How hard is it to replace front wheel bearing? Anyone have good youtube videos links?

What kind of price would I pay if I had a shop do it?

 

You will need a press in order to the get the bearing out/in, so unless you have one, best thing to do is remove the whole knuckle and take it to a local shop to have them press them out/in. I have paid $28 in the past per bearing. I'm in Ohio. You can search for videos yourself

 

You can do it with hand tools. I've done it. It requires a $100 tool set from Harbor Freight (search FWD Bearing). I recommend you take the knuckle off so you are not slide-hammering against the ball joints to get the hub out...

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-...829-a-2984426/

 

Rent a puller from a local parts store and I press mine in with a big socket and hammer until I can get a axle nut on, then tighten the axle nut to finish the press ..as stated above taking the spindle off isn't a bad idea but I have done it without doing that...

 

^By doing that, you are exerting all the press force directly through the individual ball bearings (not in motion) and into the bearing race. This is how you flat-spot ball bearings, and how you pit the bearing race. Bearings are meant to have forces exerted through them while in motion to prevent permanent localized deformation.

This is exactly how NOT to press in a bearing.

When pressing a bearing into a housing, press force must ONLY be exerted on the outer race. When pressing something (like the hub) into the middle of the bearing, press force must only be exerted on the inner race.

 

Also, if you search eBay for "FWD Bearing Adapter" you can find a set similar to the Harbor Freight set for $56 shipped. I'll be changing the bearings in my 2000 SI knuckles here in a couple weeks with said tool. My understanding is that the weak point of these cheap kits (including the HF one), is the threaded rod and nut. If the threaded rod fails before both bearings are in, I'll just buy a press from HF to finish the job. Also, if you haven't replaced your lower ball joints recently, now might be the time to take a look at those as well.

 

I bought the tool from harbor frieght. it worked very well.

 

I'm in the middle of replacing the bearings this afternoon. It's harder than I imagined, but it's doable..

 

The hardest part for me was hammering the hub out of the old bearing. I managed to get the knuckle supported on some wood blocks and used a 5lb weight and my 32mm socket to pound it out.

After that it was the slow process of cutting the inner race left on the hub with only my dremel. It wasn't hard, just time consuming. Just like in the video, it cracked with a

Overall I thought it was a fun project.

 

My friend loaned me a huge slide hammer. The hubs came out like they were buttered. However, I accidentally left a snapring out. Now I will have to buy another new bearing. $80 mistake.

 

Oh booo. Sorry man.

 

^^^ This is going to be your cheapest and fastest way to do it. If you want get frustrated and pissed off go ahead and try to pull the bearing out with hand tools that are going to cost more then getting the bearing pressed in. Honestly, its a very simple decision, take the knuckle off and take it to a machine shop.

 

i got 2 spare knuckles from car-part.com since the local boneyards aint got *****.
that way i can drop off at shop with bearing and keep driving since i only have 1 car.
you can press in a new ball joint yourself with the big c-clamp and honda adaptor
set that local orly or whomever will rent for free with $250 or so deposit.
timken bearings ftw! sadly moog ball joints are now chinese junk, got to go with stealership.

 

I've tried multiple ways of doing this, and agree with the poster above that unless you have a press and the correct adapter, the easiest, fastest way I've found is to pull the knuckles and take them to my local shop who changes both bearings and lower ball joints for $50 in about an hour. I have a ball joint tool, but I figure why spend the time and effort if I'm getting the bearings done at the same time?

 

Hopefully whatever "yokel" they had operate the press on your new parts knew not to put force through the ***** themselves like the "Derp" in post #4. No thanks!