ETCG goes gorilla on a wheel bearing

[camrydriver111]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvUzMwisLXU

Did anybody watch the video? What is he doing!? That was painful to watch.

If I made a bad video where I lose my cool I would not release it. Must have some sort of contractual obligation with Advance Auto Parts.

He has a cult following and people are applauding a job well done, but I would not want my car to be fixed this way.

Is this how guys normally get wheel bearings out?

 

[Ga129]

I see what the problem is....He's working on a Ford.

 

[turtlevette]

Do whatever it takes to get the old bearing out. I agree that scores or cuts into the hub are not a big deal

But he pressed the bearing in by placing thrust on the inner race which will damage the bearing. All he needed was a driver just a tiny bit smaller than the outer race.

 

[Ethan1]

ETCG is the man

 

[MrHorspwer]

Originally Posted By: camrydriver111

Did anybody watch the video? What is he doing!? That was painful to watch.


It looks like he is have a fair bit of trouble removing a wheel bearing cartridge.

Originally Posted By: camrydriver111

If I made a bad video where I lose my cool I would not release it.


Where did he lose his cool? If you think he lost his cool in the video... maybe stay away from most shops. I've seen way worse from guys spilling their morning coffee.

Sometimes you lose your cool. That's part of wrenching, especially professionally. Some vehicles just like to fight you.

Originally Posted By: camrydriver111

Is this how guys normally get wheel bearings out?


You haven't replaced many cartridge bearings have you? They're not like unit bearings. You actually need tools, not a really big hammer, to remove them. Toss in a decades worth of salty northern winters and they can be a challenge.

Personally, I would have been calling around for a new or salvage knuckle when the hydraulic press wouldn't budge it. In a perfect world, the threaded hub press kit he used first would press it out. A floor press is my last resort before I start looking at simply replacing.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Well, now I really have to watch this. I saw it pop up in my list of YouTube subscriptions a few days ago, but never sat around to watch the 45 minute video. Sounds interesting.

 

[stephen9666]

I didn't see where he "lost his cool." But I also only clicked through the video. I'm not spending 45 minutes watching it.

Where did he lose his cool?

 

[hansj3]

Mantra in my shop is get mad and get even(with the part). Although we do it quietly, a well placed sideways glance will net you an invitation to " why the [censored] don't you do this [censored] then"

 

[BigD1]

Considering all that rust, and a bearing that was roaring and over heated, he did good I think. By the time his labor was figured in, it might have been easier and cheaper to just source a used one from the salvage yard.

 

[mclasser]

With fused on rusted to [censored] bearings, you got to use brute force or those suckers are never coming out. He's a former flat rate tech so they don't have all day to gently and gingerly removed rusted parts.

 

[ram_man]

I've done this exact thing once on a Ford Explorer oddly enough. Welcome to the shop world! Needless to say I was more volugar than he was by far. He was very well mannered. He did the job very well a lot more care was given than what a lot of techs would have done.

 

[92saturnsl2]

I too, fail to see where the guy lost his cool.

I've put rather large dents in my own fenders (throwing tools, kicking car, etc.) over spark plug wires not wanting to come off. That's losing your cool.

Granted, I had a lot less patience when I was in my late teens. I can usually get through something as complicated as a head gasket change nowadays without beating the car up

 

[KrisZ]

He did nothing out of ordinary. When you wrench on old, rusty cars you have to start thinking outside of the normal tool box to get the job done. Otherwise you're buying some expensive parts.
Unfortunately, the TV is full of shows where everything is squeaky clean and the mechanics are caressing the parts as if they were women and everything comes out super easy. The real world is quite different, nobody is going to caress the rusted in wheel bearing in hopes that it's going to come out.

 

[spasm3]

I came close to this doing wheel bearings on a saturn. When they make a lot of noise, they are going to be hard to get out.

Do think its easier to press in the new bearings if you put them in the freezer at the bottom overnight. I know for production a shop can't do that, but it seems to make it easier.

 

[BigD1]

Done some reading on that video, and I think the best way to do it is to drive out the inner race and bearings, and then weld the outer race. Some say it will fall right out after it cools down. Never done this type of repair, and I don't have the tools to do it either, but that sounds a lot easier than doing all that pressing and torch cutting.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Welding, cutting, I consider both a desperate measure. Not everyone getting into a wheel bearing job has a welder (or cutting torch) laying beside them. I think you're making that task sound much simpler than it is.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: 92saturnsl2
Welding, cutting, I consider both a desperate measure. Not everyone getting into a wheel bearing job has a welder (or cutting torch) laying beside them. I think you're making that task sound much simpler than it is.


I feel lucky i got it done with a 12 ton press, he failed with a 20!

 

[92saturnsl2]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
I feel lucky i got it done with a 12 ton press, he failed with a 20!


Haha, I bet the explorer bearing is a lot larger than a Saturn's! My Saturn I had years ago left me stranded in Mesquite, NV (700 miles away) because of a failed wheel bearing.

Nowadays I prefer the single hub/bearing units on smaller cars that you can change without a press. That episode in my Saturn cost me 4 days (waiting on parts, thanksgiving weekend) and $300 at an independent mechanic.

When the wheel bearing on my '09 Dodge Caliber SRT/4 went bad, the whole hub assembly (with bearing) cost $50 with free 2-day Amazon Prime shipping and I replaced it in my driveway.

No cutting torch or welder required.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: 92saturnsl2
Originally Posted By: spasm3
I feel lucky i got it done with a 12 ton press, he failed with a 20!


Haha, I bet the explorer bearing is a lot larger than a Saturn's! My Saturn I had years ago left me stranded in Mesquite, NV (700 miles away) because of a failed wheel bearing.

Nowadays I prefer the single hub/bearing units on smaller cars that you can change without a press. That episode in my Saturn cost me 4 days (waiting on parts, thanksgiving weekend) and $300 at an independent mechanic.

When the wheel bearing on my '09 Dodge Caliber SRT/4 went bad, the whole hub assembly (with bearing) cost $50 with free 2-day Amazon Prime shipping and I replaced it in my driveway.

No cutting torch or welder required.


Much easier, i just changed the front drivers bearing on the ciera, took all of 30 minutes tire off to tire on. And no press or torch!

 

[hansj3]

Unit bearings can suck too, I've replaced a newer one and I know how they are supposed to come out, but up here in the rust belt the alloy hub corrodes to the alloy knuckle...

However I'd rather take one like that then a press in.

The welt the race trick works way better than you'd like to believe it would