunately I was able to contact a local industrial unit who let me use their little 60 ton hand-cranked hydraulic press. It took a force of about 1.5 tons to separate the bearing hub from the bearing housing. After separation and cleaning I filled the void between the new brg hub assembly and the alloy bearing housing with a solid grease in order to try and prevent a second marriage. One bad divorce was enough! As the filled void is stationary (does not rotate) then grease will not centrifuge or contaminate the local area.

When replacing the CV joint dust cover into the back of the new brg-housing make sure to align the speed-sensor aperture with the sensor-aperture in the alloy housing. Get this wrong and the only way to fix it is take the whole thing apart again.

Note!
To un-peen the axle hub-nut I used a 5mm dia drill centred on the detent in the nut-flange to remove the complete detent. On reassembly, and to ensure that a fresh part of the nut-flange would be available for re-peening, I used a full-face under-nut washer to change the rotational alignment of the nut on the hub at the full torque setting.

Thanks for all your help,

Anzon