Saxo wheel bearing

[CitroJim]

Tips for bearing replacement:
Never hit the new bearing.

<and many more top tips>

That's a great collection of advice and tips Matt

I always remember a friend of mine, not very mechanically minded, who wanted to watch me press out a duff and well rusted front 205 wheel bearing...

He watched as I set up the press and was amazed as the gauge climbed toward 7 or 8 tons... And then when the bearing let go with the usual big bang as it finally started moving he was nowhere to be seen...

I found him cowering in a corner of the workshop, scared out of his wits...

Never again did he wish to witness wheel bearing removal...

[MattBLancs]

No, can see why to be honest! Still puts the wind up me, using the press sometimes! Similar with spring compressors - just has me a bit on edge given the forces involved!

I'm not very "jumpy" generally, but one of the reasons I couldn't get on with stick welding was the seemingly near involuntary jump as the welder banged into life as you first "strike up" ! Had a go with ear defenders on a was a Eureka moment! Have since conditioner myself not to jump, and better still bought a cheap MIG setup which makes welding dead easy.

[CitroJim]

I know exactly what you mean about stick welding Matt!

Stick welding is a bit on the 'lively' side at the best of times... Only tried MiG a few times and can't really get on with it after stick and gas welding...

I really must give it another go soon and see if I can finally get the hang of it...

[MattBLancs]

I know exactly what you mean about stick welding Matt!

Stick welding is a bit on the 'lively' side at the best of times... Only tried MiG a few times and can't really get on with it after stick and gas welding...

I really must give it another go soon and see if I can finally get the hang of it...

I bought a cheap inverter mig welder off eBay and an auto dimming welding mask - recommend both to make life easy.

Stick welder with permanently dark mask = up hill all the way for me!

[Jonathancilia]

Its definitely bettwr but still has a bit of judder when uphill but not as bad as before. I guess the dragging brake on one side might be the other cause of the problem aswell. For some reason it has always been like this since i upgraded to the 206 gti brakes. At first i thought it was a bad caliper so i bought new ones but still, even the pads, when new are impossible to fit inside the caliper without removing the backing shims.

The other side(driver side) is fine and wearing normally, but passenger side chews up rotors and pads fast. Something is misaligned or bent maybe

[CitroJim]

Dragging brakes are never good Jonathan... Definitely needs resolving and indeed the heat generated from the dragging may well be killing the wheel bearing... Excess heat will rapidly dry the grease out of them...

[Jonathancilia]

I will check the dimensions of the brake calipers as maybe one of them is thicker than the other, as how i say new pads didnot want to go in from day 1. They were different branded calipers too.

Bracket for caliper does not seem to be bent to my eye at least, and bolts for it go in easily.

Only thing the caliper of the dragging side has different is that one of the bolts that secures it to the bracket, when trying to tighten it, it barely fits and you have to "push" the caliper down to get it started, maybe this is misaligning the caliper in some way, the other side both bolts are a breeze to install

[CitroJim]

Now that definitely needs investigating and rectifying, if only for safety Jonathan...

[MattBLancs]

Agree, all sounds a bit odd.

Is there some "chopping and changing" of parts to put the 206 brakes on the Saxo?

Can't help think it's a less than ideal substitute disk (and thicker) - certainly no need to remove the anti rattle shims on my wife's 206. ( It's the "HDi GTi" ) think has the same disks as the 2.0 Gti petrol (think GTi 180 might be bigger again?) 266mm disk diameter I think.

Wondering if one disk is different to the other given no problems on the other side

[MattBLancs]

Oh, may be an update on the wheel bearing situation, will dig into it tomorrow and add findings here.

Better yet if I can get GSF website to behave then I'll get some associated bits ordered.

GSF = generates supreme frustration!

[Hell Razor5543]

If you sign up for their news letter you can get quite a few quid off at GSF (sometimes as much as 65%). I just checked, and there is 65% off Saxo wheel bearings if you have signed up.

[Jonathancilia]

No parts just fit on, only modification you have to do is grind abit off the caliper bracket or one of the bolts wont fit

[Jonathancilia]

Now that definitely needs investigating and rectifying, if only for safety Jonathan...

Definitely i will do that, when i get some time off work, its been crazy busy

[Jonathancilia]

Agree, all sounds a bit odd.

Is there some "chopping and changing" of parts to put the 206 brakes on the Saxo?

Can't help think it's a less than ideal substitute disk (and thicker) - certainly no need to remove the anti rattle shims on my wife's 206. ( It's the "HDi GTi" ) think has the same disks as the 2.0 Gti petrol (think GTi 180 might be bigger again?) 266mm disk diameter I think.

Wondering if one disk is different to the other given no problems on the other side

To be honest i didnt bother checking dimensions when new of the discs, yes they are the 266mm ones. Something is misaligned for sure, maybe the hub is distorted slightly, or the caliper has different dimensions than the original

[MattBLancs]

If you sign up for their news letter you can get quite a few quid off at GSF (sometimes as much as 65%). I just checked, and there is 65% off Saxo wheel bearings if you have signed up.

Yes, good discount at present, just unable to actually complete the purchase!

Have tried online via phone, then via desktop, tried ringing helpline a couple of times this afternoon, live chat (offline, so send a message) and most recently futile bitching at them via their Facebook page.

On their site, one page tells me "no delivery option for the items in the basket"
Same page says all items in stock for home delivery, and basket qualifying for free delivery.
Another page says "postage option missing" as pictured.
No stock in branch otherwise would go pick them up directly.
Nothing wierd or difficult to post (I e. Not car battery or big liquids oil /coolant , no aerosols, all small items) so just bamboozled as to what's wrong!