HOW TO:- Rear Wheel Bearing Change

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yippeekiay

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 12, 2009
Messages
6,707
Location
Up North i.e. 100+ Miles Above Manchester!!!
Well, I decided to get off my backside to change my rear wheel bearing as I'm taking the car to Ireland so need it in top shape. As I couldn't find one, I thought I'd write a 'how to' for it to show you guys how easy AND quick it can be done with little mechanical knowledge.

So here goes....

Things I needed:-
Trolley Jack (Axle stands optional).
30mm socket.
Torque Wrench.
Big screwdriver.
Little screwdriver with a thin blade.
Hammer.
Tube/tub of Grease (sometimes a sachet is supplied with bearings).
New Bearings (of course).
Plenty of kitchen roll or clean rags.

IMPORTANT: You get 2 tapered collars/seats that the bearings sit in when you buy new bearings. I put these in the freezer for a couple of hours before starting on this job to shrink them as they're a very tight fit. Dunno if this helps when fitting them but the theory says it will...lol

Release wheel nuts, jack up car and remove wheel and your presented with this:-
View media item 728
Then remove dust cap with the thin blade screwdriver prising it gently out at the top/bottom until it drops out:-
View media item 729
Using 30mm socket, remove retaining nut. This is complete with an attached retaining washer which is about 5mm thick leaving you with access to the front bearing race:-
View media item 730
Remove the bearing and then using the big screwdriver if necessary, prise the drum off the hub fairly hard at first until it starts skidding over the shoes then take it gently until it comes completely off:-
View media item 731
Flip her over (the drum!..not the wife!) and your presented with the ABS ring:-
View media item 732
Again, using the big screwdriver, gently prise it off at quarter points at the base of the ring so as not to damage the top of the ring. There is a convenient small recess running round the base of the ring to help you. Your then presented with a gasket/washer:-
View media item 733
This can be prised out gently by putting your screwdriver into the hole, levering it up at quarter points. You should have a new one with your bearings which I found out when fitting them so if you damage it, it shouldn't be a problem but we all like to keep spares so do as you wish..lol. This leaves access to the inner bearing race:-
View media item 734
Remove the bearing race and tap out the inner & outer bearing collars/seats (not shown - will add pic later), removing these collars will be easier if you can see the back edge of them by cleaning the grease out after you have removed the race as they don't sit exactly back to back but on a 'ledge' which is a part of the drum itself. (You can see the ledge on this photo of my new drums I bought a few weeks after this was first written)
View media item 1521
A garage did a set of bearings for me and hammered the shit out of this ledge thinking it was the collar itself which meant the new collars wouldn't sit properly and resulted in excessive bearing wear...Anyway, tap each collars out from the opposite side of the drum i.e. so your tapping at the rear one out from the front and vice versa. Then bang out all the cruddy brake dust from the drum using a hammer or simply dropping it onto the ground a few times. Then give the inside of the drum where the new bearing will go a damn good clean making sure the ledge I was on about isn't damaged at all otherwise you may also get premature wear (I had to buy new drums a few weeks after this because I didn't think it mattered :( (See above photo ;))
The cleaning part of the job takes by far the longest depending on how anal you are. The cleaner it is the less liklehood of any dross being left in there to foul up your new bearings. While your at it make sure the wheel/hub spindle and the ABS sensor are clean too.
Next you want to grab the collars from the freezer and tap them in to your clean drum. Be carefull how you do this so that you don't damage the taper on them as this is where the race sits. There is very little to hit on the edge of these collars so I actually used my old collars as 'packers' so I could hit them hard without damaging the new ones, this only got them so far in so to get them fully seated on the drum ledge meant having to tap them in with a big screwdriver at a sharp angle a bit at a time round the whole circumference so I didn't damage them. Give them a coating of grease once BOTH are fitted snuggly then grease the hell out of your bearings ensuring the grease penetrates all the bearing in full. The bearings are tapered so it goes into the drum smaller diameter first to fit into the new collar/seat (It all makes sense and is bloody obvious when your doing it...lol). My old bearings had a rubber/plastic washer but my new one had a metal outer so tap in the new gasket/washer gently ensuring that it is slightly inside of the edge of the drum to allow for the ABS ring to sit hard on the drum surface and not on the washer, tap on the ABS ring very gently until it's seated on firmly. (Forgot to photograph this but a picture is shown above):-
View media item 735
Grease the spindle on the hub and fit the drum back on the hub then fit the the outer bearing collar/seat and fit on the drum ready for the outer bearing. Grease the outer bearing well as per the inner one and place it into the drum, smaller diameter taper first. Then for good measure grab that grease again and throw some more at the job...lol.:-
View media item 736
Set your torque wrench to 235NM, mine only went up to 210NM but I managed to turn it a few more times and was able to count it up to 235NM which was lucky (Please check this setting with Ford as I have had contradictory information on what this should be):-
View media item 737
Fit nut/washer assembly and tighten until your torque wrench clicks:-
View media item 738
Probably not needed but I then threw some more grease at it for good measure:-
View media item 739
Clean the dustcap off if dirty and replace, getting you back where you started. The time mark on my photo shows me it took 1hr and 2 minutes which was at a very slow pace and included 2 telephone calls and me making a coffee...lol. As I said previously the cleaning takes by far the majority of the overall time:-
View media item 740
Then obviously fit wheel(s), remove jack/stands and take it for a test drive which hopefully - if diagnosed correctly - resolves your humming sound like in my case. If the humming continues then change the opposite bearing as you probably diagnosed the wrong side which unfortunately is a common mistake...lol ;)

Lets hope once you've changed both sides the humming has disappeared or you totally mis-diagnosed the problem in the first place.

