My car has been in need of a new rear wheel bearing for a while now. I looked at the FSM and am debating between doing it myself or letting the dealer do it for convenience sake.

Have seen these 2 threads, one sounds like it's not a difficult job:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...it-help-30957/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...arings-147992/

Questions I have after reading the FSM procedure:

1. Step 10 says after you remove the hub from the knuckle, you press the inner race out of the hub, then press the bearing out of the wheel knuckle. They expect the bearing to fall apart when removing the hub?

2. But the new bearing goes in the knuckle in one piece, so it's a sealed unit?

3. Understand that heating up the knuckle a bit will allow the new bearing drop in with minimal effort. But what about getting the hub back in the bearing? Does that go in without a press?

4. How bad will it be to remove the half shaft?

Thanks,
-Michael

 

The half shaft removal could be difficult.

See my thread https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...05-xjr-177242/

I had quite a bit of trouble.

 

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Using a press, or wheel bearing installer (screw type) is required. DO NOT HEAT!
4) Generally the shaft will press out with a good push. You can always reverse the nut and screw it back on until even with the outside of shaft threads and use a rap from a rawhide or deadblow hammer if required. DO NOT POUND WITH A METAL HAMMER!

 

Thank you both for the replies!

David, is there a decent aftermarket bearing installer? Or do i need the Jag tool? Other than unitized type bearings the only other ones I have tools for are '60s-'90s GM split style that got hammered in to the rotors.

 

I think AutoZone rents a kit. You might call them. I bought a kit at Harbor Freight some years back.

 

Michael,

David may have a more informed opinion, but I have always put new wheel bearings in a zip-lock bag and let them sit in the freezer for 30 minutes or more before installing them. The bearings contract slightly, requiring less force to press them in.

Cheers,

Don

 

Doing the rear wheel bearings aren't really all that difficult, just stay organised as you take it apart. You shouldn't need a press for the rear ones. If you have a bearing race installer, or as Don B said, put them in the freezer. Just make sure if you do it, you put the shim in the right place.

 

I don't mind buying the tool kit to do a job. So a bearing installer kit is all I'll need? Nothing else to re-install the hub, etc?

 

Is this the kit I need? Front Wheel Bearing Adapters

Not finding much else on HF... lots of pullers but not anything for installing.

 

Just putting this out there. When I did the rear wheel bearing on the SV8 I didn't use no fancy kits! I used a nice big socket (really big, it was from a 1" breaker bar kit meant to work on loaders and the like) to press out the old bearing and to put the new one in, just used one of the halves from the old bearing (it comes apart when you press it out). Took about 5 min total. I did have to cut half of the old bearing off the hub, but I was just really careful. There is a thread on here somewhere by Lagonia about when he did his. Follow that (the pics really help) and you'll do fine!

 

This thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-115195/page2/ Exactly what I needed to see! Thank you.

I think that convinces me not to do it myself. If I had the luxury of days to have the car apart, sure. But I have no shop space to work in at home and if I took it to my friend's shop I would have to get it all done in the space of 1 afternoon. Getting that inner race off the hub is what worries me. And then pressing the hub back into the new bearing.

Well, let me get some estimates from the dealer and an indy. Maybe I'll throw on the new lower control arms then take it to them for the bearing and an alignment all at once.

 

If you don't have the space, or time, I can see not trying to tackle this yourself. It really isn't that hard of a job to cut the bearing off the hub, just have to be careful! My biggest problem was getting the hub nut off. Broke two 1/2" breaker bars, didn't have anything bigger on hand so that was a day wasted sorting that out. Then it took another day fiddling with the nut on the upper rear arm not wanting to come off. Total time with the actual bearing R/R was probably about 15 min or so. As there is always something on these cars that doesn't want to cooperate in removal, these jobs always seem to take more time than anticipated!

However, I actually went to my dealer and asked them if I brought them the hub and new bearing would they press it in and out (also removing the part on the hub). They said sure, $70. So, if all the nuts and bolts come off without trying to spite you, pop the hub off yourself and take it to the dealer and have them install the new bearing. (if they would do that too).

