D.I.Y FRONT BEARING CHANGE

[joey Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close joey]

Well my front right wheel bearing died so i thought i would change it out and take some pics as i went along....

this is a serious job and can only be done with the right equiptment.

here is the new bearing assembly it cost $330...from toyota...



heres a diagram i got to follow not much to go on but we will have a crack


first i removed the wheel and took of the cap to access the hub nut..


next i removed the split pin and then the nut.


then remove brake calliper and disc.



then i needed a 5 tonne hydrolic press to remove the bearing assembly and hub...



this is the old bearing and that pile of black crud is whats left of the insides of bearing case.



i then had to take it to a engineering mob in Cairns to seperate the bearing from the hub and replace the seal and repress it..cost $54

this is the new one


then back together





mind you at this stage is discovered i forgot the inner black guard thing so pulled it all off and redid it...


...i didnt take a pic with the wheel on as my phone went flat...and sorry a bout the image quality...


cheers joey

[damonat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close damonat]

Re: D.I.Y FRONT BEARING CHANGE

good job.
we used to remove the whole thing and do on bench and in press.
(sorry i didn't get back to you/chat)

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: D.I.Y FRONT BEARING CHANGE

mind you at this stage is discovered i forgot the inner black guard thing so pulled it all off and redid it...

Don't ya hate that.... left over bits just when you thought you had finished :roll:

Good work... nothing like doing it DIY

Mick

[clifton Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close clifton]

Re: D.I.Y FRONT BEARING CHANGE

Hi Joey,
Well done mate, a good DIY job.

[madaprak Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close madaprak]

Re: D.I.Y FRONT BEARING CHANGE

Hi Joey,
Was the puller the only specialized bit of kit you need? (aside from the trip to the machine shop)
I think I may have the same problem. Do you know of anything else in the front end that could be making that sqeaky bearing noise? I first noticed it after a day in 4wd also the week before i noticed that I'd been driving around town w/ locked hubs for maybe as much as three weeks ops: Any ideas? Thanks for the post and any info.
Adam
2002 95 series prado 3l 2.8 diesel (bullet-proof slug)
Gibraltar

[Offroader Member Find all posts View Profile Close Offroader]

After being inspired by Joey's DIY on the bearings, I thought I'd give the job a go because I was hearing a grinding/rumbling sound from the front end when turning right at speed. Turns out my front left bearing was going bad so I did both bearings at the same time to save having to do the job again. I've added in a bit of extra commentary on the job, but once again thanks to Joey for the thread and inspiration to tackle this job.

1. This job can be a relatively straight forward DIY job IF you buy the whole bearing a hub assembly complete. Because I didn't have access to a hydraulic shop press to press out the old bearings and install new ones I found a shop in the USA which sells the complete bearing and hub assembly so you don't have to fiddle around to find someone to press them together.

A mob called Blue Pit Bearings (link included for those who are interested in doing it this way)
http://bluepitbearings.com/faq.html sell the complete unit which fits the Prado. The site has a really useful DIY youtube video on how to do the job by a Toyota certified technician. The bearings are OEM Toyota NSK or KOYO sourced in Japan and are not el cheapo knock offs. I found the owner of the business "Andy" really helpful. Going off Joey's price to buy the bearings here from Toyota as well as the cost of paying someone to press them in, I reckon I was able to do the job for about $20 less delivered to my door.

2. Basic Tools you'll need:
- 36mm socket for removing the hub nut.
- Impact gun optional but sure makes job a whole lot easier.
- Cotter pins
- 17mm Crows foot if you want to torque the assembly to the steering knuckle to spec. A normal socket won't fit. Spec is 80Nm
- Torque wrench capable of up to 235Nm

3. Problem 1

These dust caps can be a real pain to remove, especially on older cars. Be liberal with the WD-40 and use a tiny flat blade screw driver to slowly pry it from its seat. Gradually use a larger and larger screwdriver to get it to come free. Removal and reassembly of this stupid cap took more time than the actual hub installation! Toyota says it is a non reusable part but I wasn't going to shell out more money when I could resuse it again, so take your time and don't belt it.



4. I didn't need a puller to remove the old hub and bearing, it just wiggles out of the housing. In the video it says you can just use a chisel and hammer to pry between it and the backing plate if it won't come out. You will need a crows foot and extension to torque these 4 bolts back up to spec when your done.



5. Old hubs beginning to corode. When I installed the new ones I smeared a small amount of high temp wheel bearing grease inside to prevent this happening in the future.



6. You can do each side in about 45mins depending on the tools you have etc.

Hope this helps some others out with the job and once again thanks for the inspirational thread.

[Foxo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Foxo]

G'day Offroader,

Thanks for your post, I've saved it along with Joey's.
What hub did you order to suit the Prado out of the 4 Runner,Tacoma and Lexus GX470?

Cheers,
Foxo.

[Offroader Member Find all posts View Profile Close Offroader]

G'day Offroader,

Thanks for your post, I've saved it along with Joey's.
What hub did you order to suit the Prado out of the 4 Runner,Tacoma and Lexus GX470?

Cheers,
Foxo.

Lexus GX 470 is very similar to the Aussie Prado and shares the majority of it's components. This is the one I ordered anyway. They have the ABS sensor built into the bearing as well so you won't mess up the ABS unit.

[mackayvx Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mackayvx]

Can anyone confirm the size of the Hub Nut?
An above post says 36mm, but a few other searches say 35.

Also, If you know the tourqe for the hub nut could you please share that as well?

Cheers guys. Drew

[Dueler120 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dueler120]

Very helpful post. Thanks for the write up.

Cheers,

[Rusty62 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rusty62]

How long (km ) should the front bearing last ?

[OldGreyFart Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close OldGreyFart]

Interesting re price. I see that the first post stated that in 2009 costs was $330 fro Toyota. I just rung them because I have one needing reeplcement and was told $331. Only $1 more.

[Kman Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Kman]

Just ordered both front bearings from allied bearings in Cairns a lot cheaper then Toyo for quality bearing. Now does anybody know a good place to get the hubs just in case mine are warn and can't get the old bearings off?
Great write up too. If I had the time I might have bought the ones from the States.

[snewby Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close snewby]

I just had to have the front bearings done. The front drivers side got a bit noisy and I could feel a bit of movement when jacked up.
Actually had both done at the same time, even though the LHS was still OK. $790 the lot. (just bearings,not Toyota, and reused the hub)
only 140K on the clock! Hope these ones last longer.

[Doug32 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Doug32]

What a great thread. I learn't a lot here even though I have changed a number of bearings on non 4x4 vehicles.