On the plus side, you now have 2 lovely new bearing sets fitted and the warm feeling inside you confirming that your not as useless as people lead you to believe...lol :eek:k:

EDIT:- Don't worry if your grease is a different colour. I have subsequently changed mine again and used the black bearing grease so it's no problem. As long as it does it's job it could be polkadot for all I care...lol.
 
Top "How to" mate!

Stickied and moved to the "How to" section for reference.

:eek:k:
 
Is it similar to change to the front bearings as well or is that a whole new kettle of fish?

I've been reading I need a press to get the new ones in? :roll:
 
Turns out my diagnosis was incorrect anyway Yip, I've only got 1x rear bearing to sort out so I'll be following this guide over the coming days. :)
 
Make sure you tap out the tapered collars after you remove the old bearing race. I never photographed this bit and it's just as important as the bloody bearing race itself...lol.

You'll know which part I mean when you buy a new bearing. When tapping them out make sure your not tapping away at the drum itself. I got a garage to change a set for me and they knocked the shit out of the drum where the collars sit on and it made them sit incorrectly resulting in premature wear on the bearings. I had to buy new drums and fit new bearings to cure it.

Think I'll update this how to as there is stuff that's important that I missed off...lol.

How to has now been updated to include more helpfull information and a few things I missed previously.
 
Where can I find a replacement dust cap from (the one that hides the retaining nut)?
Mine seems to have gone AWOL.

I tried a local autofactors but they couldn't source one, guessing Ford are my only option.
Does the part really matter or can I live without it?
 
It's just a standard dust cap, not expensive at a Ford dealers. Two types could be supplied, one with "Shoulders" that butt against the hub and allow you to lever it off carefully and reuse. The other without, which involves piercing the cap so you can only use it once.
You can live without it, if you want to loose the bearing grease and allow water/grit etc to enter. :wink:
 
Just been and picked a replacment up from Ford, £1.42!
Now to get this bloomin' bearing change finally done.
 
Yay...happy days...lol.

Marcus, if the 'ledge' that the bearing outer rings sit on inside the drum are damaged I'd advise getting new ones (drums). As per my previous posts, these were damaged on mine by an apparent 'mechanic' who chipped the shit out of them which caused repeated bearing failures as the outer ring wasn't seating correctly everytime. The bearings haven't given me any bother since I bought new drums.
 
just to add to this, from experience its vital that you pack the INSIDE of the bearing correctly, a lot of people think just applying loads of grease around the edges of the bearing works, it doesnt and your bearing will fail quickly, here is the best way of packing a bearing by hand

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agxjGtmHV_4[/youtube]

also i used the old bearings in the new cups to tap the new cups in with a large socket, means you can tap them all the way in then evenly
 
hi guys, doing this job on my sisters puma this saturday, just picked up 2 kits as i was going to do both sides, one quick question is after the drum is off and i have tapped out the bearings and the cups i get the first part of tapping the new "cup" into the bearing up until the ledge. i then pack the inner bearing with grease and place it into the cup that i just hammered in. then i have another "cup" for the outer bearing, does this tap in up to the inner bearing? then grease outer bearing push drum back on, then push in outer bearing complete with sealing ring? or is that wrong??
any advice would be great.
cheers
Paul
 
Yes, the outer bearing cup is tapped in up to the other side of the ledge, bearing greased and then fitted to the hub (you will have to hold onto the bearing as you fit it or just put the drum on then slide the bearing in - see below.)

If I'm thinking what your describing as the sealing ring correctly, it should go on the inner bearing before you refit the abs ring. The outer bearing is basically 'free' until you put the hub nut/washer back on.
 
yippeekiay said:
Yes, the outer bearing cup is tapped in up to the other side of the ledge, bearing greased and then fitted to the hub (you will have to hold onto the bearing as you fit it or just put the drum on then slide the bearing in - see below.)

If I'm thinking what your describing as the sealing ring correctly, it should go on the inner bearing before you refit the abs ring. The outer bearing is basically 'free' until you put the hub nut/washer back on.

Thanks for that bud. I've done both sides and the car has stopped that dreaded humming/wallowing sound. One thing that has stumped me is the quality of the replacement hub nut. The one that came in the box rounded off when tightening up. I reused the original nut on the other side. Ive now got to peel back the cage and undo the rubbishy nut and replace it with a decent one as I'm worried its not tight enough. Crappy parts from gsf.
Thanks again.
 
Hi
I,ve just bought a bearing kit and its all one piece !
Does it come apart for fitting or does it go in as it is ?
I'll try and add a coupleof pics of it
Thanks
 
Wrong bearing if you have drum brakes. You should have 2 taper bearings for each side + spacers + Grease Seals.
 
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