remerbt

Hey guys,

I need to replace my front right wheel bearing and have a few questions.

I've looked around via google a bit and I read a couple posts mentioning a bearing/hub assembly that is simply bolt in/out. No pressing of the bearings needed. Is this correct?

Next question is where would you guys recommend I buy the new wheel bearings? Obviously I could find somewhere on my own, but figured this would be a good place to get the best deals and/or possibly help another board member out.

Thanks in advance

ricebike

wrong, for 94-97 models, the rear hub/bearing are simply bolt in/out... via spindle nut

the front ones are pressed in hub-over-rotor design (yuck) which requires you to remove the whole knuckle off the vehicle (you can google/ youtube the steps before eric's vid)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEDrioMDe1k




as for your 2nd question, it's up to you. I went with an eBay seller for the fraction of the price vs the local brick-mortar store (same 1 year warranty).

remerbt

So this part is the same as all the others and still has to be pressed? Just double checking, their directions seem a bit misleading I guess.

http://www.1aauto.com/1A/wheel-beari...HS00117/347535

dglassmyer

I just went through this job so let me empart some words of caution regarding the Eric the car Guy YouTube method of bearing removal.

Be very careful banging on the inner hub flange, do not let whatever you are using to damage the inner cv splines or you'll be shopping for a new hub.

Also realize in the video even he is surprised how easy it is for him to seperate the hub and spindle assembly.
I beat on mine for 30 minutes and got nowhere.

Eventually I took my knuckle to a shop and had them use a press to complete the job.
But it turned out I had damaged the cv threads in the spindle.

After all that I ended up buying a used knuckle with a good bearing, hub, rotor, etc for less than what a new hearing from autozone cost me.
I paid around 40 for the bearing BTW.

Long story short, the next time I have to do a bearing job on this crazy hub over rotor setup of ours, ill just buy another knuckle used and save time money and frustration.

Good luck!!

ricebike

agree, if you can afford the down time, bring the whole knuckle assembly for it to be pressed out

rem, OP, yes that site you linked is wrong in this generation of accord

here's a better step-by-step with pix involved in removing the knuckle

http://www.hondaclub.com/forum/artic...da-accord.html

bdmlilburn

with these cars you can do yourself a huge favor and invest in a hub over rotor assembly. this way you get new bearings and when your needing to change those rotors you take off the wheel and caliper and they come right off

check out tas auto. yes its some money but the savings over time/making things easier are worth it in the end if you plan on keeping the vehicle for an extended period of time

tas auto carries the rotor over hub assembly. hub and rotor already pressed together. they also sell the rotors you would need but its cheaper to get those at an auto parts store

nus_dogg

It's not that bad if you have access to a hydraulic press.

remerbt

Thanks guys. I know I'll be able to handle it but was going to be willing to spend a little extra money if I didn't have to go find a press. Though I'm sure finding a press wont be a problem.

While I am in there I may just replace the rotor and ball joints at the same time. I know my upper ball joints are in rough shape, didn't really look at the bottom. Is it recommended to just replace the whole arm and do they even make replacement upper BJs? What about the bottom (if they need replacing). While searching for the wheel bearings I saw a few upper arm listings and it looks like theyre under $50.

Sorry for the silly questions, this is the first Honda I've ever owned. Actually, its the first car I've ever owned. So far I've found that my 10k lb diesel Ford is much easier to work on. Do you know how long it took me to find where to jack this little thing up from? THERES NO FRAME?!

dglassmyer

Yes just buy the upper arm assembly as a whole.
The part will cost you about 40 dollars at autozone or oreillys and bolts in with two fasteners on the strut tower, easy as pie.
Again IMO If you need lower joints I'd definately buy a whole knuckle assembly rather than mess with the bearing job at all.

ricebike

autozone in my area is ~$57 driver side/ $73 passenger side <shrugs>

if you're going for a whole set of stuff, might as well get something like this:

http://www.piranamotorsports.com/ser...96-1997/Detail

I shoulda went this route since other parts are starting to wear out & this kit would have taken care of it

semi-related ~ ha, check out how this guy separated his lower ball joint:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISY8bGof3bQ

Roader

This is where I bought mine:

hubbearing.com

I bought the Timkins but the parts were marked NSK which are probably the OEM part.

