Rear Hub assembly

Hey everyone, I'm in the process of replacing my rear hub assembly.
I've removed all the bolts but the hub will not budge from its fitting.

Are there any tricks or tools needed to pull it out? I've soaked it in PB several times...

I would say a hub puller is in order or a BFH, just be careful with the BFH.

Big Friggin Hammer.

You can also apply heat with a butane torch to the hub.

Or MAPP Gas, on a butane head. It produces a hotter flame for stubborn parts.

im not sure you can use a puller for the rear since theres no spindle... ill try wailing on it with a hammer tommoroww.

A little heat will go a long way, just be sure to have a fire extinguisher near by just in case.

well i got it off with the big hammer/ crow bar combo...

the hub isnt wobbly at all but when i rotate, it has a slight bit of friction.

is there anywhere i can take it to make sure its bad?

also the sensor wires where sliced clean.

could that be the reason my abs/trac control went out?

BackfromtheDead wrote:

well i got it off with the big hammer/ crow bar combo...

the hub isnt wobbly at all but when i rotate, it has a slight bit of friction.

is there anywhere i can take it to make sure its bad?

also the sensor wires where sliced clean.

could that be the reason my abs/trac control went out?

The only thing you can do if the hub/bearing is off the car is to rotate it and feel for friction.
While it was on the car you could use a dial indicator and measure end play as well as feel the bearing for rotational friction.
The broken wires will give you an ABS/Trac Cont. light.
Be aware after you install a new bearing and hub with ABS sensor the light may or may not go out depending on if there are other broken wires at any other wheel or another bad sensor.
But, you have to start somewhere.
Why would you remove the Hub and Bearing if you didn't intend on putting on a New one.?????

i just want to make sure im replacing the right one. no need to spend $70 to replace a good part.

Then splice the wires and re-install it and se what happens.
It can't hurt...It's only labor. No cost yet.

After prying and beating on it with a BFH, I sure wouldn't want to put it back on my car. The old part can be considered a bad hub now, imo.

One way you could've checked the hub was to lift the car and rock the wheel up & down before you took it off. The wheel will usually feel loose if the bearing has gone bad.

BackfromtheDead wrote:

i just want to make sure im replacing the right one. no need to spend $70 to replace a good part.

You need the $70 less than you need the hassle - and by doing it yourself you can afford to get Timken or SKF wheel bearing assembly.

Especially after you beat on it with a hammer. I killed an ABS sensor by taking off a brake rotor hat with a 4-lb sledge. The bearings don't like to be whacked.

Albertj

I just did both my rear bearings... both were stuchk like welded!!!

the way i got them off was to use a 1/2 inch socket on the bolts...

There are 3 holes in the hub 2 small ones and one larger the socket will pass through that and if you undo the bolt then leave the socket on the bolt remove the extension rotate the hub until one of smaller holes are over the socket. now put the extension through the hole and undo the bolt . it will act as a puller as it will push the back of the socket against the rear of the hub and force it from the mount. Do a little on each bolt until it comes off. It takes a few mins but works a treat.

Nigel

Nigel,
Why did you do both your rear hub/bearings.?
PM or were both bad at the same time.?
What MFG bearing did you use.?

I'm asking all these questions because i think I'm going to do something that goes against the grain of my whole being, that is replace parts without knowing if that will solve my vibration issue.
I'm so frustrated, i think I will just start accumulating parts and start changing one thing at a time until it is solved, up to and including the Steering Rack.
I'd like to find a Non-Magnasteer unit.

Rick,

Yes i changed both, the rear drivers side ABS was erroring and giving an ABS light.

In my mind anything to do with wheels i do to both sides like brake pads rotors and hubs. It just seems logical if one side is worn the other side cant be much different as they both travel a similar distance.

the bearings i have taken off could still be used as a tester. If you want send your address and i will post one or both to you. Im not sure but will test then later tonight as i dont think any thing is wrong with them .. the bloomin ABS light is still on!!!!

as a pair they came out at 113 dollars from ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270399384133&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3AEOIBSA%3AGB%3A1123

very good price and delivered quickly.

if you want any more info please let me know

Regards
Nigel

nigelf wrote:

...the way i got them off was to use a 1/2 inch socket on the bolts...

