Check out rockauto online. They sell timken bearings. Really good prices on just about all non-dealer parts there are.

just going over this to see what my next project includes... so much for 1 little broke stud... Mazda i curse this design.

my question is, what is this bearing race/inner race

That's what I wanna know. I dreaded this project for a while because of how much of a pain this see to be.

Rotorsport here in Santa Clara just replaced both my rear wheel bearings. They had 158k miles. $130 each. I forget how much the labor was but I don't think it would have been a fun job.

Nice thread, I'll need to do my rear bearings soon too.

Subscribed.

Snapped some quick pictures with my cell phone for you guys to show the inner bearing race stuck on a hub. I didnt have an FD hub on hand but I used a damaged one off of a Ford that I had laying around.

The rear wheel hub is pressed into the wheel bearing's inner race. Imagine that the rear spindle (FSM refers to it as "rear hub support assembly") was invisible and you will see something like this:
http://www.j-auto.net/temp/bearing_race1.jpg

The inside of the bearing is divided into two sections. Each section has it's own race and bearings. Since the wheel hub is pressed into one of these inner races, it pulls it out of the wheel bearing when you press out the wheel hub:
http://www.j-auto.net/temp/bearing_race2.jpg

You need to be careful not to damage the wheel hub's shaft when you remove the inner race. In the picture below, you can see how the wheel bearing is divided into two sections by the outer bearing race. One side of the bearing is still intact while the side facing up is missing the bearings and inner race.
http://www.j-auto.net/temp/bearing_race3.jpg

Here's a shot of a brand new Koyo FD wheel bearing next to a damaged FD wheel bearing. You can see that all of the bearings fell out of this halve when it's race was pulled out by the hub. I placed the inner race on the bearing so you guys can see what it looks like.
http://www.j-auto.net/temp/bearing_race4.jpg

Hope you guys find this helpful. Rear wheel bearings are available from my website www.j-auto.net if you need a reliable source for them :nod:

^^^ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Now I understand this whole race thing..great close up pics. Job doesn't look too bad. Just needs some ingenuity I suppose.

Thanks for the pics.

An easy way to remove the race from the hub is to heat it with a torch. Then the race will most likely fall off. If it does not just slide off then it will require minimal force to get it off.

I ordered the timken wheel bearing and hub assembly. I now realize it looks a little different than juans pictures. Im I missing something here?

This is what I bought.
Wheel Bearing and Hub Assembly TIMKEN 512118 Rear Wheel Bearing and H | eBay

nevermind, Juans pics are ford bearings/hub

The complete hub with bearings and ABS ring for $93?

That's pretty good, as the current price for the rear bearing from Mazda is about $95.

If you have a MazdaMotorsports account, the price for the bearing is $57.

So did anyone just buy the hub front m Timkin and have success with it. I need to do my right rear hub and if I can just buy them already done I will do both side.

Resurrecting this thread, as I will be doing this soon at all 4 corners. I plan on buying new Timken hub assemblies, but I'm not interested in fighting to get just the rear bearings out. It seems that the Timken part number (512118) is the same for both ends. Would someone please confirm? It looks like I'm going to have to torch/press/fight the rears out. Thanks!

I believe its the same part number for both sides. But part number 512118 is for the fronts only (as far as I know).

In the rear you reuse the hub (26-241) and just press it into a new bearing

Attachment 635464

I got my rear bearings from J-auto

I am unaware if Timken makes a rear assembly for our cars. All I know is they do for the fronts.

The rear wheel bearing only comes as a bearing that you have to press. The fronts are the only ones that come as an assembly. There is no easy way out on this one... Other then just taking the knuckle in the a new bearing and having a shop do the dirty work.

Koyo sells the complete front hub. Don't bother trying to save the front hub, it's not worth it. For the rear, you need a press, bearing puller, torch, bench vise, and really strong c-clamp pliers. If you have all that, it's not that bad

I was afraid this was the case. I'll probably bring it to a shop and have them replace the rears. Oh, well. Thanks very much for the replies and even diagrams!
TomU, you said to get Koyo replacement fronts. Any particular reason for those over Timken?? Thanks!

Yes, Timken is the complete front hub assembly and Koyo is the rear bearing.

Had it backwards :blush:

J-Auto sells both

Just a quick addition FWIW...
I didn't take any pictures, but just finished this job. I wasn't able to separate the half-shaft spline from the hub while both were in the car. So I just popped the half-shaft from the differential and took it and the wheel assembly to the bench. There I hung it between my vise and a big anvil with wood padding so I didn't damage the aluminum up-right. After a shot of PB I used an air-chisel with a punch end in the dimple end of the spline. That loosened it right up and it practically fell out. Rest went pretty smooth.