Wheel bearing hub replacement

[theax40]

Alright so besides all of this, just need to pick up the socket and some axle grease. Anything is particular or just regular ol' axel grease in a little tub? Loc-tite and some ani-seize also?

[Archon]

All of the Bonnevilles that I have done used the 34mm socket. My son's Grand Prix needed the 36mm.

The slide hammer can be quite useful in removing the hub from the knuckle, if it is frozen in there. It will not help remove the axle from the hub. A hammer can be used safely, as long as you are careful not to mess up the threads on the axle.

You may find it helpful to put a large screwdriver into the vanes of the rotor, so that when turned, it rests up against the caliper bracket. This will put less strain on the CV joints, and can help to take away the bounce you will get while trying to remove the nut without it.

Clean the knuckle to remove any corrosion, before putting in the new hub. You may want to put some anti-seize on the axle splines, as well as around the hole in the knuckle to make things easier to remove, should it become necessary.

[theax40]

Alright, thanks for all the info guys. I feel pretty confident in doing this myself and doing it right. I'll let you all know how it goes.

[crash93ssei]

When do you plan to do this? I am heading back to Michigan tomorrow and believe you aren't that far out of the way, I may be able to swing in and lend a hand if you like. I have done many of these.

*edit*

I also have a 34mm 1/2" drive socket with me if you need it.

[theax40]

Ryan, that would have been awesome, and I really appreciate the offer but I just got done with it. I had to do it as soon as I could, the noise it was making was getting bad.

Took a little longer than I expected, broke a cheap ratchet trying to loosen the axel nut, the three bolts holding the assembly on to the knuckle put up a fight, had to run to the parts store mid-project to rent the hub puller and had to take the new assembly back off because we forgot to reinstall the bracket that holds the WWS harness in place. Whoopsy daisy! But it is fixed, noise is gone and ABS/Trac lights are gone.


One thing, though, is on the test drive I immediately felt the car now pulling to the right where it wasn't before the project. Any ideas why the alignment would get thrown off? Could it have been that way before but the bad hub on the left side somehow off-set the right hand pull? I'm not too worried about it, I'll take a whisper quiet ride with a slight misalignment. For now at least.

[crash93ssei]

First thought would be to double check and make sure everything got tightened back up good, and double check the bolts that hold the hub assembly in.

[theax40]

All bolts and nuts were torqued to proper specs. One thing I forgot to mention.



Part number 31, front stability shaft, isn't connected to the control arm. The bushing is attached to the control arm but not to the shaft. I don't know about the right side.

[crash93ssei]

That's the sway bar, it won't have any effect on alignment, just body roll.

[theax40]

Any chance I did something wrong and it isn't safe? There's no vibrations or wobble, no noise of any kind. Just a slight pull that wasn't there before.

[vogie01]

Any chance I did something wrong and it isn't safe? There's no vibrations or wobble, no noise of any kind. Just a slight pull that wasn't there before.

Crazy. I would have an alignment check done so you don't burn off your tires. The shop will let you know if something is wrong with it. Did you use any anti-seize when you when you were putting it back together? It will make the job much easier the next time around. I would buy a nice sized amount of it if you plan on doing any work yourself again.

[theax40]

Yea I put anti seize on the surface that the hub mates to the knuckle and on the axel splines.

Just drove to Erie, PA and back with no problems. I'm not sure if the pull to the right is still there so it seems everything is ok. Should get the alignment checked along with getting the sway bar endlink bolted back to the control arm. Any chance that the bolt could have just came loose and fell out? Or did someone forget about it?

[theax40]

Wait I forgot there was one problem. Speeding ticket. 79mph in a 65 zone, on the highway, going downhill trying to pass someone/get ahead of a pack of about 8 cars all next to each other. State Trooper wasn't a jerk like they usually are, but he coulda let me go with a warning. I've never gotten a ticket before. *dang*.

[imidazol97]

Any chance that the bolt could have just came loose and fell out? Or did someone forget about it?

I've replaced the stabilizer links on my 98 last year and on my 03 just this year. The OEM is a plastic tube with odd nuts on each end. Moisture and salt are trapped inside and the bolt through the middle corrodes away.

I'd give the odds that your bolt just came unscrewed at 0.000001%.

You'll need vice-grips to hold the pieces of the OEM link to get the broken parts off. It's easier with the wheel off. I did the 98 with tires on. I got Autozone replacements for about $8 each.

[00Beast]

New ones are like $20 for the pair. Just replace them. It will really firm the car up, too.

[Mark Fahey]

The last one of mine that went bad was corroded so badly to the steering knuckle that I though I was going to have to replace the entire assembly. I finally gave up and took it in to a real mechanic and even he had an awful time getting things apart. Be sure to use never seize when you put everything back together.
BTW, my socket was and is definitely a 34mm.

[fritcr]

I got and interesting one...did both my axles on my 2000 Saturday and one side was 34mm and the other side was....wait for it....36mm. Must have something to do with the brand maybe. How weird is that. Sure is smooth and quiet no wobbles now.

[00Beast]

Likely someone replaced the bearings and the nuts, and the replacement nut was a different size.

[theax40]

Smooth and quiet is an understatement. My car sounded like it had monster truck tires on it. So loud.