Look here for help first!
I had replaced a front wheel bearing on my '83 13 years ago using a hydraulic press so was uncertain if I could do it with screw pullers and a large bench vice but it worked fine. From start to finish was about 4 hours including test drive.
You need 2 people to get the front axle bearings on and off (the torque spec. is about twice what the engine puts out and presumably can damage the trans or diff unless your helper squeezes the foot brakes) and it would be helpful to have a partner to help hold drifts when pressing pieces apart or together.
Here are the pictures.
Put on jack stand, pull wheel and pull cotter pin and castellated retainer. With your helper pushing hard on the brake pedal loosen the axle nut. This took about 250 foot pounds for me. Use a breaker bar and a 6 point socket. (The socket is about 1 and 3/16" but I used a 1 and 1/4")
Pull the caliper off (17mm head bolts) and hang it from the spring using a coat hanger. Pull off the brake rotor.
Separate the tie rod end (14mm nut and cotter pin). I did this by prying down on the tie rod end with the breaker bar and whacking the eye that the tie rod taper goes through with a 3lb. hammer. A puller is a better way, because you risk splitting the grease boot with the hammer.
I used a cold chisel and hammer to make match marks on the camber cam. (upper bolt on the strut mount - upper center)
Then remove the lower ball joint bolts (14mm head).
Remove the strut bolts and nuts (17mm heads) and pull the steering knuckle and hub off the car.
I clamped it in the vice and used a large screwdriver to pry out the dust shield and inner seal.
Used good needle nose pliers to pull the snap ring.
Used a large impact socket to drive the hub out of the old bearing. This did not take a large amount of force and I was able to leave the steering knuckle clamped in the vice.
The Koyo bearing has a 2 piece inner race - in other words an inner-inner race and and outer-inner race - in addition to the outer race. This picture shows the hub with the outer-inner race still stuck to it.
I used a small puller to grab the outer-inner race and pull it off. I used a small cold chisel to start the process, but sharper puller jaws would have helped.
Here is the steering knuckle with the brake dust cover removed (3 10mm head bolts). The dust cover is sealed to the knuckle with silicon sealer.
I heated the knuckle with a propane torch and then drove the outer bearing out using a large impact socket and a hammer. This didn't take a lot of wild pounding but did take a lot of smaller hits with the 3lb hammer.
Here is the race when it came out. Because the grease was so clean and the races looked so shiny that the bearing might not be bad. But the outer race of the outer race shows dents around the inner edge of it. They are barely noticeable on either side of the 12 o'clock flare in this picture, but they are real.
The next post will show how the new bearing was installed.