The ETCG video worked perfectly for me but I had no air tools; just a small sledge hammer. Colorado car though with no rust which probably helped a lot.

Wear safety glasses or a full face mask when you split open the inner race.

remerbt

I got the wheel bearing all taken care of. I didn't watch the ETCG guy, though it sounds like if I did I would have known about the inner race staying on the hub. I was a bit confused at first but figured it out. I ended up cutting it almost to the hub with a dremmel then used a chisel to break/crack it.

I dont know if I was lucky but it was pretty easy getting the old bearing off and the new one on. I used a washer slightly smaller than the diameter of the bearing and used a bolt larger than the hole in the washer as a punch and hammered it out.

I'm kind of curious to watch the ETCG guy to see how he did it now - no idea what technique was used that could have caused the splines to get messed up like the guy a few posts up experienced. I only say that because on my the tube with the splines had about an 1" of smooth tubing before the splines started.

MAD_MIKE

I just did...


That guy is borderline hack. I recall watching one of his videos before and giving the David Silverman look of disbelief.

If you use the correct tools, a bearing puller...

and a press...

It makes for an easier removal of the bearing off the hub. It gets a bit tense when you try to remove the inner race off the hub.
But it is far safer than using a cut off wheel and less possibility of damage to the hub.

What annoys me about ETCG is he does not use correct tools, or even try to. And explains it away as 'I assume that you don't(have the correct tools)'. Although he expects people to have a 'XD45', compressor, air hose, grinder, cut off wheels, and the knowledge to safely use a grinder.

His logic is flawless
ETCG uses what appears to be a broken building rivet or rail road spike "XD45' to beat the hub off the old bearing, and to beat the hub on the new bearing. Wailing on a bearing is just asking for problems. Beating on the hub can't be good either. Just because it's steel does not mean its not susceptible to being bent or deformed.

Other videos may show correct techniques and tool usage, but when it comes to the front wheel bearings on a 90-97 Honda Accord why risk doing it half ***. It's a PITA to do it the first time, why risk damaging a bearing using incorrect tools, unless you want to do it again?

remerbt

I agree with some that you said, but not all. Having an air compressor and knowing how to use a grinder safely but not having a press or bearing puller is certainly not uncommon. In fact, if you dont know how to safely use a grinder then you probably dont know how to safely jack up your car to begin with. I'm a welder by trade, so I can work my way around a grinder with my eyes closed (skill saws are more dangerous than an un-guarded grinder imo). I also have roughly 8k worth of tools - I do not own a press.

Using incorrect tools is one thing if you know what you're doing and at what point you're going to cause damage. When I started this originally I was planing on getting it to a point to take it to a shop and get pressed in/out. Once I inspected the parts, gave it a few taps in a way I knew wouldn't cause damage and it came out pretty easily so I just did it myself with the "incorrect tools".

I dont have the money to spend on a press or a bearing puller. Using the incorrect tools with some common sense can save you a lot of money. Using them without common sense, well, that happens more often than not and can end poorly.

remerbt

I know I posted the above comment 4 hours ago, but I just wanted to say that I wasn't trying to offend or stir up any e-drama. Im new here, no idea what the mentality around is around here and to be honest I just want a good place to find information about the car I just bought as well as share my knowledge when possible. I still haven't watched ETCG video yet (and I kind of doubt I will tbh. My internet is really slow and would take 30 minutes to get that video to load). I guess my point was that when on a budget theres more than one way to skin a cat. But you just have to be smart about it and realize when you're going to screw something up and try a different approach before you reach that point and that can often times be more important than what tool you use.

rival12

Take off the entire knuckle, separate the lower ball joint, etc... take it to a shop with a press, and they'll do it in no time.

Then switch to this design, and never worry about it again. New Bearings too.

http://www.tasauto.com/Product/Browse.aspx?d=134&p=1

bdmlilburn