toddk042

iTrader: (1)

I'm pretty sure I need at least one wheel bearing, passenger front, both on the rear are questionable, and the driver's front seems ok. Should I just replace them all? I need to replace a warped brake disk so I was thinking of just doing them all. All the bearing bits are a touch over $200 at Atkins. Is that the best place to buy?

Here is a video I did checking them all:
I'm a noob on wheel bearings, and most everything else.

Thanks,
todd

ray green

iTrader: (14)

I just replaced all four front wheel bearing on my 83, they are not hard to do.

And they're not very expensive if you get them from rockauto or other suppliers,

It is a good idea to do all front and/or rear at the same time; you should always to both inner and outer at the same time.

Here's a link to the rockauto page:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...l+bearing,1672

I've never done the ones in the rear but as I understand it this would be a lot more work, so be sure you need them first.

GSLSEforme

Assuming car has a fair amount of miles on it. 1st thing you should do is drive the car and listen for localized humming/growling and try to best determine the corner of car it’s coming from.
On a road with no traffic @35-40 mph swerve back and forth smoothly. You are trying to load suspension and wheel bearings. If the noise you hear gets louder when you turn to the right,left front wheel bearings need looking at same for opposite side. Turning left,right side bearings will be loaded.

The noises you hear when spinning the wheel in front are brake pads dragging on rotor,somewhat normal sound.
The knocking when applying leverage to tire/wheel is indicative of loose wheel bearings not necessarily bad bearings.

If the age/condition of wheel bearings is unknown,you should replace them-all.
If planning to replace a warped rotor,plan on replacing both along with front brake pads.

Without disassembling car,you won’t know what is actually needed,but you can source the parts needed to renew bearings/brakes and have them on hand so the car is apart for a minimal amount of time and you’re doing the job once done thoroughly.

Parts list:
2-inner wheel bearings ​​​​​​
2-outer wheel bearings
2-grease seals for inner bearing in back side of rotor
2-brake rotors
1-set front brake pads
Tub of good synthetic wheel bearing grease,you will need to pack new wheel bearings with grease.
As noted,Rockauto.com is a good place to shop for best selection/prices delivered to your door.

A note about parts quality...if you’re fixing car to flip/sell quality of parts not as important as when keeping the car- if keeping car,buy best quality parts you can.
There’s not a whole lot of price difference between cheap and quality parts so get best quality you can,helps guarantee you’re doing job once.

Look at color of brake fluid in master cylinder reservoir. If it’s dark,change brake fluid,it should be clear.

Regarding rear axle bearings,the clunking you heard pulling on wheel/tire doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad. This job is more involved than wheel bearing/rotor/brake work on front of car.
To replace axle bearings you need to disassemble rear brakes,disconnect brake line on wheel cylinder and unbolt backing plate from axle housing and remove axle.
You will need to take axles with new bearings to a machine shop or auto shop to have them press off the old and press on the new bearings.

I recommend you 1st test drive car to determine if rear axle bearings are bad.
Humming/whining/grinding are symptoms of axle bearing noises. You can load axle bearings same way as you did to listen to front wheel bearings. If you hear one that’s noisy,plan on doing both as both bearings likely same age.
If you can’t detect any noise coming from back of car,axle bearings may be ok.
Jack up and support car with jack stands and slide under and put eyes on backing plates on each end of axle(behind wheels) and look for oil seepage/leakage on bottom 1/2 of backing plate/wheel. If evident,this is indicative of a failed axle seal and a sloppy axle bearing could be the culprit. If no leaks and no noises on test drive,I would leave axle bearings alone for now. A slight amount of in/out play on wheel is normal.

To replace seal,axle has to come out so replacing bearings so good practice to replace bearings while apart considering amount of work involved to get to axle seals.

Since you know you want to replace at least one rotor,do all the work to front of car and re road test car to see if you can better hear remaining noise from back of car.
Sonetimes a loud bearing will mask noises from less loud bearings that are also needing attention,until you service the worst offender you may not be able to pick out a lesser bearing noise elsewhere.

