Afternoon, Bobbers...
Last weekend I snuck home, sans plates, a 98 Saturn SW2 I got for $325. I test drove it in the sellers driveway but once I owned it and got over 5 MPH I realized it had horrible, awful front wheel bearings.
No problemo.
I hit up car-part.com and find a pair of spindle/knuckle/hub/bearing assemblies at a yard I've used before. $35. Call the guy. He only has one side and it's $45. I ask him why the website reads $35 and he said the car was under 3 feet of snow.
Fair enough. I hang up.
Hit up advance auto for a pair of chinese bearings. Guy has one store brand and one decent one "with the same number", but also chinese.
Blow my front end apart, don't nick any boots or ball joint stud threads. This was my last gasp of good luck.
Pound out the spindle with an impact socket to fit down its hole. For those unfamiliar with these cars, the lug studdy- part has internal splines that meet the axle and a smooth outside. This gets pounded outwards.
A circlip holds in the bearing which presses out inwards. I use the excuse to buy a 12 ton shop press from Harbor Freight. But I have to go to two stores to find one in stock. The press works splendidly, a Ford 4wd hub socket (2.25 inches) is a perfect arbor.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Here's where the story goes downhill.
The spindle came out with an old bearing race tightly attached. Ball bearings dribble out on my floor. I cut off the race but nick the spindle.
Press in a new bearing, then press in the spindle. It goes in straight but I should have been supporting the other side of the inner part of the bearing, was not, and it explodes and cocks sideways.
Worse, guts from the brand new bearing are stuck to the spindle. Grind them off, nick things some more.
I have another bearing meant for the other side, stick that in. Support it. Things go great.
Go to put it all back on my car, the CV splines jam. Turns out the socket I used at step 1 was too small and galled the splines. I've ruined the 2nd bearing, because I surely can't get it back out of my knuckle without half of it separating.
tl;dr I ordered another pair of bearings plus new spindles from rockauto. And they're the same price as advance's basic bearings. And I can just chuck the old hubs, a source of concern, as I don't know how much "nicking" is structural.
However my new press is pretty sweet.
PS for the neophyte doing a press-in bearing, get a junkyard spindle, or take yours to a machine shop. Or just be born, not me.
Last weekend I snuck home, sans plates, a 98 Saturn SW2 I got for $325. I test drove it in the sellers driveway but once I owned it and got over 5 MPH I realized it had horrible, awful front wheel bearings.
No problemo.
I hit up car-part.com and find a pair of spindle/knuckle/hub/bearing assemblies at a yard I've used before. $35. Call the guy. He only has one side and it's $45. I ask him why the website reads $35 and he said the car was under 3 feet of snow.
Fair enough. I hang up.
Hit up advance auto for a pair of chinese bearings. Guy has one store brand and one decent one "with the same number", but also chinese.
Blow my front end apart, don't nick any boots or ball joint stud threads. This was my last gasp of good luck.
Pound out the spindle with an impact socket to fit down its hole. For those unfamiliar with these cars, the lug studdy- part has internal splines that meet the axle and a smooth outside. This gets pounded outwards.
A circlip holds in the bearing which presses out inwards. I use the excuse to buy a 12 ton shop press from Harbor Freight. But I have to go to two stores to find one in stock. The press works splendidly, a Ford 4wd hub socket (2.25 inches) is a perfect arbor.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Here's where the story goes downhill.
The spindle came out with an old bearing race tightly attached. Ball bearings dribble out on my floor. I cut off the race but nick the spindle.
Press in a new bearing, then press in the spindle. It goes in straight but I should have been supporting the other side of the inner part of the bearing, was not, and it explodes and cocks sideways.
Worse, guts from the brand new bearing are stuck to the spindle. Grind them off, nick things some more.
I have another bearing meant for the other side, stick that in. Support it. Things go great.
Go to put it all back on my car, the CV splines jam. Turns out the socket I used at step 1 was too small and galled the splines. I've ruined the 2nd bearing, because I surely can't get it back out of my knuckle without half of it separating.
tl;dr I ordered another pair of bearings plus new spindles from rockauto. And they're the same price as advance's basic bearings. And I can just chuck the old hubs, a source of concern, as I don't know how much "nicking" is structural.
However my new press is pretty sweet.
PS for the neophyte doing a press-in bearing, get a junkyard spindle, or take yours to a machine shop. Or just be born, not me.
