DIY wheel bearing replacement?

LifeVirusZERO

So i'm currently driving a 2002 Nissan Altima and recently it's been making a loud roaring noise from the back. Well, it's been doing it for a while actually. Not too long ago, the guys over at NTB told me that it was the rear right wheel bearing that needed to be replaced. They also gave me an estimate of like $500.00 and somehow I get the feeling that it's a rip-off.

So my question is, is this something i can do myself if i get the part? I'm great with machines and gadgets and engines and all that kinda stuff. No expert, but I can figure anything out. I just don't wanna drop 500 bucks on something I can do myself for less than $100.

Donovan Puppyfucker

$500?!? That's pretty damn expensive. It could be a real quote, or they could be trying to rape your wallet. It all depends just how complex changing the wheel bearing is. I'm going to assume an Altima is a front wheel drive car (there's no such thing as an Altima in Australia), in which case, for your average medium size car with front wheel drive car, $500 is very expensive.

It's about an hour and a half job for the average home mechanic to do. You'll need the usual hand tools, some long punches to knock the old bearing races(cones) out of the hub, and maybe a two or three legged puller to pull the old bearings off the stub axle. A Haynes manual for the car would be very handy too...

All you've gotta do is remove the wheel and hub, get the old bearings out, pack the new ones with grease and whack 'em in. If you can change crankset/headset bearings on a bike, you can do car wheel bearings.

Diomedes240z

Pulling stub axles out can be a real asshole. If you can't knock them out from the inner side, you might need to make a puller/slide hammer. Do you have access to a welder and some scrap steel to make one?

b0bd0d

That's a FWD car, right? Rear wheel bearings shouldn't be that complex. You might have to either replace the whole hub assembly or just the bearings. Look online for replacing wheel bearings. It's pretty much the same for all cars.
here:
http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/altima/3583-2002-altima-wheel-bearing.html
says here ya gotta replace the whole assembly. Really easy then. Just take the big nut off, pull the hub off, replace hub with new one, install new big nut.

LifeVirusZERO

Diomedes240z wrote: »

Pulling stub axles out can be a real asshole. If you can't knock them out from the inner side, you might need to make a puller/slide hammer. Do you have access to a welder and some scrap steel to make one?

I, uh... no, I don't.

This seems to be a pretty good guide for me to follow. http://p-car.com/diy/bearing/bearing.htm
(note: I wouldn't be attempting this if I didn't have several people that I could call up and say "okay so i took the thingie off of the circle and i need to put this other circle on and...")

This actually looks like it might be a little complicated. I might want to consider calling up said people and actually have them come help me out. Thanks for the tips, guys. Keep 'em comin' (if there are any left).