Wheel bearing DIY questions...

[Rapter]

Well my mechanic has confirmed that my wheel bearings are bad. He said he is sure one of them is bad, but it's possible they're both bad. Now I don't like the the "feeling helpless" feeling so I'd like to take a stab at it myself. After doing some searching it seems like it's a bitch no matter how you look at it. All I have found is Mark P's DIY and going to go off of that. In my search on how to do it I've read some stuff that has me confused.

1. I've seen that someone said it's a different job if you have aluminum uprights. What is the difference if you do have AU's? (please tell me mine is going to be the easier one out of the two)

2. I have a 2000 and not sure if I have aluminum uprights how do I find out?

3. What type of place do I look for in my area(Northern NJ) when trying to find a place to press the bearing out of the hub?

4. Also I'm looking at PUREMS and it shows 2 different wheel bearing kits. One looks like the bearing itself that needs to be pressed in and stuff. The second one looks like the bearing with some kind of mount with the bearing already pressed in that can be bolted on. Which one do you go with? Obviously looking for the easiest route.

http://www.purems.com/products/product.php/II=1476

http://www.purems.com/products/product.php/II=1421

5. That "Hub shark" tool to help get the bearing out can I rent that autozone or do they have some generic version which doesn't really work well with our cars or just not good enough in general.

TIA just wrenching noob trying to work his way up to doing his own turbo swap.

[s vier]

I have aluminum uprights. Here's how you tell:

Look at the vertical suspension component that connects the upper control arms to the lower control arms. If it is black (like most) you have steel uprights and a normal bearing can be pressed in. If the piece is silver, you guessed it, light-city aluminum uprights and the bearing bolts into the hub.

[Klum00]

how much did those aluminum uprights cost you?

OP - more likely than not you will have steel uprights. As long as your pinch bolt doesn't give you trouble they are fairly easy to remove. Just take out the entire knuckle/upright and bring it to a shop. I got one around here to remove the old bearing and press the new one for $20.

[s vier]

how much did those aluminum uprights cost you?

OP - more likely than not you will have steel uprights. As long as your pinch bolt doesn't give you trouble they are fairly easy to remove. Just take out the entire knuckle/upright and bring it to a shop. I got one around here to remove the old bearing and press the new one for $20.

THey were only on early build 2000 MY. Mine is an early one.

[Rapter]

My mechanic told me that he remembers them being the steel ones and not the aluminum ones. So now what type of shop do you go to in order to get it pressed in and out? Independent shop, dealer, pepboys ect...?

[MacDaddy]

just make sure they put the bearing into the knuckle, then the hub into the bearing.

nobody seems to know how to put in bearings properly in this continent.

[gointoscott]

I'm assuming your talking about rear wheel bearings.

I've done one on my S4, one on a buddy's S4 and did one on my 98 A4 when I did it. I could almost do it in my sleep right now.

I think there is a nice write up out there... Found it: Audiworld.com there are 2 tech articles on the wheel bearing, but the second one is way better. Its specific to B5S4's
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/wheel.html

the first time I did it I jacked car up and then tried to break the hub bolt loose, and had a terrible time gett it loose, but then the next time I did it first before jacking the car up and it broke loose real easy. Helps to have breaker bar and pipe on end of it for leverage.

its really not that hard to take the hub assembly off, then what I did was bought a bearing from nappa autoparts and then had their machine shop press it in. was much cheaper taking hub off myself, then took into napa and had them press it in. I think they charged like 26 bucks to press new bearing in.