There are 3 holes in the hub 2 small ones and one larger the socket will pass through that and if you undo the bolt then leave the socket on the bolt remove the extension rotate the hub until one of smaller holes are over the socket. now put the extension through the hole and undo the bolt . it will act as a puller as it will push the back of the socket against the rear of the hub and force it from the mount. Do a little on each bolt until it comes off. It takes a few mins but works a treat.
Nigel

That is damned clever!

Also, considering that a hub is generally a one-time replacement, I'd say that $70 for one with ABS is a good deal, and even cheaper on that eBay link...

It doesn't say, but i would assume at that price the bearings are made in China.
Not the most reliable in my opinion. But if your on a budget and understand that they most likely won't last the same amount of miles that an American made one would then it's OK.

Do rear bearings often go bad on our cars? I've got near 195k miles on both rear OEM hubs.

I had an ABS sensor go bad on a rear hub on mine necessitating replacement, but the bearing was still good.
IDK what the average life of a rear bearing is. It seems to be longer than the front for obvious reasons.

AA wrote:

Do rear bearings often go bad on our cars? I've got near 195k miles on both rear OEM hubs.

My Eldorado used similar hub/bearing combos all the way around, and in 185K miles I only had to replace one of them... I agree that ABS problems probably necessitate more replacements than actual bearing problems.

What symptoms are you guys seeing for a sensor failure?

AA wrote:

What symptoms are you guys seeing for a sensor failure?

All I've experienced was a sensor failure without any wiring problems.
Just a bad sensor on the left rear shortly after buying the car. Tripped the ABS/Trac Control light. With a scanner i was able to determine it was left rear and then checked all wiring and connector, which is usually the problem, found no problems with the wiring so changed hub and the light went out.
That was at about 76,000 miles on the ODO.

Rickw wrote:

It doesn't say, but i would assume at that price the bearings are made in China.
Not the most reliable in my opinion. But if your on a budget and understand that they most likely won't last the same amount of miles that an American made one would then it's OK.

Friendly advice: Rick is right about the hubs. I bought & installed a set recently from Carroll Stream - and apparently toasted them cruising at highway speeds on a trip to Toronto and back. Replaced them with Timkens from Rock Auto and have driven similar (highway) speeds with no issues at all. Carroll Stream is being nice about it - I send hubs back they send me refund. And I bet that their customers who don't do as much highway driving as I do are OK with their hubs. They were just not the quality level that I needed I guess. Or like the guy from Carroll Stream said, sounds like I got a bearing made on a Monday or a Friday.

Albertj

Albert,
Where did you get your replacement (Timkens) hubs from.?

Rickw wrote:

Albert,
Where did you get your replacement (Timkens) hubs from.?

RockAuto.com

A few years ago I thought I learned that the least expensive way to maintain a car right was to buy factory parts as inexpensively as I reasonably could and install them myself - unless factory part has a design flaw that NAPA, say, or CarQuest has engineered out then get those (LIM gasket).

Over pst ~year I tried buying parts from other suppliers that seemed like a "good bet" as they became available, for reasons I'm sure you can guess. But you know what? it usually wasn't worth it.

What I found, I think - if the company actually spends money on R&D and claims it in their financial statements chances are the parts are somewhat better.

So ATM I am thinking that parts for me come from:

gmpartsdirect.com - maybe; their shipping calculation is adverse
monsterpartsonline.com - yes, they source well and ship without nicking you too bad
rockauto.com - yes, you can see what you're getting much of the time and you can see the "economy" and OE parts at the same time and make a decent decision
autohausaz.com - sometimes; they specialize in foreign (European) car parts BUT have many parts for my Riv due to the suppliers such as Ate who are OEMs for Audi *and* GM - so the selection is not vast BUT if it is on the supplier's line card I can get it from autohaus.
local NAPA - if I am time crunched. The counterguy knows I don't want the economy parts.
local CarQuest - some of their parts are surprisingly good; this was *not* the case 5 or 6 years ago
local Advantage Auto - they can get some hi spec parts like Bendix rotors, Walker muffler parts, and sometimes are the best deal. Inconvenient for me here though; I talked to a district manager about finding them real estate in the area (reminds me I need to talk to him there are strip mall spots available ATM)
local AutoZone - oil filters and such
local WalMart - synthetic oil, shop towels, tire valve caps (they have chrome ones that look nice with the OE chrome wheels and aluminum ones for the OE silvers)

Albertj