Ever wish you hadn't started something? Well, with the hub & carrier off, I headed to my brother's work to try and replace the bearing.
We managed to get the old one out with a wee bit of heat and quite a bit of brute force. Then came fitting the new one. It had been in the freezer for a few hours and we carefully heated the hub carrier a wee bit. We placed the bottom circlip in first and then started to push in the new bearing. More correctly, my brother tried driving it in gently with a bit of pipe and a hammer as he was certin that this was the way to go. I wasn't convinced, thinking that a press was the way to go, but he felt that the presses that they use are too big (I am sure he is right as it is all stuff for the oil industry they make).
Long story short, we b*ggared the bearing as it seemed to go in slightly squint and jumped the circlip on the rear. It looked like it was recoverable as the seal on the rear had come off the bearing, but it got worse the more we mucked about with it.
I have just got home (after a couple of hours) with the alloy hub carrier and steel hub separate. The nackered bearing is also out.
I now need to source a new bearing (another £37) and decie what to do next. My brother is keen to now have another shot, but this time with a press. As you can imagine, I am a wee bit reluctant to go down this route and am currently considering contacting Falkland Performance centre to see if, and how much they would charge to press in the new bearing.
I can see how the bearing can be pushed in, but what I can't quite work out is how you then press in the actual steel hub with out damaging the bearing. Any ideas or tips?
Having seen what I have now,
I would definitley say that this isn't a job for the amateur. I now have real reservations about how easy or otherwise it will be to do the ball joints, even with an Elise Part tool.
What is really peeing me off is that I am on holiday this week and had hoped to do some miles. Lucky I have the trusty mondeo
I'd still check them all though!