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bearing replacement


Mobieus_uk
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managed to replace the bearings on the passenger side, compared to the drivers side its actually went pretty smoothly, the problem I'm facing with the drivers side is I've got the centre of the hub removed, that came out really easy with 2 whacks of the hammer, track rod end bolt has siezed halfway while removing but thats easily replaced, lower ball joint need replacing, another easy job my main problem is i cannot for love or money get the circlip out that holds the bearings in might try soaking it overnight that might help

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Yeah soaking it overnight will help.

its prob rusted in place. You need to try to break it free from the rust. Maybe put it in a vice and try tapping the circlip round with a punch.

a garage would prob hit it with an air hammer to get it moving and free from its rusty grave ?

Edited by wehey
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trust me, its been hit with a hammer, lol, passengers side popped straight out but the hub took about 2hours while I found the best technique, this side hub came straight out and the circlip is now the problem, the whole knuckle is off the car now so can hit it with some heat as heat always shifts stuff

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What are you using on the circlip, big circlip pliers or prying it with flat blade screwdrivers (or some other method)?

Soak it and stick the knuckle in a vice if you have one and get a punch or blunt chisel in one of the holes and tap it in towards the centre (right angles to the groove) to get it moving, then do the other hole. if it aint moving then heat and soak (flames :D) then do it some more.

the ends will bend in and you can get a big flat blade screwdriver in there and work your way around, circlip should be resusable if you dont bend it about too much and reshape the ends back to normal. Or get a new one obviously.

If your circlip pliers arent man enough for big circlips get some old mole grips and weld some short metal bar on the ends of the jaws the same size as you circlip holes and use that.

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that pretty much the technique i used on the first 1, there is no movement in this circlip at all, bits are breaking off before it moves, unfortunatly its leaving the main part of the circlip into the groove, its a pain as the holes have already broke off , will be easier to track down another knuckle and rebuild that as i cant believe that these can sieze in solid like that and this is a one off

tried heat, gonna try a overnight soak in some white spirit as I've got a load of that

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If there's enough of the clip showing, you could drill some small holes or indents in it to let your chisel / punch get some traction. Maybe use the puller or whatever you have to crush the circlip into the bearing a bit and see if that frees it up as it sounds like the bearing is pinching it in the groove.

Edited by Sausage
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managed to do it, the guy i ordered the new hub from sent a powered steering rack by mistake so needed to give it another go just incase the other part never turns up, after heating the hub up with a blowlamp i managed to tease the old clip out, amazing what desperation does, removing the old bearing pretty much finished of the ebay bearing removal tool, stripped all the thread on the long bolt, it finally failed with the new bearing half seated so finished of with a hammer, had to use the spacers from the kit so it still had a use, cut off the old bottom ball joint and the track rod end and now everything is ready once those bits turn up.

 a tip of the hat to the circlip that gave a brave fight and very nearly won

 

Clip.jpg

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Heat always helps, unless your parts are flammable or plastic, but still heat nearly always helps.

What puller was it that stripped? I got a set off ebay a few weeks ago which i havent used and wonder if it's the same one. :unsure:

If it's just the large long bolt or nut you can just find another with same thread pref harder grade steel though.

 

Edited by Sausage
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was off ebay for about £35, they seem to be all the same type of kits, to be honest I wasn't expecting much out of it, they are really only suitable in my eyes for setting the new bearing as less effort is needed, I used mine to remove the old siezed bearings which put much more stress on the threads, if i was to do the job again i would use another method to remove the old bearings, even if its written off still cheaper than replacing the whole assembly, I've asked the seller for a partial refund as the spacers are still very handy and if i bought a hydraulic press they can be used with that

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262347012598?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Edited by Mobieus_uk
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I had the same problem. I ended up putting a couple of thin slits in the edge of the casting with an angle grinder then managed to knock the circlip out in 8 (yes eight!) pieces...


Is there a lupo out there that hasn't had its front bearings changed?????!

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4 hours ago, mk2 said:

I had the same problem. I ended up putting a couple of thin slits in the edge of the casting with an angle grinder then managed to knock the circlip out in 8 (yes eight!) pieces...


Is there a lupo out there that hasn't had its front bearings changed?????!

neither my Lupo nor two arosa have had their bearing changed... and one is on 109K

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24 minutes ago, mk2 said:

How long have you owned them? I think the usual is around 70k... They are such tiny wheel bearings. I think only a twingo is smaller by just 1mm!

ooh the open air, about 2 months, 49K, the first silver arosa is 4 years now, 50K, and the second silver arosa is 2.5 years, 109K. they are milages on the clock not how many miles ive done in them.

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Maybe i'm just unlucky. But then thinking about it, my mk2s have also had all their bearings changed. Perhaps it's the rubbish roads around here. Always wet, muddy, potholes and floods (yeah, I'm just on the edge of Reading).

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  • 11 months later...

just removed my two front bearings using ebay kit. Wouldn't budge at 1st despite heat and liberal soaking i was thinking my tool would strip too.

Went on interwebs and found video of tool in use and noticed he was using the 62mm bush not the snugger 65mm like i was.

Magic then happened:

 

DSCN4969.JPG

there's a step there, so i think the 65mm bush was hooking up on it despite being nearly the same size as the bearing. 

DSCN4971.JPG

DSCN4972.JPG

Circlips are a b4stard, you need to wack them down, soak them and heat them, then pry a bit at a time, 2nd one had rusted eye. 

DSCN4973.JPG

Edited by Sausage
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  • 2 years later...

Blast from the past but did you have to redo the tracking after replacing the bearing? I have a horrific noise from 50mph upwards and if I steer slightly right, it goes away. I originally thought It was the left side but I’ve just jacked it up and the left side has slight play at 9 and 3 but nothing at 12 and 6 which then made me check the right side and that had play at all 4 points. Worth replacing both the fronts whilst I’m at it? 

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Both at the same time - you will have all the tools out and the second side will be a lot quicker.

If you get the removal tool you could possibly do it on the car and reduce disturbance of alignment - but I would still get i checked, but this could be done at a convenient time

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I cheat. To get circlips out that are properly stuck, I end up cutting them into 3 or 4 pieces with an angle grinder. A couple of thin cuts in through the casting, through the circlip always works. Once in 3 pieces, you simply chisel the pieces out in seconds. No weakness after cutting as it's just thin 1mm cuts right on the edge, not where the strength is needed. :)

 

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On 7/22/2020 at 9:59 AM, mk2 said:

I cheat. To get circlips out that are properly stuck, I end up cutting them into 3 or 4 pieces with an angle grinder. A couple of thin cuts in through the casting, through the circlip always works. Once in 3 pieces, you simply chisel the pieces out in seconds. No weakness after cutting as it's just thin 1mm cuts right on the edge, not where the strength is needed. :)

 

I've had to do a few more than you  because the circlip was rusted solid so decided to just replace the whole assembly and put a new bearing in that too. The hardest part was probably getting the balljoints back on. The ebay bearing puller tool worked amazing, I was very impressed. Is there meant to be a circlip on the back too? I didn't have one or see a groove for one though and just wondered why they sent two in the box. I would also recommend changing the tie rods at the same time as doing this. With the bearing puller, I would recommend having two breaker bars. A ratchet and spanner won't be upto the job unless you have superhuman strength or you're very lucky and the bearing just slides out.

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