Has anyone inspected, lubricated, or replaced the wheel bearings on an AWD. Are they sealed bearings or taper bearings? Are they serviceable or just replacement? Are they able to be pressed in or is it better to get the entire hub assm? Thanks
They are (I think) conical in the front, and ball in the rear. The bearings/hub assembly are pressed together, and not serviced casually. You can probably push in some fresh grease with your finger or a small brush, maybe replace the inner seal, but that's about it w/o a shop press and some _special_ tools. When I've had to service these, I've always replaced the entire hub with a junkyard part. Email, and I'll see if I can't find the relevant sections of the service manual for you.
ByeBye! S.
Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101
Bearings are designed to be replaceable. Have yet to replace any on my Legacy but have done it a few times on my XT6. I always just remove the entire knuckle and have a machine shop press out the old and in the new bearing. If a wheel bearing needs replaced, all the new grease in the world will not save it so don't worry about repacking them.
Some soobs have had 2 issues with wheel bearings. The new bearings will fail quickly if not installed in precise alignment. And, at one time, there was confusion as to whether the 'grease' in the bearings was just protective and the bearing needs packing before installation or if it was 'pre-lubed' with the proper grease. I would just keep these items in mind and ask questions.
maybe someone with direct experience will respond.
Carl
I have a 95 legacy, and assume it is the same as the 97. I've done the rear wheel bearings on it, and they aren't too bad. You do have to take the knuckle off and have a shop press the bearing out and put a new one in. I suppose buyinh another knucle from a junker might be a cheaper solution since I've bought one of those for 20 bucks, but the bearing a seals are in the 35 buck range, but how do you know how much life is left in those bearings?
I don't know about the front being tapers. something makes me think they are like the rears, but I don't know that for sure.
Bill
I have both 95 and 97 and in both the front bearings are similar to the rear, not separate conical races with rollers like used to be common on cars that don't drive the front wheels. I need to replace a front on the 97 and a rear on the 95, they have been gradually getting worse. Since I do have a press, the hard part will be just getting the knuckles off: I have replaced the drive shafts in the front, and know the bolt that clamps the ball joint wants to break off: Twice I have had to drill out and rethread that hole and put in a new bolt. And once you have the bolt out the ball joint still does not want to come out: In my experience unless it has been out recently, you will almost surely ruin the ball joint (at least its rubber grease seal) in getting the knuckle free. So make sure you can get a new ball joint, and be prepared to fight to get everything apart. That is all just to get the lower end of the knuckle free from the suspension arm. I _think_ the upper end, just unbolting the upper end of the strut from the body, should be easy, but I have not done that on a Suby yet. From what I read the rear will be easier except that it has a reputation for being harder to press out. So whenever I get around to that front I will try to replace everything (drive shaft, strut at least) that would require disconnecting the lower end of the knuckle. Bob Wilson
"weelliott" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@r15g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
On Feb 19, 3:34=A0pm, "Robert L Wilson" wrote: ...
I have attacked the front ball joints two different ways: With a pickle fork, and with a two or three jaw puller(don't remember which puller I used.) The pickle fork destroyed the rubber, and never did get the ball joint off. I had a 5 foot length of pipe on it, and was hanging on the end of the pipe(I was working on it in a pit with that corner jacked up.) So I then went and got the puller, and it came right off with that. It also didn't contact the boot in a manner that I think would have destroyed the boot if it had still been intact. It's also a much more elegant solution.
Bill
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