 

As I understood it, one just buys another hub these days and the swap out can be done in half a day. Obviously the hub with bearing costs more than just a bearing pack, but its cheaper if a shop does the job because the labour is a lot less. Same for the front wheel bearings.

 

Be mindful that the front bearings are type III. (the hub is the race) There is no method, outside of replacement of the unit to lubricate them.

 

Good machine shops around here are few and far between. I can use my father's workshop, but he's 50 miles away and about 50 miles from any machine shops, so logistically it becomes a nightmare.

I made the appointment with the dealer, they quoted me $400 for the bearing change. They will be replacing the bearing and not the complete hub/carrier. Just hope I'm not going to regret this decision. I have not been in love with this dealer in the past. But since they put me in a loaner car and it won't disrupt my entire week, it's worth the convenience fee.

 

Fraser: You are correct that for the front bearings you just get a new hub with bearing and swap it out. But for the rears you just get the bearing, as far as I know you can't get the entire rear hub/bearing/knuckle assembly as a unit, it's all separate pieces, and listed as such. Jag actually has specific press tools for doing the rear bearings (see them in Lagonia's thread, but you don't really need them). So, for the rears it's just the bearing. Fronts, all new hub with bearings.

mhamilton: I feel your pain! I was lucky enough to have the time to do mine myself and have a garage to work in (at my parents too). I got quoted about the same price as you did for the entire job from my dealer, but that was CDN, so closer to $300 USD. But I don't fully trust my dealer either. They are nice enough people, just don't really know how or what they are doing sometimes. I've actually been asked by them about problems they have since they know I have pretty much done everything and anything to our cars!

 

Likewise, I've done everything else except alignments on this car. I used to have access to a workshop within minutes of a machine shop, so did the front bushings and some rear bushings myself with them doing the press work. This dealer is the only one within 2 hours. They mark up parts 2-3x list, so I'm sure it's the same 2 hr book job, but they're charging me $200 in parts.

Last time I had the front brakes off I checked the front bearings. They have not been noisy, but they have a slightly rough or grainy feel to their rotation. Original with 108k miles. Made me wonder how much longer before I'll be doing those, but at least that's an easy afternoon job. Car has never seen salt, and rarely rain, so no issues with R&R suspension parts.

 

Don't jinx yourself, Michael. The use of salt and brine is rare in our climate too, but when I replaced the front hub on a friend's X350 the old one was corroded and wouldn't budge, so I wound up removing the entire steering knuckle/vertical link and using my small press to remove the hub. I cleaned everything up and the new hub went in easily.

BTW: what led me to suspect the hub bearing was failing was a low-level roar like road noise that the owner thought was coming from the transmission. I thought it was coming from the front left but couldn't hear anything when I spun the front left wheel or feel any play. I had to remove the wheel, brake caliper and rotor to unload the bearing before I could tell that it had a slight "rough or grainy feel" exactly as you describe. I replaced the hub and the sound was gone.

Another BTW: on the recommendations of Thermite and panelhead, I bought a pair of hubs from Detroit Axle via eBay. They appear to be of identical quality to the OE hubs, probably made by the OEM. And they're just $83.99 for a pair or $51.25 for one with free shipping in the U.S.:

Pair of 2 NEW Front Wheel Hub and Bearing 2WD w/ ABS for JAGUAR S-TYPE | eBay

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...g-left-174288/

Cheers,

Don

 

I'll second those Detroit Axel front hubs. I'm running them in our STR and SV8. Going on probably 100,000 kms or so and no issues. And yes, when you compare them to the OEM ones, they are identical.

 

This weekend had the car in the garage for oil change and some minor stuff, decided to jack up the rear and listen to the bearings to be sure I was telling the dealer to change the correct one.

Long story short, I can't say that either left or right sounds different. But the diff sounds awful. I'm not sure this was a very accurate test, because the wheel bearings were unloaded, and the noise is most prominent at 55-65 mph.

I suppose the only thing to do is let the dealer diagnose with chassis ears and tell me what's making the noise.

My diff always had a slight whine under certain loads around 45 mph, but this is a bearing noise that's only speed dependent. without digging into the FSM, I'm guessing Jag would only service it as a unit and not replace any output shaft bearings?