Xantia rear wheel bearings

Neil Taylor · Post by **Neil Taylor** » 28 Jul 2006, 14:47

I have obtained good replacement rear trailing arms from a scrap yard through the post. I specified I wanted the ABS wiring intact, but unfortunately took for granted the wheel bearings would be OK. One at least is not, and both had their dust caps removed.

What is involved in replacing the wheel bearings, and what are the parts cost in England?

Can the stub axle be removed from the trailing arm casting without dismantling the wheel bearing? If so I could swop wheel bearing assemblies from my old damaged arms. Haynes says the stub axle is on splines and retained by a circlip which it helpfully says remove, but omits to mention where it is or how. Is that circlip accessible?

If I have to replace the bearing with a new one, is Haynes right that I have to replace the entire asembly, or can the ball race, new retaining nut and dust covers be purchased separately and DIY fitted?

Stewart(oily) · Post by **Stewart(oily)** » 28 Jul 2006, 17:37

I believe the actual races are a bit of a blighter to fit, which is why places like GSF tend to offer the hub asembly complete with bearings. If the bearings are merely dry and the grease has turned to soap I use an ice lolly stick to scrape out as much of the old grease as possible then push new stuff in with my fingers, this has successfully quietened slighly noisy ones for me before now.
Stewart

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 28 Jul 2006, 18:52

You can not get the bearing races and ball cage separately - unless you consult an industrial machinery supplier stocking bearings. He would know nowt on Citroens - but knows all about inner/outer dia and depth of a bearing

The dustcap is available separately from Citroen dealer.

GSF stocks the complete rear hub assembly with bearings - some ½-2/3 the genuine Citroen parts price.

Why do you want to replace the rear arm in the first place ?
Its a wellknown problem that the damaged bearing will groove out the bore in the arm. But the part of the bore that is damaged does not hold any forces at all. This is the part where the bearing seal cup is located - not the bearing itself.
Have another look into the arm and you will understand that only the inner bearing race shell is taking up the forces. As longs as this shell can be seated perfectly in the bore - all is well.
Do a premature assembly of the bearing and seal cup - then apply sillicone sealant around the seal cup to close the grooved part of the bore in the arm. Careful not to fill the bearing with silicone 8)

Thats how I have kept my BX rear arms going for years no problems.

Neil Taylor · Post by **Neil Taylor** » 28 Jul 2006, 19:17

Stewart(oily) wrote:I believe the actual races are a bit of a blighter to fit, which is why places like GSF tend to offer the hub asembly complete with bearings. Stewart

I may be being dense, but I can't see rear hub assemblies listed for the Xantia or the BX on GSF - a keyword search for 'hub' brings up nothing. Our Citroen dealer would want £130 for one. Any pointers appreciated,

Neil

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 28 Jul 2006, 20:17

N41306 WHEEL BEARING-REAR XANTIA EXC ABS>RP6778 (>1/6/95) 36.00
N41320 WHEEL BEARING-REAR XANTIA EXC ABS RP6779> 39.00
N41324 WHEEL BEARING-REAR XANTIA WITH ABS >RP6778 (>1/6/95) 42.50
N41326 WHEEL BEARING-REAR XANTIA WITH ABS RP6779> 42.50

Which are the complete rear hub assemblies (1ea. pr side)

Neil Taylor · Post by **Neil Taylor** » 29 Jul 2006, 09:07

AndersDK wrote:
Why do you want to replace the rear arm in the first place ?
Its a wellknown problem that the damaged bearing will groove out the bore in the arm. But the part of the bore that is damaged does not hold any forces at all. This is the part where the bearing seal cup is located - not the bearing itself.
Have another look into the arm and you will understand that only the inner bearing race shell is taking up the forces. As longs as this shell can be seated perfectly in the bore - all is well.

This did occur to me, but unfortunately when I measured the depth of good metal needed, it was gouged into by about a third of the depth by the needle rollers having gone diagonal across the axis and breaking through the shell to the casting. A real mess.

Thanks for the part numbers. I now need to know if I can change the wheel bearing myself, and if so how, or whether it will need a press.

Neil Taylor · Post by **Neil Taylor** » 10 Aug 2006, 22:48

Well I got the job done in the end. The car was off the road for a fortnight, the longest I've had a car off the road in 33 years of motoring. Mind you, this was mostly down to waiting for the next duff secondhand arm to arrive from some distant scrap yard by courier. The world is full of nasty gouged up Xantia trailing arms, and very few good ones it seems. The perfect one had a ruined wheel bearing but the yard sent out a replacement. This was not perfect, and despite the gouging creeping in on the inner shell seating surface a little, I decided I'd like the car back on the road in my lifetime, so put up with it anyway, employing Ander's silicone grease to seal the seal.

I'm not impressed by this cynical piece of under-engineering that can be milked by the agents or ensure quicker disposal of cars. They've had 2 decades and 3 models to get this right in, but I guess it suits them not to. I looked up C5 to see what they are like, and they have the identical part number for the bearing, and tales of them breaking up after as little as 18,000 miles, and agents refusing to carry out the work under guarantee. That's not decent. I had fancied one for my next car, but not any more.

The worst bits of the job were struggling to get serviceable arms, re-fixing the fastenings for the ABS wiring, but the worst, and it has still defeated me is getting the (now torn) gaiter over the ball joint cup at the end of the hydraulic piston. Any suggestions welcome!

Oh, and the ABS light is now on permanently! (I'll describe that in a seperate plea for help!)

Thanks for all the help, it makes the impossible possible!