Hooe this gives you sone direction on how to proceed.
I can give a rundown on tools needed to complete repairs if you’d like.

toddk042

iTrader: (1)

Thanks.
I do have a grinding sound when coasting, that's what prompted me to check the wheels. I'm deaf in one ear so pinning down which area its coming from is hard. Will have a regular hearing person ride along.
there was a definite click on the passenger front. So, I'll do the fronts first along with the brakes. (Brake fluids ok I bled that last year replacing the rears)

there's 82k on them, afaik. PO doesn't recall replacing any of them.

There are a couple good write ups here, and some YouTube videos on replacing the front and back bearing, so, not technically difficult, just involved.

Thx again, Todd
Thanks again

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

the bearings are supposed to be repacked every 30,000 miles, but they rarely are. 82k is not a lot of miles for the bearings, but it is either way overdue, or almost due for its normal servicing

http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/19...uled_maint.pdf

GSLSE's advice is good, especially if you do not have a full history of the car

toddk042

iTrader: (1)

GSLSE mentioned noise masking the sounds, I just replaced the muffler, connecting pipe and heat exchanger because the exhaust was really loud and leaking. Now i can hear bearing.
Will start with the fronts and then re-evaluate.

GSLSEforme

That’s what the radio is for...turn it up,no more noise

7aull

iTrader: (2)

LOL!!!!!!


Stu A
80GS (with original front bearings! yeeks!)
​​​​​​​AZ

midnight mechanic

rear bearing replacement, you need an axle puller. You can borrow one from an auto parts store, basically you buy it, then return it for the price you paid.

and you should find a place before you start your project that will press the bearings on. Most places that do it will be like, "damn!! this dude knows how to work on his car, amazing!".

front bearings won't need to be pressed on, nor an axle puller, but getting the tightness right is tricky. Just pound them out the backside with a punch or screw driver.

The job isn't impossibly complex/hard, there's just a lot of stupid **** you have to remove and install.

toddk042

iTrader: (1)

There's a rotary specialists in town, phalanx performance, that I already talked to about pressing the bearings.

Good tip on having enough space to pull the axle out. I normally park close to the wall (small garage).

7aull

iTrader: (2)

Todd, do yourself a fav and deal with front vs rear bearings as 2 separate issues. The fronts need service, so go ahead. Totally home-doable. As others will tell you, the only real challenge is getting the nut-tension correct on the bearing on re-assembly.

Rears: evaluate after and see if there even is a problem. I had my SA's rear bearings - on just the one noisy side - done by a mechanic shop, who had the tools and expertise (RX solid axles are pretty standard affairs). I DID supply them with the OE bearings and seals tho! They have the tools and expertise. It was worth the $220 to have it done right and quickly.

'Luck either way. These are great, analogue cars to work on ourselves!

Stu A
80GS
AZ

Dirtfool

A tip that might help on installing the front bearings: save the old bearing races after you pull them. They become handy tools to help drive in and seat the new bearings.

Ckforker

You need to replace the bearing races in the front, you can borrow that tool from the auto parts place too! Never ever re-use those.

Setting pre-load is a bit tricky, but there's plenty of videos out there.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

I used sockets driven by a block of wood and hammer to seat my front races, worked great.

To set preload tighten the nut down until you can't turn the rotor by hand, then back off to the first alignment hole.

Put the wheel on temporarily, see if it spins easily with no detectable play.

If necessary loosen another notch if too tight, tighten up one notch if there's play.

And like Stu says, don't mess with those rear bearings unless you absolutely have to.

And then have someone else do it. Or else just turn up the radio like Mike recommends.

LongDuck

Also, rear axle bearings don't get loaded from turning like the fronts have to sustain. I did mine at 225k miles mostly because I thought they probably needed to be done, and I was rebuilding the rear suspension anyway. Point being, don't waste time looking at the rear until you diagnose and fix the front; that's most likely where your problem will be.