Replacement of Front Wheel Bearing in the 9000
The front wheel bearing in a 9000 is a sealed unit. There is no allowance for repacking it or replacing just the bearing. The unit comes with the hub and housing for the bearing. There is no press work to be done, simple unbolting and installing the whole unit.
Parts needed
Tools Needed
Supplies Needed
Related Repairs While in the Area
Safely raise and secure the car and remove the front wheel. Break the torque on the lug nuts before raising the car. You need to also break loose the 32 mm axle nut. These should be very tight, but it is common for them to loosen, especially when the bearing fails. We are of a suspicion that a loose nut accelerates the bearings failure, but finding loose ones leads to the old chicken or the egg debate. You will probably find it helpful to have someone step on the brake pedal while you loosen the axle nut, same thing for when you are ready to tighten the new one.
Remove the brake caliper, using the flat screwdriver to wedge between the pad and the rotor to retract the brake piston just a bit to ease removing the caliper. The caliper is removed by removing the two 17 or 19 mm bolts securing its mount to the knuckle. You can remove the slide pins and clean and relube them first if you haven't done that in a while. Since there are three different possibilities for caliper type and characteristics of their slide pins, you will have to decide which you have and then the procedure for lubing them. Calipers that have plastic covers over the slide pins use a 7 mm Allen for slide pins. These are removed for cleaning simply by unscrewing the 7 mm Allen. On cars with 13 mm Bolts on the outside of the caliper and 15 mm hexes on the actual slide pin the 13 mm goes into, you hold the 15 mm with a wrench and turn the 13 mm out. Then remove the caliper and pull the 15 mm part out of the caliper mount and clean and lube it. Make sure the boots on the slide are not torn, repair or replace them if they are. A wire brush or a kitchen pot scrubber work well to clean up the slides. If a bore for the slide is dirty/rusty, use a small round wire brush to clean it up. Be sure and secure the caliper, both to protect its flexible line and to protect you. I had a caliper that was “secured” to a spring and as I worked, the caliper fell and hit me square in the top of the head. When I came to, seated on the floor, the blood was running down my face. So make sure this doesn’t happen to you.
Now remove the 10 mm stud and the #40 Torx holding the rotor on. Smacking the Torx with a hammer first will tend to loosen them for removal. There have been ones that required being beaten out with a hammer and chisel, just use a corner of the chisel and angle it so it will be turning the screw toward the left when you hit it. A few smacks like this and most give up and come out. Note on the back of the rotor, where it would touch the hub when mounted that the hub has one hole in it. That hole will have left a brake dust mark on the back of the rotor, When you reinstall, make sure that mark lines back up with the hole. This will make the other holes line up and be as close to the same as it was as you can get it.
You may want to remove the tie rod end from the knuckle. it makes the job a bit easier if you do. Loosen the 17 mm on the end of the tie rod, but leave it on the end of it to protect the threads. Smack the meat of the knuckle, not the tie rod end, around the tie rod’s attachment point with a big hammer and when you hit it hard enough, the tie rod will come out of the knuckle. If it tries to turn as you tighten the nut when you reinstall it, put pressure on it to push the taper into the knuckle and turn the nut.
If equipped with ABS, remove the wheel speed sensor so it doesn't get damaged. Remove the 10 mm on its top and twist the sensor out if it is stuck. I clean the bore that the sensor fits into with a small round wire brush, the out side of the sensor with a pot scrubber and apply a lube to the sensor body so it won't stick or corrode again. Clean off the end of it with brake cleaner. Do the same for the teeth on the cv joint that trigger the sensor. Secure it out of the way. Do not tamper with the smaller bolt on the sensor, this adjusts the gap at the teeth and you do not want to disturb it there.
Now you can go at it one of two ways, You can remove the two 17 bolts at the top of the knuckle, going through the strut and separate the strut and knuckle there. Or you can remove the three 13 mm bolts and nuts at the bottom of the control arm at the ball joint. I find it easier to remove the 17s, but to each his own.
You may need a brass drift to tap the cv joint free of the hub if it is real tight or rusted. Be careful not to damage the threads of the cv where the axle nut has to go. Beating directly on the CV’s end will mushroom it and make putting the nut back on impossible unless the cv is filed down and rethreaded on its end, something definitely to be avoided. Pull the cv free enough to gain access to the four 8 mm Allen bolts holding the hub assembly to the knuckle. Remove them and the hub should come out. It could be rusted to the knuckle and need a little persuasion to come out. The backing plate usually fall off too, so make sure you note its orientation before this happens and don't forget to put it on when you reassemble.
Clean the knuckle and backing plate with the wire brush. now would be a good time to do other repairs in the area, including repacking the inner driver. All that is left holding the driveshaft is the rubber inner boot, loosen its clamp and slide the boot off the driver and slip the shaft out. Check the condition of all the boots while you are there, now’s the time to change questionable boots, instead of two months from now when that cracked one has silently let go and the first notice you have are the outer cv joint in its death throes.
Reassembly is basically the reverse of disassembly. Clean any rust between parts that will be reassembled. A coat of anti seize compound never hurt. Put the hub back in the knuckle and don't forget the backing plate. If the hub doesn’t come with new Allen bolts, use a drop of blue LocTite on their threads. Start them all before tightening any to the final torque of 40 ft/lbs. Reinstall the drive shaft if removed and insert the cv in the hub, making sure the splines line up. A little lube on the spines of the cv make it easier now and the next time. Then reattach the spindle in whatever way you took it off. If you do the upper bolts, push the knuckle back into the strut, start the bottom bole through and then push the top of the knuckle in to start the top bolt. If you remove the three 13 mm bolts and nuts from below, you might have to pry the lower control arm down and move the bottom of the ball joint a bit to get the center bolt for the ball joint started in the holes.
Drops of LocTite on all these bolts is cheap insurance. Torque the strut bolts to 65 ft/lbs. Torque the ball joint bolts and nuts to 25 ft/lbs, or good and hand tight.
Put the rotor back on and tighten the Torx and the 10 mm equally. Reinstall the caliper and its mount and the pads. Turn the rotor by hand and make sure the backing plate isn't touching it anywhere. Bend the plate to straighten it to end the contact. Clean any grease or fingerprints off the rotor and pads with brake clean.
Torque the axle nut to 200 ft/lbs and the lug nuts to 80 ft/lbs. Remember when you pull away for the first time to pump the brake pedal until it extends the piston you collapsed and the pedal again feels normal.