REAR WHEEL BEARINGS

[blackrose]

Hi, could any body help, i need to get two wheel bearings for a diesel maestro
are they a specific make so i can ring city seals and bearings or do i have to take them down. And also are they easy to get off. :beer:

[E_T_V]

You'll need to get the code numbers off of the originals to give to the bearing supplier. (or get someone on here to look at a kit they've got in teh loft/garage) Indeed it may be cheaper and easier to get them from a motorfactor as the bearing kit will contain everything you need, (2 bearings, oil seal and split pin). Also rear wheel bearings don't often go until you get to mega milage? Why are you replacing them? Are they noisy or do they have too much play in them (which you can probably tighten out)?

[MG MAL]

You're local motor factor should be able to get them for you.

Just tell them the year and model of you're maestro and thats it.

Fortunatley rears are not as expensive as the fronts.

HTH
Mal.

[blackrose]

Hi, its a 93 L 2.0 turbo D. I am getting a hum from the rear i have packed with grease and tightened. For what they cost i will replace them. cheers.

[E_T_V]

Yes it is a simple enough job, just remember one of the hub nuts has a left hand thread.

[blackrose]

Hi, does the hub not just pull off when you undo the centre nut. sorry to bother you again cheers.

[E_T_V]

Yes it should just pull off. Remember to leave the handbrake off of course and some gentle tapping of the drum with a soft faced hammer also can help. If you still get stuck then there is a way to release the self adjusters on the shoes to move them further away from the drum (so allowing you to get it off easier) but I can't remember at the moment, I think it is in the haynes manual though.

[Jack]

It's quite an easy job this one. I got it down to 40 minutes from car being on the floor to back on the floor again. That may seem a long time to you professional mechanics but I'm just self taught.

The reason I say "I got it down to.." was because I changed the bearings about 4 times when I did mine. The reason was that I thought the rumbling noise was coming from one side when it came from the other. I changed the worng side, removed it and took the bearing back as defective. They replaced it and it still made the noise when I put that one on. I then swapped it back and then change the other side - job done. It turned out that there are two races (inner and outer) and so you can't always assume which side it at fault by the rumbling occuring on a left or right bend.

Anyway, to carry out the work just jack up the car and put it on axle stands, remove the wheel, remove the hub centre cap and the split pin from the castleated nut. REmove the nut in the appropriate direction (see Haynes). Behind the nut is a thikc washer and once removed you should be able to tap off the drum. If you can't it may be that a wear ridge from the brakes has developed on the inside of the drum. Some wiggling about should get over that.

Once off, clean up the stub axle and take the drum over to the bench. There is a rubber bearing seal on the back side of the drum - this can be removed with a large flat bladed screw driver. You may or may not damage the seal when doing this (I never did) so ensure you have your replacement bearing already as you won't necessarily be able to put this one back!

Then, using a punch, drift out the inner and outer bearings. From what I can remember, this is done by putting the punch through the middle of the hub to press on the lip on the opposite side bearing. You have to tap and then move the punch to drift it out squarely. Once one side it out the centre spacer will come out and then you can do the other side.

I can't remember for sure but you may find the bearings come apart in the above operation - if this happens don't worry - they can be put back together if you 're re-using them. When apart the races can be checked for pitting etc. The offending bearing on my car whcih caused the noise looked like water had got in and caused corrosion.

Anyway, clean up the drum where the bearing sit in it and put your new bearings in. This is actually quite easy to do with a punch, alternating sides to ensure they go in square. Don't forget the spacer like I did once! Then press in the rubber seal (by hand) to the same depth as it was before.

As Mr. Haynes would say refitting it the reverse sequence to removal! Bear in mind that you'll need a torque wrench to set the castleated (or is in Castleton?) nut correctly.