DIY front hub bearing replacement

[K5dreamer]

Hey all,

just dropped nearly a grand on parts for the truck, general maintanece stuff mostly, including new front rotors and bearings for the front hubs. Im looking at roughly 400-500 bucks for the dealership to swap out these parts for me, and im kinda flinching at this prospect.

im a pretty experienced wrench spinner, but ive never done this job before. Yall think its something an ex corvette tech could handle in his driveway with hand tools? are there any special tools i might not have? any voodoo dances or chants i need to know?

or do yall think i should just cowboy up and pay the dealership to do the work for me and get the warranty on the work, and not go through the headache. ive already got one car in the driveway that i started working on, and my parents might be a bit pissed if i start another one i cant finish. If its something relatively simple that can get done in a saturday, im game, but if its longer than that, or harder than setting up a rear end, i think i might just drop it off and let someone else take care of it.

 

[vortec]

i'll be doing the wheel bearings on my dd 94 c1500 soon. never messed with the hubs of the obs trucks, but i bet it's not that bad. if you can do a rear end, you should be able to handle this stuff, no problem.

 

[runamok151]

i just learned how to do a 10 bolt sat. took apart and rebuilt 2 axles. if i can do it, anyone can. hell it takes me 2 hours just to change spark plugs

 

[k20]

I assume you are talking wheel bearings. If so, you can handle it. Take out the hub dial, then the 2 snap rings, then pull out the hub body. Take out the outer locknut (need a special 6 prong socket for this, you can get it from autozone/pepboys/wherever). Then pull out a washer. Take out the next locknut. And then slide the whole rotor & hub assembly off the spindle.

The outer wheel bearing will fall out the front, flip it over, pull the seal out of the back of the hub, pull out the inner bearing. Knock out the races, drive in new.

Since you say you need new rotors, screw an old lugnut on the ends of the studs to protect the threads and beat them out with a hammer. Then set the hub on the new rotor, and beat the studs back in, dont draw them in with lugnuts though as this can fatigue the studs and cause them to break, just beat them in, you will probably have to use an old extension for this.

Once that is done, grease the new bearings, and re-assemble everything.

You could be done, parts, socket, and all for <100 bucks.

 

[mechted]

I agree with the other guys, you can do it in an afternoon. Only "special tools" required would be the hub socket, snap ring pliers, a seal puller, and a torque wrench (up to 100 ft-lbs) (Note, the definition of "special tools" is loose here)

Now is also the best time to check axle ujoints and balljoints

http://coloradok5.com/8lugconversion.shtml
That article kinda shows you some of what you will encounter (ignore the stuff about replacing spindles/backing plates) but you can pretty much as k20 said

 

[thatK30guy]

DIY. Very easy to do. Much like riding a bike...once you learn, you never forget. Plus it gets easier and quicker with each time you do it.

 

[K5dreamer]

thanks all, i thought i could handle it, but having never opened up one of these things, i didnt know if i would be faced with something like... i dunno, an automatic transmission or something with all kinda check springs and balls that have to go in just the right place and whatnot. But if its as easy as yall say, i think ill give it a go this weekend weather permitting.

 

[MattK]

A bearing packer is another nice tool to have. Greases a bit more thoroughly in a lot less time. It makes things slightly cleaner too.

 

[sandawgk5]

I did mine on my 60 in about 2 hours for both sides.

They are cake you can do it.

Ira