[n0ah305]

Today I spent the entire day trying to replace my rear wheel bearing mainly because I could never get the rear axle out however finally got the wheel bearing replaced without removing the axle and it was pretty sketchy as it felt like I was going to rip through a brushing by trying to squeeze the axle out.. Unfortunately I made a small mistake lol I didn't press the wheel hub all the way but enough to get 50% of the axle nut screwed. So the job isn't finished. Planning to pick up where I left off tomorrow morning however What do you recommend I do next? I would really prefer to use an impact wrench and hope the axle nut will squeeze the wheel hub in. Does anyone know if this method is safe?
The only options I see possible.
1) Try to slam it in with a Hammer
2) Impact wrench on the axle nut until the wheel hub is flush
3) Leave wheel hub as-is (about a centimeter or half a centimeter gap and wheel bearing is visible)
4) Redo the entire job by removing control arms and pulling wheel down to squeeze out the axle again(painful)

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by n0ah305

Today I spent the entire day trying to replace my rear wheel bearing mainly because I could never get the rear axle out however finally got the wheel bearing replaced without removing the axle and it was pretty sketchy as it felt like I was going to rip through a brushing by trying to squeeze the axle out.. Unfortunately I made a small mistake lol I didn't press the wheel hub all the way but enough to get 50% of the axle nut screwed. So the job isn't finished. Planning to pick up where I left off tomorrow morning however What do you recommend I do next? I would really prefer to use an impact wrench and hope the axle nut will squeeze the wheel hub in. Does anyone know if this method is safe?
The only options I see possible.
1) Try to slam it in with a Hammer
2) Impact wrench on the axle nut until the wheel hub is flush
3) Leave wheel hub as-is (about a centimeter or half a centimeter gap and wheel bearing is visible)
4) Redo the entire job by removing control arms and pulling wheel down to squeeze out the axle again(painful)

Bump

[Brian86]

Not really sure how it's possible to replace a wheel bearing without removing the axle, but moving on...

The hub is only a light interference fit with the inner race of the wheel bearing. The axle nut should draw it the rest of the way in. Use your best judgement. Hammer will likely damage the wheel centering ring.

That said, did you clean splines on the axle stub and hub very thoroughly? I always wire-wheel the axle stub and often buy new hubs. Apply antiseize? If not you're probably getting the same resistance from the splines putting it together that you suffered trying to press the axle out. The axle stub and hub should slide together more-or-less by hand.

The car shouldn't be driven in this condition. Without the hub fully seated the bearing inner races can drift axially resulting in a pretty catastrophic failure.

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by Brian86

Not really sure how it's possible to replace a wheel bearing without removing the axle, but moving on...

The hub is only a light interference fit with the inner race of the wheel bearing. The axle nut should draw it the rest of the way in. Use your best judgement. Hammer will likely damage the wheel centering ring.

That said, did you clean splines on the axle stub and hub very thoroughly? I always wire-wheel the axle stub and often buy new hubs. Apply antiseize? If not you're probably getting the same resistance from the splines putting it together that you suffered trying to press the axle out. The axle stub and hub should slide together more-or-less by hand.

The car shouldn't be driven in this condition. Without the hub fully seated the bearing inner races can drift axially resulting in a pretty catastrophic failure.

Do you think this is okay ? Please ignore the parking brake as I'm putting everything back together to get ready to test drive and do some pulls.

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by n0ah305

Do you think this is okay ? Please ignore the parking brake as I'm putting everything back together to get ready to test drive and do some pulls.

Should should the wheel hub be flushed all the way in? Wouldn't that break the wheel bearing? Or is this normal?

[Brian86]

No

It needs to be forced down. If that doesn't work then taken apart, new bearing, and try again.

The wheel (probably) won't fall off. It might even run a quarter million miles like that, but there isn't anything preventing the inner-races of the bearing from wandering axially and completely failing... like sparks and locked tire failing.

Couldn't find a BMW specific drawing, our seal configuration is a little different, but this is a pretty good cross section of what's going on in there.

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/proxy.ph...fee5ec5382087c

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by Brian86

No

It needs to be forced down. If that doesn't work then taken apart, new bearing, and try again.

The wheel (probably) won't fall off. It might even run a quarter million miles like that, but there isn't anything preventing the inner-races of the bearing from wandering axially and completely failing... like sparks and locked tire failing.

Couldn't find a BMW specific drawing, our seal configuration is a little different, but this is a pretty good cross section of what's going on in there.

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/proxy.ph...fee5ec5382087c

I see, well considering I don't have a new bearing I'll put things back together and give it a test drive. Hopefully it works but if I hear any weird sounds I'll order new bearing, wheel hub and axle. The next time I do this job I'll get a blow torch and heat up the axle torxs to remove the axle completely. Appreciate the feedback so much.

[jacbo]

RIP to OP. To even consider driving it down the street in this state is crazy.

I don't get how you didn't get the axle out? One side is always bit of a pain but if you slightly lower the exhaust it will come out pretty easily.

To get the hub back in properly you need to use the threaded bar and cups from the bearing press kit to put it back in. then after cleaning the axle splines, you can just slide the axle in. Really not that difficult

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by jacbo

RIP to OP. To even consider driving it down the street in this state is crazy.

