I'm trying to replace the front bearings and races on my car as I don't know how old the old ones are. I have all the new stuff but cannot seem to get out the old races. I've tried tapping lightly with a screwdriver and hammer. Nothing. Then I tapped harder, still nothing. Before I break out the BFH, do you guys have any tips on this? Do I need to take them to a machine shop and have the old ones pressed out and new ones pressed in?

BTW, the reason I'm replacing the races is they are somewhat discolored and one side has a few scratches. Better safe than sorry.

TIA

 

i always vote the bfh. i did my struts and couldn't get the cartridge out. took it to a shop and the guy pulled out a little o-ring that wrapped around the outside edge. moral of the story is look for small stupid things like that. see if it will twist or something. maybe rotate it to break it loose and then work it out or maybe there is some sort of twist lock. i was going to do this but it got fed up with th caliper bracket's lower bolt. how in the hell do you get that off?

 

Impact wrench my friend... That's how mine came off.


I looked at replacing these when I did my suspension a couple weeks back... I even bought the stuff like you did, but it looks like they need to be pressed out and pressed back in. Since the stuff I had looked alright, I just repacked and replaced.

I'll put the new ones in when I get new rotors with the rest of my braking stuff here in a couple months....

If someone knows a better way, please share!

 

I'm sure you could press in/out if you have the equipment, and that would be the easiest, but it can definately be done by hand!

Be sure to have a *steel or brass punch*, as a plastic-handle screwdriver isn't going to transmit enough of the force to where you need it. I like to use my steel punch (be careful, you can damage the races with this!), and a 3-pound sledgehammer. It doesn't take that much force most of the time. Just be careful, go slow, keep everything clean, and use a little engine oil if you have trouble getting the new one in.

I also use a high-temp synthetic grease now, since I cooked the dino grease and ruined my current set of bearings. Also, learn from my mistakes, buy the factory bearings the first time! The parts store brand doesn't save you any money when they only last 7k! Good luck!

Armen

 

I know what you're talking about. I posted on this about two months ago. Search for the thread "removing front brakes on GSL" or something. Better yet, here's the link (I have some time).

Mr Project - I took no chances. I'm using Mazda bearings all around. This way, the only thing that gets broken is my wallet. Hehe.



And now, back to the garage.

 

i was able to hammer mine out. it was a total pain in the ***, though. the hard part was getting the new ones reseated. no matter how hard i tried, it never would sit right, and caused a ton o' vibration. i ended up taking it to a mechanic to finish the job. and even then, i had to take it back 3 more times before it was done proper.

 

Well, got the old ones out and the new ones in. Installed all the new bearings, threw the rotors back on, put on my freshly painted calipers (which I painted between frustrations), and put on the wheels, just to see what I can expect in about a month. I now have a rolling condition RX-7. It was very nice to push it out into the sun today while I messed around with the wiring.

Thanks for all the help with this guys, couldn't have done it without the support.