Wheel Bearing Removal

[eddie7]

I have a 2002 avensis with a noisy front wheel bearing,anything i should watch out for when changing it? are any special tools involved, just lookin for a heads up before I give it a go,

[Sam29]

I have a 2002 avensis with a noisy front wheel bearing,anything i should watch out for when changing it? are any special tools involved, just lookin for a heads up before I give it a go,

I dont know how good are you at repairing the car, but I do not think it is a DIY job.

My fornt wheel bearing (mk2) is noisy and I dont want to take any risk. Will repair it when get some holidays.

How much did you buy it for?

Cheers.

[marama32]

Before assuming it is a wheel bearing, have your wheels & tyres balanced.

I had what I thought was a wheel bearing gone, being very noisy. My mechanic also believed it was the passanger front wheel bearing gone. I decided to replace both bearings. So I bought both off eBay.

Then we had a lot of snow early last year & I decided to change my all weather tyres to winter tyres. Got the tyres, took them to get fitted & was shown I had a slightly buckled alloy from pothole damage on the front nearside wheel.

The tyres were fitted & balanced. I drove away & there was no noise at all. I drove it for another 3 weeks with no noise in town driving. Once the snow had gone, I took it for a run & there was no bearing like noise.

It had been the in balance in the wheel that caused the noise. I still have not had to replace the bearings.

[Sam29]

Before assuming it is a wheel bearing, have your wheels & tyres balanced.

I had what I thought was a wheel bearing gone, being very noisy. My mechanic also believed it was the passanger front wheel bearing gone. I decided to replace both bearings. So I bought both off Ebay.

Then we had a lot of snow early last year & I decided to change my all weather tyres to winter tyres. Got the tyres, took them to get fitted & was shown I had a slightly buckled alloy from pothole damage on the front nearside wheel.

The tyres were fitted & balanced. I drove away & there was no noise at all. I drove it for another 3 weeks with no noise in town driving. Once the snow had gone, I took it for a run & there was no bearing like noise.

It had been the in balance in the wheel that caused the noise. I still have not had to replace the bearings.

Sounds Logical and thats what partsking advised. When I get time, I am going to have a look on my car. Well on a very cold day I do not heat that noise. Cheers.

[eddie7]

yea its a wheelbearing alrght, Ive changed them on fords and vauxhall before,but not on the avensis, I just wanted a heads up from someone that has changed one themselves,

[Konrad C]

I have changed a 1998 Avensis front wheel bearing myself in November 2009. It is very straight forward, but here are the important things. You need the correct tools and a press is preferable.

The hub drive shaft nut , this should be loosened first, before starting on the others. Remove brake caliper and mounting bracket

The hub can be removed with lower ball joint, by undoing the 2 nuts and single bolt. The upper hub to strut bolts, and track rod end nut. Make sure you remove the ABS sensor by undoing the nut holding it. You dont want to damage the sensor or the wiring.

Remove hub from car.

Remove brake disk shield from hub.

There is only one circlip to remove on the inboard side of the hub - unlike other cars which have one each side of the bearing.

Then remove the centre hub by pressing or knocking it out. Press remaining bearing from hub and remove part of bearing if it is stuck on the centre hub.

I found that reassembling the new hub quicker.

Press bearing into hub, replace circlip, then press centre hub. With that done, refit the shield.

Refit hub back on car, makng sure the the ABS censor is fitted properly. I say this, as I have read on this forum where garages have botched this causing the ABS light to come on and no ABS!

Everything else is straight forward.

I am not a mechanic but know my way around a car. I also have a press. I wrote this for everyones benefit.

I hope this helps.

[eddie7]

thanks Konrad,should be within my ability

[BJT1]

Hi, having just done a front wheel bearing with guidance from above (literally)especially Konrad:

I would have not done it without my friend's 20 ton press! pushed the old one out at 12 tons max. pressure, do not underestimate this task.

And don't try to undo the ABS sensor bolt on hub, it shears off and you end up taking the cable out with the hub and then re-drilling and tapping the sensor bolt.(found out the hard way.)

Cheers

[Exvec]

If it was me i would be taking the hub off and then seeking the assistance of a friendly garage owner and offer him a few bucks to press the old bearing out and then pressing the new one in,done one myself on a vw polo a press is a must.

[Konrad C]

The bolt securing the ABS sensor on the hub can be a nightmare. Mine sheared off at the top, but I was lucky to be able to drill a hole and use an extractor. I sprayed WD40 which helped the extraction.

Since then I learned that the Sensor can be unplugged, saving all that hassle.

Since I have my own 10 ton press, the bearing removal is not an issue. It is easier to take the hub to a 'friendly' garage to swap the bearings out.

The key to the job is the right tools and parts are not seized. I had to replace a strut to hub bolt that sheared when trying to undo it!

I also had a tyre that sounded like noisy bearing - the structure failed due to age, so swap a suspect wheel before dealing with the bearing.