[SurferD]

OK boys and girls I'm doing this job now. I have the Blauparts kit with all the bolts etc. I just started and can't get past the first step! The freakin 14mm allen bolts will not budge! I sprayed the entire are with WD40 and Mouse Milk. I first tried a 18 inch long 1/2 breaker bar with a 3/8 adapter on the 3/8 allen socket. Of course the adapter sheared right off as I thought it would. I took the 14mm allen out of the socket and thought it would be better to use my impact gun. It's a Ingersoll Rand 2131 with 550 foot lbs of force in reverse. I have a steady 90PSI. I'm using a 14mm impact socket with 1/2 drive so it's all set. Or so I thought. I went to use it and still nothing! The bolts will not move! I sat there for a good 2 minutes in reverse and even tried going forward then reverse. The DIY makes it look so simple. Has anyone had the same problem?

http://img266.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0001ah9.jpg

[lowered97a4]

ya i just stood on the breaker bar bounced on it finally let go, or u can drill the head off

[SurferD]

ya i just stood on the breaker bar bounced on it finally let go, or u can drill the head off

If I drill the head off then the rest of the threads are corroded how do i get that out? I have easy outs but they won't work. Guess I'l try bouncing lol.

[MacDaddy]

you will need a 1000+ ftlb impact gun to take that thing off. you could crank up your compressor to 120PSI, but i doubt that will help. 90PSI is bullshit.

buy a 14mm 1/2" socket, put it on your breaker bar and either get a big pipe on the end or use a jack under the end of the breaker bar to take off the bolt. Yeah, its kinda ghetto, just make sure you got eye protection!

[SurferD]

you will need a 1000+ ftlb impact gun to take that thing off. you could crank up your compressor to 120PSI, but i doubt that will help. 90PSI is bullshit.

buy a 14mm 1/2" socket, put it on your breaker bar and either get a big pipe on the end or use a jack under the end of the breaker bar to take off the bolt. Yeah, its kinda ghetto, just make sure you got eye protection!

I will jack up the pressure and see if it works. I actually did try the jack trick (does that mean I'm ghetto? HAHA) but the breaker bar was bending badly so I stopped. I guess I can just get a replacement from Snap-On if it breaks.

[Rapter]

I was all ready to go, but I was waiting on my friend to get be the bearing since he is the one thats going to press it out and the new one in. He was suppose to have it yesterday, but I recently found out he won't have it until Monday. While I was waiting I figured I would get started on this dreaded bolt that everyone keeps talking about. This morning I went out and bought a 18" half drive breaker bar along with some other things. I was happy to see that I didn't have the allen head bolt on the side I need to replace. I have the regular bolt head which I believe is a 27mm. I took the center cap off, breaker bar with the 1/2 of my jacks pipe/handle, lowered the car back on the ground and it broke free with ease. I'm going to take everything off tomorrow so it will be ready for him on monday. GL with that bolt

[MacDaddy]

I will jack up the pressure and see if it works. I actually did try the jack trick (does that mean I'm ghetto? HAHA) but the breaker bar was bending badly so I stopped. I guess I can just get a replacement from Snap-On if it breaks.

if you want to be really ghetto, put the breaker bar on the bolt and drive your car forward, obviously i do not recommend this method in the least!!!

another "trick" i've heard of for taking of crank pulley bolts is to attach the breaker bar then hit the starter to break the bolt free, only works on some cars and again is very dangerous and i wouldn't try it.

[Rapter]

What a day I had today. So I decided to get started and drop the up right at my mechanics so he can take care of the bearing stuff and have it ready for tomorrow when I come home from work. This is not as easy as the DIY make it seem. For starters if you've never taken off your caliper or rotors it can be tricky since there is no real good DIY that is specific to our front calipers. I finally got pass that hurtle. Then on to the next one since it was one after another. To get the upper control arms out was easy. The tie rod not so easy thanks to my knuckles having to smash my fender a few times. On to the next problem...getting the lower control arms out of the up right. My god did this stump me and give me a big problem. I talked to my mechanic and he said put the nut back on and wack it with a hammer from the back to pop it out, but be careful to not screw up the threads on the arms. DOH! I ended up screwing up on the one closer to the front of the car. I even tried going to auto zone and renting a tool to pop out the ball joint. That was worthless since all they had was a fork like looking tool. FINALLY I was able to get both of the lower ball joints free. I took a really long screw driver and used that as an extension. I was like thank god I made it I'm home free all I have to do is unbolt the brake sensor which should be easy.

