Changing rear wheel bearings Guide

Phillc

Love is....Yellow
Apr 23, 2007
4,170
20
Pershore, worcestershire
Well after putting up with the rumbling drone from my rear wheel bearings i decided to change them. After looking are and for some hints i found very little so thought i would do a guide. I apologize for some blurry photo's.

Here is a picture of all the tools i used.

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First things first safety, Chock the front wheels.

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Jack the car up, i still had the hand brake on so could undo the wheel nuts with it in the air, i span the wheel around and i could hear the baring it was a bit like a metallic whirring noise.

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Remove the wheel and undo the hub nut, i used my breaker bar with a large piece of pipe to help. The nut is 30mm

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You need to remove the hand brake cable first, it is held in place by the clip below, just
prise it of then slip the cable out of the bracket and slide it through the hole.

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Then you need to remove the caliper and the carrier, the end bolts are 13mm and the inner nut is 15mm, the carrier is a hex but i don't know the size (Its not huge but not small) Then remove the disc by using the screw.

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Now it starts to get a bit more unpredictable, i used a ball joint splitter to knock the hub off, i just slotted it behind the hub resting on the ABS ring and tapped it with my little 4lb lump hammer, most of it came straight of but the rear ball race stuck on. I then removed the whole stub axle which is held on with four 16mm bolts, i could then put it in the vice and tap the rest of the bearing off, it took me about 10 mins to do it but it could have been worse you can never tell.

Next DONT get carried away and put the new bearing on the stub axle because you will find as i did you cant bolt it back on the car.

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Now bolt the stub axle back on the car.

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And slip the new bearing on to it, then using the old hub nut do up the bearing so it sits up to the back of the hub do it tight but not FT then undo it and put the new one on which you will need to do up really FT i don't know the torque setting for these but as you cant crush the bearings FT is about right.

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Now its a reversal of the stripping process first put the disc back on.

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Rest carried on after picture break....
 
Last edited:

Phillc

Love is....Yellow
Apr 23, 2007
4,170
20
Pershore, worcestershire
Then the carrier and caliper, i was surprised how much more worn the rear pad was compared to the front one but then i expect its because the piston is pushing in it.

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Then re do the hand brake cable and put the wheel back on, i span it round and it was nice and quiet, job done well nearly i have got to do the other side tomorrow.

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Phillc

Love is....Yellow
Apr 23, 2007
4,170
20
Pershore, worcestershire
Cheers Lads, i got the trolley jack from Amazon, i can get under the rear ok but still need to drive onto an old piece of kitchen work top to get under it.

Cheers Tim.
 

ko_racer

Newbie
Jun 5, 2006
26
0
I know this is pretty old thread, but something to look at before changing the rear bearings.

The most common cause of rear end rumble on the mk4 golf platform (Leon, Golf, TT etc) is uneven wear on the rear tyres. Feel the inner edge of the tyres and it will feel a bit like a 50p coin. This is a very common issue on most modern FWD cars.

This is sometimes called castellation wear (due to the shape of the wear). It's mainly caused by the rear camber and type of tyres, but can also be down to worn dampers or worn rear arm bushes.
 

J@mes

e46psi.com ;-)
Jun 14, 2004
2,842
0
.
Removing old bearing?

Just found this thread, need to replace my rear bearings and I'm thinking about doing it myself but I am concerned that I may get stuck (no pun intended) when it comes to removing the old bearings! Can they just be hammered off the stub axle, and then it's a case of slipping the new ones on? I dont have any pullers, a vice or a press, so unless it can be removed with a hammer lol then I may just leave it for the pros.
 

DorsetChap

Active Member
Jun 3, 2016
43
2
Dorset
I did mine a few months ago. Good excuse to buy more tools! I bought a 3 legged puller, a higher range torque wrench, and a Seeley Mini-bearing puller kit that was just man enough to cope. I followed this guide:
pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Volkswagen_Golf_GTI_Mk_IV/97-SUSPEN-Rear_Wheel_Hub_and_Bearing_Replacement/97-SUSPEN-Rear_Wheel_Hub_and_Bearing_Replacement.htm
Beware of their step 7 (i.e. don't do it). When I pulled on the small lip it shattered sending shrapnel flying out. One bit embedded itself in the fence a few feet away! I then put the bearing puller in the tiny gap behind the race and tightened it until it wedged itself well into the gap and then started pulling which then worked well for me. Took me 1.5 hours to do the 1st one including setting out tools and finding decent jacking points. The other side took 15 minutes! As an aside there are some other useful guides on the Pelican site.