"Agrajag" (Agrajag)
05/11/2014 at 17:59 • Filed to: gti
1
11|
"Agrajag" (Agrajag)
05/11/2014 at 17:59 • Filed to: gti | 1
| 11 |
Wheel bearing replacement. Elapsed time: 7 hours (Step by step inside)
I don't know how that has over a million views.
I had bought a new jack which turned out to be too tall to fit under a GTI. Using the jack that came with the car, I jacked it up just enough to get the floor jack under the cross member and placed my jack stands.
My car has little lug vanity covers which you need a little hook tool to remove. Guess what was missing from tire change kit. So I had to improvise.
Got those off and then went to use my impact to remove lugs. Pull the trigger and oil starts spraying everywhere, and the gun has no strength. Lower the car and use wrench from kit. Raise car again.
Now the wheel is off I just need to remove the axle bol....... Goddammit anyway! Put wheel back on and lower car.
This gave me some trouble intially. Since my impact gun was toast I first tried with a 1/2 drive socket wrench to no avail. Then I got the big guns. Breaker bar and a shit load of pipe.
The combined efforts of a hammer, kicking, full application of body weight did nothing. I then drove to work and borrowed our electric impact wrench.
Fuck compressed air, I'm going electric from now on. Within a matter of seconds that bolt was loose. I know what my next power tool purchase is going to be.
Raise car again.
I gave a little tap on the axle to make sure it wasn't seized in the hub.
Next was removal of caliper and rotor.
The rotor took longer to get off than the axle bolt. After a lengthy pounding with a hammer it finally succumbed.
Then shield removal and some liberal application of PB Blaster.
Next I removed the ball joint from the lower control arm.
Now I could fully remove the axle from hub and access the four bolts holding the hub on.
This was my first experience with triple square bolts, so I approached them trepidatiously. Turns out they were the easiest bolts to remove I had to deal with.
I don't know what that green stuff is. It was not visible to the human eye.
With the dreaded triple squares removed I began tapping out the bearing. And it broke apart. The other half came out pretty easy.
After cleaning that out with some emery cloth the new bearing assembly slipped right in.
With that bolted on I slid the axle back in and reattached the lower control arm.
All back together.
At each stage I was worried the wheel bearing wasn't the problem. There was no play in the wheel, no apparent noise or vibration when spun by hand, even when down to the rotor there was no perceptible play. Once the rotor was off and I turned the bearing by hand my fears were allayed. You could feel the grinding in your fingertips. When all was done I went for a test drive and everything seems fine.
Now it just needs a bath.
Brian Silvestro
> Agrajag
05/11/2014 at 18:07 |
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I don't know what that green stuff is. It was not visibly to the human eye.
Well that's interesting.
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Agrajag
> Brian Silvestro
05/11/2014 at 18:12 |
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My first guess.
The Transporter
> Agrajag
05/11/2014 at 18:19 |
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I was wondering why it would take 7 hours to swap out wheel bearing hubs, then I saw it was for a Volkswagen. Damned Germans.
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Brian Silvestro
> Agrajag
05/11/2014 at 18:19 |
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Better than my guess of spores that emit infrared light that only cameras can pick up.
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Agrajag
> Brian Silvestro
05/11/2014 at 18:35 |
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For some reason your guess scares me more than mutagenic ooze.
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Brian Silvestro
> Agrajag
05/11/2014 at 18:44 |
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You should get yourself checked out before your car infects you.
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Agrajag
> The Transporter
05/11/2014 at 18:45 |
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It is actually a really easy job. If I ever have to do it again I could probably do it in under two. The time consumption came in me being stupid and ludicrously tight bolts requiring me to make trips for other tools. Definitely easier than the one my brother and I did on his 2005 civic.
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Agrajag
> Brian Silvestro
05/11/2014 at 18:48 |
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Nah, I'm fine. Man do I want some pizza.
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Brian Silvestro
> Agrajag
05/11/2014 at 18:50 |
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Damn, now I want pizza also.
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The Transporter
> Agrajag
05/11/2014 at 19:22 |
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I've found when working on my own car that you need two cars to do it properly. One car to be worked on and the other to make the endless trips to the parts store to buy that tool or part that the service manual fails to mention you'll need.
The Compromiser
> The Transporter
05/11/2014 at 21:41 |
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more stars needed. Off to the star store.