Brake sensor still on the upright


5mm allen head to the bolt that holds on the brake sensor to the UR.
]

That stupid 5mm snapped in half. Please help I'm really in a jam can someone tell me what to do at this point since the head broke off and I don't know how to get the brake sensor off now.

[kbjy11]

if you broke the head off, the abs sensor should still come off.

The brake sensor has tendancies to rust on... try prying it off carefully with vice pliers..

after the sensor is off, you can deal with the broken bolt.

[lowered97a4]

sounds normal with the speed sensor just follow the wire and unplug it leave the sensor in there u can take the bearing out with it in there, somebody might have a different opinion

[SurferD]

Broken bolts suck! That one fortunately isn't that bad to deal with. Just slide the sensor off and like the others said soak it and use vise grips. If that doesn't work then drill and retap. On a good note, I let my bearing bolts sit soaking overnight. I bought a 4 feet section of pipe and they broke free pretty easily wth a loud crack.

[MacDaddy]

easy out and some penetrating oil.

but if your going to a shop to get the bearing pressed in, ask them to take out that bolt too.

[desmo888]

Raptor, relax my man. This is all normal mechanic's BS. I have learned (at the ripe old age of 43) to relax...
Its another hurdle that a thousand mechanics before you have dealt with. You got it man, you are in control. Its just a bucket of bolts assembled by some cranky German.
Keep us up to date and we will help you work through it.
This shit is suppose to be some of the fun of working on your own car. You will come out of this a better 'wrench'.

[desmo888]

but if your going to a shop to get the bearing pressed in, ask them to take out that bolt too.

EXCELLENT suggestion! Do it!

[Rapter]

Well I've got something to eat so I'm not as bothered as I was before lol... The brake sensor I will try to pull tomorrow and if that doesn't work I would like to unplug it from the other end, but where does it plug into? From where I was sitting it looks like it runs into the engine bay.

What's really bothering me is the lower control arm where the strut mounts onto will have to be replaced. I kind of stripped the first few threads on the ball joint part. The control arm closets to the bottom with the threads facing down is what I stripped. I hope it isn't too hard to swap out.

[MacDaddy]

use a file with a sharp edge to file the threads back.

[SurferD]

use a file with a sharp edge to file the threads back.

Right, you don't need to replace the joint if all you did was mess up the threads. Unless it's bad anyway. Just file them as prescribed. Better yet use a die and recut the end if you can. No sense taking the whole arm off for that.

[Rapter]

Right, you don't need to replace the joint if all you did was mess up the threads. Unless it's bad anyway. Just file them as prescribed. Better yet use a die and recut the end if you can. No sense taking the whole arm off for that.

Do you guys recommend a certain "die"?

[SurferD]

Do you guys recommend a certain "die"?

If you have access to a metric tap/die set they usually have a thread gauge included. Or you could use the tap that fits into the nut and use the corresponding die. You can usually buy them at Sears or an industrial supply place like Grainger on an auto parts store. Offhand I don't know the thread pitch.

[SurferD]

Well I finally had the time to finish this job. I used a press at a friend's machine shop. It went pretty easily. Upon assembly I had no issues except I forgot to put the sheet metal shield on one side after I had put the brakes completely back! One last question. In the Bentely manual it says to tighten the camber bolt and the rear link ball joint with weight on the wheels. Why? I marked the old camber hardware so the new one is almost in exactly the same place and just tightened to the specified torque.

[Rapter]

Well I to finally had a new wheel bearing put in except it wasn't by me. Once I got stuck with the brake sensor and the thread on the lower cntrl arm fubar'd I had to throw in the towel. It is my DD and I didn't have the time to tackle it anymore. I had to build it back up and then drive it to my mechanics. He said the brake sensor was seized on and I needed to replace it. Also the threads on the cntrl arm were unrepairable so I needed a new one of those. He said my bearing was completely shot and surprised I didn't screw up the hub. Once all said and done we went for a ride and what do you know the other side needs the also be replaced. She's at the shop now and will have that done tomorrow.

I will say this putting it back together was a bitch.

[casawhites4]

How much does a wheel bearing replacement cost?

[Rapter]

IIFC my mechanic charged me an hour each side.