Rear wheel bearing replacement project

[alia176]

Hey guys,

Talk about a subject that's been beaten to death! I uploaded some pics of the bearings that came out of my wife's '95 Legacy wagon. For those of you wanting to see what the area looks like with the bearings completely out of the car. The lateral link bushings have to be removed in order to swing the entire assembly out. This is done to remove the axle out of the hub assmebly. Unfortunately in my case, the bushings and the lateral link bolt became one! The trusty sawsall was used to cut everything off but I tried everything at my disposal to separate the bushings to no avail. I should upload some pics of the bushings and the bolt I think.

The process should be identical to the SVX bearing replacement. The inboard (toward the middle of the car) bearing fell apart in my hand and was the cause of the noise. There're two grease seals in that area and I imagine dirt/water/crap ingress over the years was the cause of the demise.

Also, what you guys think of the new bearings that's apart? Amount of grease ok?

Ali

ps The Hubtamer tool was indeed a great asset for this PITA job.

[svx_commuter]

Hi Ali

Those picture are very nice. Do you have any of the Hub Tamer in action?

I did not know that much of the rear hub assembly had to come apart to use the hub tamer. What is left holding the hub to the car?

Take care

John

[alia176]

John,

I wanted to take pics of the hubtamer in action but I changed my mind due to greasy hands and stuff. I'm going to take everything out again in a few days so I'll ask my wife to take some pics. It really will help people visualize the whole process. This time I'm hoping to utilize the replacement tool part coming to me from OTC.

The strut is holding the knuckle assembly on the car and it swings out/in/side/side pretty freely. The main issue here is that the axle needs to be out of the knuckle assembly completely. The hubtamer tool or any other tool for that matter will need access "through the hole" to slide things in/out of the wheel bearing housing. Sometime the impact tool is under the car, while other times it's being used from outside of the car (from the hub end).

After writing this response, I realize that I'll have to take some pics for people to understand.

It's extremely helpful in jacking the car as high as safely possible. I used two jack stands to support the right rear of the wagon. This is also a great time to drain/fill rear diff fluid! I used a piece of wood (3"x3"x1/2") inside of the floor jack cradle before placing the jack under the car. The wood protects the jacking point of both cars (legacy, svx) from deformation.

Hope this helps.

Ali

[alia176]

John,

I added some more pics of the Hubtamer tool in action doing: removing/installing the hub. Hopefully the pics will give you a better understanding of what's involved here. I've also added a couple of pics of the bushings being pressed in.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Ali