Front Wheel Bearing Replacement

Подробнее о видео

Here's how to replace the front wheel bearing on a front wheel drive Toyota or Lexus vehicle with MacPherson strut front suspension.

After many miles, bearings will start to wear out and cause a whirring or grinding noise while driving down the freeway. This noise can be isolated by jacking up each tire and rotating it to hear where the sound comes from.

This procedure was demonstrated on a 2006 Toyota Sienna. Procedure is the same for the Toyota Corolla, Matrix, Echo, Yaris, Camry, Solara, Avalon, Sienna, Highlander, Lexus ES300, ES330, ES350, RX300, RX330, RX350 as well as many other Japanese and domestic vehicles.

On most FWD cars, the wheel bearing is pressed into the steering knuckle. Thus the steering knuckle has to be removed from the vehicle and taken to a press to have the old bearing pressed out and a new bearing pressed in. Bearing removal tools that use a large bolt to slowly press out the bearing with an impact gun can also be used.

This video demonstrates the steering knuckle removal procedure for a FWD Toyota, as well as some tips on bearing removal. Once the axle nut is loosened, the car can be jacked up and wheel removed. The drive shaft (30 mm), ball joint (17 mm), tie rod end (17 mm), caliper and bracket (17 mm), strut (22 mm) brake hose (12 mm) and ABS wire (10 mm) bolts and nuts all need to be removed to free the knuckle.

Care must be taken not to damage the ABS sensor wire. Its expensive to replace and is very fragile. It is recommended to remove it completely from the steering knuckle before removing any mechanical components.

Once the knuckle is freed, a 10 ton press was used to press out the spindle. The inner bearing race was chipped out from the spindle. Unfortunately, the 10 ton press was not able to remove the bearing from the hub, so a 20 ton press was used. Once the new hub was seated, the snap ring was installed and the spindle was pressed into the inner bearing race.

A Timken bearing was used. The bearing had a Koyo brand stamp on it.

Installation is the opposite of removal. Make sure the tie rod has fully seated in the knuckle as it is tapered. Take care when replacing the ABS wire. Use anti-seize on any bolts prone to rust so it can be easily removed next time.