| | Home Page | | Personal Projects | |

2003 Pontiac Vibe Front Bearing Replacement 

Was cruising around with my long time friend Abdi and realized this horrible rumbling sound coming from the front end. Obvious bearing problem. Time to find out which wheel it is coming from and replace the bearing. Had him perform as camera man while I worked on the car so this time, the pics should be quite detailed. Enjoy!

December 2014

Here is the Vibe!	The front end of the car was put on jack stands and both the wheels were tested for non axial motion. The passenger side had alot of vertical play. That bearing was to be changed.
The idea is to take off anything necessary to gain access to the bearing starting with the wheel. Lowered the passenger side wheel to the ground. Took off all bolts but the last one which was loosened. Last one taken off once the car was fully jacked.	The 12 point 30mm drive shaft bolt is very tight, had my friemd press hard on the brakes while I torqued it loose.
Then some WD-40 and easily racheted off.
12 point 30mm	If you are using an impact gun, You can take off the 12 point bolt after removing the disk and brakes depending on the power of your compressor.
Remove the two 14 mm brake caliper bolts. To take the bearing out we need to release the spindle which requires removing the disk which in turn requires removing the caliper.	Hand ratchet works well..
So does a pneumatic one..
	Pry it off and hang it around the shock tower.
Next, we need to remove the caliper mount that has sandwiched the disk.	Removed the two 17 mm bolts circled above.
Two 14mm and two 15 mm belongs to the calipers and caliper mount.	Slid off the disk.
	Next, release the spindle from the shock tower. Need to do this to allow the spindle to slide off the drive shaft.
Using a rachet and a wrench, remove the two 21mm nuts and 21mm bolts.
	Pryed the spindle off the shock tower.
Hammered the drive shaft in through the spindle to slide it off.
I realized the spindle of this car does not have a bolt on bearing hub that is typical of American cars like the Impala for example. So I have to take the whole casting out and press out the old bearing. Remove the cotter pin on the tie rod using side cutters.	Cotter pin was too rusted. I cut off the ends and broke it off with the nut using my impact gun.
18 mm special nut	Next, remove the one 17mm bolt and two 17mm nuts to release the ball joint.
And its off.	Checking if the replacement bearing is the right one.
The bearing is locked axially using a retaining ring. This ring was way too rusted and when I used the snap ring pliers to take it off, one of the ends broke. The rust fused the ring with the casting.	To loosen the ring, I heated the inner spindle area around the ring with oxy-acetylene until it was glaring orange. Do not heat the ring. It is thin and will melt.
Then took a dental pick and pryed the ring outwards.	All around the circumference until it was off.
Need to remove the back splash to lay the spindle on the press horizontally. Three 6 point torx bolts here. The bolts were rusted so I had to take em off using a vise grip.	First, remove the spindle from the casting. The spindle goes downwards while the bearing comes out towards the press. This is because the casting has a flange that prevents the outer ring of the bearing from getting out with the spindle.
Used a block to allow some flexibility.	Spindle is out.
This is the situation now.	The spindle dragged the inner ring with it as expected.
Pulling the inner ring out is very hard even with an air hammer let alone manually. So what I usually do is give it a shallow 45 degree slice. Don't go deep or you will damage the spindle.	Then I give a few bursts with a pneumatic chisel or manually with a hammer and a crack develops along the slice losening the ring and allowing it to come off easily.
I pressed the outer ring out using a large washer that was around 1/2 inch thick. I put a rag under it to prevent play.
Pressed the new bearing in. I used the old bearing to allow the press to have contact with the outer ring and allow clearance for vertical displacement through the drive shaft chamber. Press until you notice a change in required force input.	Now to put the spindle on. Never press the spindle into the bearing, it will pop the inner ring out the other way. Press the inner ring onto the spindle as shown in the picture. Place metal materal underneath the spindle (I used the old bearing pieces) to prevent the lug bolts from popping out.
New bearing is in and so is the spindle. Ensure that the outer ring of the bearing is flush with the retaining ring slot. If not, take it back to the press and displace further.	Tapped the old retaining ring back into the slot. The spindle along with the casting is ready to be mounted back onto the car.
Three ball joint bolts back on.	Slid the driveshaft back in through the spindle.
Tighten 21 mm shock tower nuts and bolts.	Tie rod fastened and the new cotter pin is in.
And wrapped around for the obvious reason.	Put back the disk.
Put on the caliper bracket with the two 17 mm bolts.	Put the caliper back on with the two 14 mm bolts. If it doesn't fit, you may have to press the caliper piston in with a c-clamp.
Axle bolt on.	Had the brakes pressed really hard while I tightened the 12 point 30mm axle bolt as hard as I can. Very important to really tighten this bolt. Safetly matter.
And that was it..