idiots guide to wheelbearing change please

Andrew1967 · Post by **Andrew1967** » 21 Nov 2002, 04:12

Need to change my wheel bearings as the noise is very loud now and vibrating at speed....... can you guys tell me what I need and what tools will do for the job and is there anything else I should change at the same time?? No experience necessary I hope!!
Thanks
Andrew

Xantia786 · Post by **Xantia786** » 21 Nov 2002, 05:39

Is it your front or rear wheel bearings? fronts on fwd cars can be a pain while the backs wont be too bad to change.
best bet is to get the haynes manual for the car although its never that clear in the manual it will give you a good idea of where to start etc.
You will need a large socket to undo the hub nut which you will probably end up buying as these only ever get used for hub nuts!
You may also need a ball joint splitter for separating the lower balljoint.
You may also have trouble removing the bearing from its housing so you may need to find an engineering shop with a press to push it out and put the new one in.
Apart from the above a good toolkit is all you will need.
B

Andrew1967 · Post by **Andrew1967** » 21 Nov 2002, 23:01

It is the front ones, will see what I can find out over the weekend when I will be working on it (hopefully!)
Andrew

vanny · Post by **vanny** » 21 Nov 2002, 23:31

what sort of car are we talking about?
Vanny
Merseyside, UK
Citroenbx19rd@bxproject.co.uk
http://www.bxproject.co.uk

Jimco1 · Post by **Jimco1** » 21 Nov 2002, 23:44

I did this job on an XM and found that a bolster chisel, as used in the building trade, will drive the bearing out but you must support the hub and not bash away with it just on a hard surface or you will spread the area where eventually you are going to want to put the wheel onto!!!. I used one chisel per bearing. When driving the new one in use the old bearing between the new one and the club hammer. If it isn't an XM a bolster chisel may be too wide. It isn't as bad a job as I had imagined and the result was wonderful.

Andrew1967 · Post by **Andrew1967** » 24 Nov 2002, 04:12

its a Citroen Xantia 1.8i. I was wondering if buying the wheelbearing arms from Andyspares would do????
Andrew