replaced my left wheel bearing - pics and details
 

I was changing my front rotors in prep for an upcoming track event and noticed the left front wheel hub toggled a bit and made a rough sound when i turned it by hand, the right side was tight and made no sound when turned so i decided to replace it....here are pics and details if you ever need to do it.

Parts you need:

-new bearing assembly - part number GA5S-26-15XA
(this part includes the hub, bearing, wheel studs, and abs ring all in one... also i think it is the same for either side in the front, but I'm not positive)

-new hub locking nut - part number LA01-33-042B

Tools you may need:

- impact wrench to remove old hub nut (my feeble 250ft\lbs air impact wrench took it off with no problem)

- massively huge torque wrench for the 131-173 ft/lbs tightening requirement (see pic of manual below)....I set it to 150 ft/lbs, figured it was a good in-between number

- massively huge socket for wheel nut (I got a 36mm and it fit well, but had a little jiggle room so a smaller one may fit, but my local homedepot jumped from 30mm to 36mm)

Here are the old and new next to each other, the old one was obviously toasted.
http://www.myrx7.com/images/left_bearing1.jpg

Close up of old (and toasted) bearing.
http://www.myrx7.com/images/left_bearing2.jpg

Close up of new (and ohh so pretty) bearing.
http://www.myrx7.com/images/left_bearing3.jpg

Shot of new hub/bearing assembly on the car. It looked so good I was tempted to change em all just for the 'new' look, then i remembered that you cant see them with the wheels on (heheheh).
http://www.myrx7.com/images/left_bearing4.jpg

Pic from manual showing the tq setting for the nut and that you need to 'stake' the nut.
http://www.myrx7.com/images/left_bearing5.jpg

No toggle now, tight as can be :D

...by the way, I got my part from MAZDASPEED Motorsports ( http://www.mazdamotorsports.com )for about $80

really? the whole assembly for $80?

yeah, pretty cheap....i didnt believe it until Fabian (previous owner of my track car) confirmed it..... and sure enough the part came all as one, wheel studs pressed in, abs ring pressed on, new bearing pressed in hub, all good to go.

..on a side note, you may need a hammer to 'pursued' the old hub to come off the axle, i beat it with a rubber mallet but it was not doing much, then took a normal metal hammer to it (not to hard) and it popped it loose.

what kind of sway bar do you have in the front??

steve

This is pretty common for a track car.

Fast wheel bearing wear that is.

BTW, afaik I know you don't need a new hub assembly. Just press the bearing out.

...dunno if you can order the bearing alone though, looked like on the side that faces away from the car, the actual ball bearings were rolling on the inside of the hub?

That is an awsome price for the whole front hub.!!!! Saves hundreds! FWIW: You can replace just the wheel bearings. The process is a bit time consuming but is worth it to save the cost.( It can be found on the Mazdatrix website under the FAQ section)

The biggest thing that stops one from replacing the bearings is that there is no "lip" for you to get the removal tool(punch) onto. The process on the site tells you how to grind a notch in the bearing race so that you can get the punch on the bearing in a few different places and remove the race.


That was until this price came along.. Plus yours are nice and shiny!!.Are there restrictions to purchasing from them?

>>Are there restrictions to purchasing from them?

you have to be a member, and the req for that is showing them auto cross or track reciepts proving you track your car.

good info on the bearing replacement, ... although for all that mess ill just get the entire setup and slap it on :-)

Yeah I would to espeacially for that price!! That's what i was expecting to hear from ol'Ray @ Malloy. But my price which is usually awsome was somewhere around 350 bucks!!. Hence why I looked for an alternative.

As for the Auto-x or track proof .....It's hard to get to a track for me out here. I have to ship to Oahu from my island And then back here. About 1 month all round. Hopefully this year I will get more serious and just ship it and deal with the expense...Got to pay to play right?

>>But my price which is usually awsome was somewhere around 350 bucks!!

holy S#$%#$%#!!!

Good info and I want your wheels. Where do you live in Missesota? Do you have wheel locks or an alarm on your car? :P

Ha, unless you've got the press in your own garage, it's cheaper and quicker to replace it like Damian did. I wish I had that option for my other car.

hahhah, :-)

its the track car so its nice and safe in my garage all the time :-) .... and yes i do have wheel locks (hehehhe)

don't worry I took care of this one for you ;)

hahahah :-)

Mazdaformance has them for $87.26, GA5S-26-15XA. Not a bad alternative if you are not a Mazdaspeed Motorsport member. They are under RX-7 Brake parts on their website, www.mazdaformance.com.

Roughy, how many street and track miles where on the bearings before you toasted them? I've always wondered how long they last under track use.
Edit: Did you notice any differance in pad knocks back?

dunno, i just purchased the car over the winter :-)
the car has 50+ miles on it total, dunno how many track miles, but definetly a few track seasons.

good find cymrex

Nice write up Damian.