Weighing wheel bearings vs wheel hub with bearings
The question is, do they sell the front wheel hubs with bearings installed or are they always sold separate?
I've searched and haven't been able to find wheel hubs with bearings for my 87 NA FC. Are there other generic ones that work with my car? I need to replace my wheel bearing as I can wobble the wheel with my hands and at high speeds, the steering becomes unpredictable. The bearings arent expensive but I don't have the proper tools to do it myself. My train of thought is, if they sell wheel hubs with bearings already, that would be an easy fix for me, but it like to weigh the cost difference of buying the bearings and tools to do it, vs buying wheel hubs with bearings, vs taking it to a shop to have a professional do it. thanks for your time |
Originally Posted by Romthirty
(Post 12324571)
The question is, do they sell the front wheel hubs with bearings installed or are they always sold separate?
I've searched and haven't been able to find wheel hubs with bearings for my 87 NA FC. Are there other generic ones that work with my car? I need to replace my wheel bearing as I can wobble the wheel with my hands and at high speeds, the steering becomes unpredictable. The bearings arent expensive but I don't have the proper tools to do it myself. My train of thought is, if they sell wheel hubs with bearings already, that would be an easy fix for me, but it like to weigh the cost difference of buying the bearings and tools to do it, vs buying wheel hubs with bearings, vs taking it to a shop to have a professional do it. thanks for your time You can also buy the individual bearings from a number of sources. |
Mazda only sold the bearings with the hub. in the aftermarket, you can buy just the bearings.
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As the others stated, you can purchase an entire new hub from Mazda ($$$), or you can just purchase new bearings & seals on the aftermarket ($). Catch is you'll need to modify your existing hubs to do the later. This FAQ on the Mazdatrix site explains the process rather well:
https://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/frontbrg.htm |
If you don't want to grind notches in the old bearing races, as cited in Pete's post, find yourself a good machinist. Have him weld a small bead around the inside of the old bearing race, not touching the hub. Once it cools, the race will slide right out.
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Thanks to all the replies. Yes I'm aware that I'd have to modify the hub to get the bearings out which really worries me. I'm sure its 100% fine to do as people have done it for years, but I hate to modify parts of the car that can potentially affect the integrity of the part.
Thanks for the link to the 5 hub. Boy that's expensive, but also, my s4 is the 4 lug version unfortunately and I don't see that version online. Even if they had it, I would assume a similar price. That would mean over a grand for the pair. I guess buying the bearings and any tools needed would still be cheaper. I guess my next train of thought is, is the price of buying the equipment to replace the bearings plus my mid to low level of mechanic savviness out weigh just paying a machanic to do it? I've seen online estimates for the work to be from $400 to $700 for the job on an estimate but no idea is those are accurate. Has anybody got them replaced at a shop, and what was the cost? |
I can't comment much on the cost for a shop to do it for you, but having DIY'ed this job, it took me maybe 2 hours of labor to modify the hubs & install my new bearings in them. And that was a 1st time doing it, so there was a learning curve. All in all, it was a pretty easy job, and my investment in tools was minimal. The AL hub material is pretty soft, and cuts easily - a Dremel tool or any decent electric rotary grinder tool will work just fine if you don't have an air grinder. So in my case, I used a Dremel tool, and I just had to buy a few good grinder bits as suggested in the Mazdatrix FAQ.
BTW, if you're worried about hacking up your hubs, you might want to consider buying a pair of used hubs to work with. That way you can do a practice run, and if goes well, just swap them in for your existing hubs. Used 4-lug hubs are usually available for cheap on the forum's classifieds cause everyone wants the 5 lug hubs. |
I did mine myself, with the exception of having the guy use the welds to shrink the bearing races. It kept us from having to cut anything though. I froze my new bearing races and heated the hubs and the new races set in nicely. It seems scarier than it actually is.
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Originally Posted by Pete_89T2
(Post 12324665)
I can't comment much on the cost for a shop to do it for you, but having DIY'ed this job, it took me maybe 2 hours of labor to modify the hubs & install my new bearings in them. And that was a 1st time doing it, so there was a learning curve. All in all, it was a pretty easy job, and my investment in tools was minimal. The AL hub material is pretty soft, and cuts easily - a Dremel tool or any decent electric rotary grinder tool will work just fine if you don't have an air grinder. So in my case, I used a Dremel tool, and I just had to buy a few good grinder bits as suggested in the Mazdatrix FAQ.
BTW, if you're worried about hacking up your hubs, you might want to consider buying a pair of used hubs to work with. That way you can do a practice run, and if goes well, just swap them in for your existing hubs. Used 4-lug hubs are usually available for cheap on the forum's classifieds cause everyone wants the 5 lug hubs. I'd still love to get some prices that people have paid to get this done from a shop in the past if possible, just so I have something to compare it to if I go to my local shops to get a quote. |
Originally Posted by professionalpyroman
(Post 12324645)
If you don't want to grind notches in the old bearing races, as cited in Pete's post, find yourself a good machinist. Have him weld a small bead around the inside of the old bearing race, not touching the hub. Once it cools, the race will slide right out.
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Originally Posted by Romthirty
(Post 12324671)
Where can I find some literature on this process? I'm having a hard time understanding how this works. Does adding a bead of weld shrink the part somehow? I'd like to learn more about this process. It sounds like I would just be doing damage to the old part and not the new, which sounds ideal.
Having done both options two and three, I highly recommend option 3. None of my races "fell out" after they had cooled, as they do for some, but they did tap out with relative ease using a hammer and punch on the bead. Then you just clean the inside of the hub, and put in the new races. I tapped mine in gently with a dead blow hammer (cover the surface with a cloth so you don't damage it) until they were flush with the surface of the hub. After that, I carefully tapped them in with a punch and hammer. Place the punch on the top flat part of the race, not the surface that contacts the bearing. Make sure not to scratch the surface of the race, and to tap as gently as possible while still achieving results. Tap in an opposing pattern at different points around the race, like tightening wheel lugs, so it goes in evenly. Alternatively, they can be pressed in. Call some local shops and see what they would charge you to press in a few wheel bearing races. I don't think it would be all that expensive. Good luck :) |
AVE put out a good video on how this type of thing works
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Originally Posted by professionalpyroman
(Post 12324678)
AVE put out a good video on how this type of thing works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELKrdAKCiNQ |
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