Romthirty

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

Hot_Dog

Yes, new 5 lug front hubs are still available for your FC but they're not cheap. Here's a link to Atkin's Rotary: https://www.atkinsrotary.com/store/8...5-49-060E.html You might be able to find them for a little cheaper by googling the part number. The new hubs come with inner, outer bearings and seal and are ready to install.

You can also buy the individual bearings from a number of sources.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

Mazda only sold the bearings with the hub. in the aftermarket, you can buy just the bearings.

Pete_89T2

iTrader: (4)

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

professionalpyroman

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.

Romthirty

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?

Pete_89T2

iTrader: (4)

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.

professionalpyroman

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.

Romthirty

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I considered just swapping to 5 lug at this point, but that's an additional cost I'm not ready to do right now as I'd need some new 5 lug wheels and tires. I feel better about the grinding after reading your comment, thanks for that. I don't have access to a press but I've seen videos of people using a tool that seems to me made to pull and push bearings in so I'll be looking into that tool. I wonder if that's something places rent out... In my mind, it just seems like a tool that I'll literally never use again and would rather put that money toward a shop to do it properly for me (assuming the costs are comparable). I'm going out of town so I won't be able to focus on this till next month, but thank you all for the information. I will be looking into buying the bearings and doing it myself.

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.

Romthirty

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.

WondrousBread

The hub is made out of aluminum, but the bearing races are made of steel. When the hub is separated (and the grease has been cleaned out) from the spindle and the bearings removed, the next step is to take the races out. However, they are press fit in and as mentioned above there is no space to place a punch and knock them out. One option is to grind a notch as mentioned above to remove the races. A second (more difficult) is to grind an angled notch in the bearing race without touching the hub itself and use a screwdriver or punch to tap it out from the other side. The third is to weld a bead around the inside of the steel race, which will shrink inwards as the metal cools. This has the effect of reducing the outside circumference of the race slightly, allowing you to pop out the race from the hub. If it is stubborn, you can always use the new bead as a place to put the punch and tap out the race.

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

professionalpyroman

AVE put out a good video on how this type of thing works

Romthirty

This is a good video. Thanks for sharing. Seems very easy with a welder. I'll try to get my hands on a friends welder to do that method. I guess I wouldnt mind grinding down some of the hub if it doesn't affect the integrity of the part. I just didn't want to weaken the aluminum to where it could crack under load, but doesn't seem like that's an issue. Thanks again for all the info. Rx7 community rocks as always.