This article will discuss the tools, and procedures necessary to replace wheel bearings on a coil sprung Land Rover (1991 Range Rover but other models are similar).
Tools
- Wheel Chocks
- Jack
- Axle Stand
- Lugwrench or 1 1/16" socket
- Ratchet 3/8" or 1/2"
- Breaker Bar
- 17mm socket
- 16mm socket
- Hub Nut tool
- circlip pliers (snap ring pliers)
- Cold chisel or blunt large flathead screwdriver
- Small hammer
Parts
- Timken bearings Set 37 x2
- Hub oil seal RTC-3511
- Folding Lock Washer FTC-3179
Other
- Drip pan
- Bearing grease
- Hylomar
Procedure
Preparation:
- Place car on flat, level surface, apply parking brake, and place transfer case in low.
- Chock wheels
- Brake loose lugnuts on desired wheel with lugwrench or 1 1/16" socket
- Jack vehicle to raise desired tire off the ground and place axle stand under axle.
- Remove Wheel using lugwrench or 1 1/16" socket and set aside
- Remove rubber dustcap and expose circlip and shims.
- Remove circlip and shims and place aside.
- Remove 4 of the five 17mm axle flange nuts.
- Remove the two 16mm nuts holding on brake caliper.
- Lift Caliper off brake rotor and tie off to something secure so as not to bend the brake lines.
- Remove the final axle flange nut.
- Place drip pan under axle flange to catch dripping oil.
- Remove axle flange and set aside.
- Unbend the Folding lock washer from the first hub nut using a cold chisel.
- Using the hub nut tool, unscrew the first hub nut and place aside.
- Remove folding lock washer (do not flatten!).
- Remove remaining hub nut.
- Remove washer/distance piece. If you cannot grab it pull outward on hub assembly and it will come out with the bearing.
- Remove hub assemble from axle stub and place on ground with back side facing up.
- Pry off old hub seal and remove bearing.
- Examine the axle spindle at this point. It should be smooth and shiny. If there is light scoring, you should clean it up with a scotch-brite pad or very fine grit sandpaper. If you cannot get it to a smooth surface, it should be replaced. Be certain to clean the surface thoroughly and apply some EP or bearing grease to its surface when doing the reassembly.
At this point if you are simply repacking the bearings you should skip ahead to the re-assembly section. Otherwise continue on.
Machine work:
At this point if you have a press, you will need to press out the old bearing races and press in the new ones. If you don't have a press, this will need to be done at a machine shop. The whole thing takes about 10 minutes and costs $8-20. I've never paid more than $12 when I was in a hurry. With new bearing races pressed in, re-assembly can begin.
Re-Assembly
- Bearing need to be packed with quailty bearing grease or EP grease. I use Mobil 1 synthetic because it doesn't STINK like the normal stuff and it is VERY slippery. The object is to get grease into all the nooks and crannys of the bearings. If you are using a bearing packer, follow those directions, or you can do it by hand. For the procedure, click here.
- Drop the first completed bearing into the back of the hub making sure it is seated fully in the race.
- Apply a small amount of grease to the sides of the hub where the new hub seal will go and also apply a coat to the outside surface of the hub seal. If you are using the normal seal then you will need to install it so that it sits flush with the hub. If using the superior RTC-3511 seal, you will need ot make cetain that you recess it into the hub about 3mm. Once complete, clean your hands THOROGHLY and then clean the back side of the brake rotor.
- Istall the hub onto the axle stub making certain to push it on fully so that the hub seal presses right against the back of the axle stub.
- At this point you need to pack the other bearing and insert it (small side first) into the hub. Follow this with the distance piece and then put the hub nut on finger tight.
- At this point, if you have a dial guage, you need to adjust your hub nut/ bearings according to the procedures given in the manual. I will not rehash the procedure here. For those without a dial guage the following method will work and it's how I have always done my bearings.
- Using the hub nut tool, Tighten the hub nut as much as possible. Spin the hub assemble back an forth a few times. Tighten the hub nut some more. Repeat this until the hub assemble will not spin more than half a turn without physical assistance. Loosen the hub nut one half turn. Grab the hub assemble by the thick part near the bolts for the wheel and shake the assembly with good force. There should be no play at all. Continue to loosen the hub nut until the shaking produces just a bit of play. Then tighten the hub nut a quarter turn at a time until all play is gone. The bearings are now properly adjusted. The hub assembly should spin freely. If not, start over.
- Install the locking washer over the inside hub nut. If you did the last step correctly, it should fit almost perfectly. If not, you may have to turn the hub nut just a bit to make it fit. Tighter is better than looser here. As the bearings settle in, tolerances will slip. if you are using a new lock washer, you will have to trust yourself or use the old one to test your accuracy and then fit the new one.
- Install the second hub nut finger tight and then bend the lock washer over it to keep it from spinning loose. At this point you may want to recheck to see if there is any play in the hub assembly and to make sure that it still spins freely.
- Making sure the face of the hub assembly is clean and dry, smear some Hylomar on it. You are only looking for a VERY thin coating here. At this point you can install the paper flange washer or not (I never do). Make sure the axle flange suface is clean, and install the flange. You may need to do a little turning to make certain the bolts line up. One thing to be careful of here is that when you install the axle flange over the axle, you make SURE that you leave as much of the end of the axle exposed as possible. This will allow you to install the shims and circlip more easily later.
- At this point, replace the brake caliper. You may need to press the pistons on the caliper back a bit to fit it over the brake rotor. Once that is secured, you can replace the shims and fit the circlip. Be certain the circlip fits into the groove. You may need to use the cold chisel to tap it into place. When installing the axle flange bolts, its recommended to use some blue loctite on the bolts. I don't but you may want to.
- Refit the wheel and tire, jack up the axle and remove the axle stand, and then put the truck back down. Finish tightening the lugs to the recommended 80 ft lbs. Remove the wheel chocks and take a test drive. There should be no rattling, and there should be no drips of oil onto the inside or outside of the wheel.