I don't get how you didn't get the axle out? One side is always bit of a pain but if you slightly lower the exhaust it will come out pretty easily.

To get the hub back in properly you need to use the threaded bar and cups from the bearing press kit to put it back in. then after cleaning the axle splines, you can just slide the axle in. Really not that difficult

I did remove the axle from the hub I just couldn't get the axle bolts off the rear diff…

I don't really see how the wheel hub can press more and yes I used that tool to get the wheel hub in. I'm going to get this job a second attempt and this time around I'll have two wheel bearings in case I break the first one. My plan is to press the wheel bearing and wheel hub as deep as possible without fearing of breaking. I was just afraid I was going to break the bearing if I pressed the hub too deep. Appreciate the feedback

[jadams161]

I thought that you need to press the bearing into the hub prior to assembly..

[mainbearing]

Yes, do it again and do it right this time. See how these guys do it:

At 8:20:

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

Yes, do it again and do it right this time. See how these guys do it:

At 8:20:

At 8:20 that's exactly what I did except I didn't press it in enough 🤷🏻*♂️

[mainbearing]

I would not use the axle nut to press it in, because I do not know if that would place excessive stress on the axle stub threads and nut. (otherwise I would think the hub would have seated by now).

The safe way, imo, is to pop out the axle and do what those guys did at 8:20. If rust is not too much of a problem the hub should seat right in using that setup. Make sure the inner race of the bearing is supported on the inside while you press the hub in from the outside.

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

Yes, do it again and do it right this time. See how these guys do it:

At 8:20:

I just did the job again and this time made sure to press it in by hand and not by impact drill. Definitely no way the wheel hub will fit flush. I actually just broke a brand new wheel bearing because I pressed it in too much. I tried forcing it but There's just no way. Now that I think about it why would the wheel hub be flush and grind against the wheel sprindle. Here is an example from eBay. It seems like my sprindle must have either been changed with a slimmer one or the wheel hub I have is for a 328i or something but regardless I don't think the sprindle should be grinding against the wheel hub. And along the gap looks fairly weird. i dont see how it will fix any other way unless again either my sprindle or wheel hub are not OEM. Honestly I don't think I need another sprindle or wheel hub because it was working just fine before. Thankfully I bought two wheel bearings and will finish the job tomorrow morning because I just pressed right through this new bearing haha

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by n0ah305

I just did the job again and this time made sure to press it in by hand and not by impact drill. Definitely no way the wheel hub will fit flush. I actually just broke a brand new wheel bearing because I pressed it in too much. I tried forcing it but There's just no way. Now that I think about it why would the wheel hub be flush and grind against the wheel sprindle. Here is an example from eBay. It seems like my sprindle must have either been changed with a slimmer one or the wheel hub I have is for a 328i or something but regardless I don't think the sprindle should be grinding against the wheel hub. And along the gap looks fairly weird. i dont see how it will fix any other way unless again either my sprindle or wheel hub are not OEM. Honestly I don't think I need another sprindle or wheel hub because it was working just fine before. Thankfully I bought two wheel bearings and will finish the job tomorrow morning because I just pressed right through this new bearing haha

Here are the pictures.

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by n0ah305

I just did the job again and this time made sure to press it in by hand and not by impact drill. Definitely no way the wheel hub will fit flush. I actually just broke a brand new wheel bearing because I pressed it in too much. I tried forcing it but There's just no way. Now that I think about it why would the wheel hub be flush and grind against the wheel sprindle. Here is an example from eBay. It seems like my sprindle must have either been changed with a slimmer one or the wheel hub I have is for a 328i or something but regardless I don't think the sprindle should be grinding against the wheel hub. And along the gap looks fairly weird. i dont see how it will fix any other way unless again either my sprindle or wheel hub are not OEM. Honestly I don't think I need another sprindle or wheel hub because it was working just fine before. Thankfully I bought two wheel bearings and will finish the job tomorrow morning because I just pressed right through this new bearing haha

EBay example

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by n0ah305

Here are the pictures.

..

[mainbearing]

Something just doesn't look kosher. I agree, I too wonder if that is the wrong hub (or axle). Look at how far in this hub is seated compared to yours (however this one is 06 325xi, I will look for 335i ones). Who knows someone might have come along and used the wrong parts, and that might be how the car was driven all these miles.


[EDIT:] Here is a 335i. Look how far in this hub is seated.

[n0ah305]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

Something just doesn't look kosher. I agree, I too wonder if that is the wrong hub (or axle). Look at how far in this hub is seated compared to yours (however this one is 06 325xi, I will look for 335i ones). Who knows someone might have come along and used the wrong parts, and that might be how the car was driven all these miles.


[EDIT:] Here is a 335i. Look how far in this hub is seated.

Yeah either the sprindle is thicker ( it looks a bit thicker to me) and/or my wheel hub is not OEM and sticks out more. Either way I'll install as-is again tomorrow and if I have any issues I guess I'll start by buying a new wheel hub.. if not I'll need a whole. Spindle assembly lol