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[serek]

Kate give serek a pm,he has the tools for rear wheel bearings,would mean bringing car up here to him,
Also only use genuine bearings and estate and saloon are,different.

Do you have any idea how much he would charge?

think there will be traveling cost issue
is Im in different part of country

[Nick W]

I'm about 40miles from you, but sorting out a time to do it is likely to prove tricky; unlikely to be before the end of March. Especially as it would have to be outside, and it's not a job to do in the rain.

[Kate]

Kate give serek a pm,he has the tools for rear wheel bearings,would mean bringing car up here to him,
Also only use genuine bearings and estate and saloon are,different.

Do you have any idea how much he would charge?

think there will be traveling cost issue
is Im in different part of country

Yes you're over 100 miles away unfortunately.

[Kate]

I'm about 40miles from you, but sorting out a time to do it is likely to prove tricky; unlikely to be before the end of March. Especially as it would have to be outside, and it's not a job to do in the rain.

No worries, I'll save my pennies and take it to the garage.

Thanks anyway though.

[kcl]

I believe they're ~£50 on Trade (or Trade Club) from Vx, somewhere in that region.. as for how hard the job is, ask me again in a few weeks

I'm sure I've also read that people have had non-genuine bearings fail within a few hundred miles (Entwood, maybe?)..

Fronts

Ah .. well I was half right! Rear non-genuine OK then as long as it's a decent make (SKF etc)?

Half right, half wrong all of you Here's facts I have found out the hard way:
- never ever fit any un-branded or pattern wheel bearings except SKF or FAG
- pattern rear ones will not tighten, inner races are not correct, have seen patterns fail within weeks and done a few twice due to this issue of not able to tighten them enough and learnt my lesson
- AFAIK original rear bearings are FAG, seems that FAG is identical part so most probably either of those companies produce the part and they are branded for the other
- fronts are dead easy to change but still I'd recommend SKF or FAG
- rears can be VERY difficult to change, that's why ONLY SKF or FAG, you just do not want to do it "in vain"
- rears are doable, you just have to be determined to do it. Very simple task, only outer race can be tight if it has rusted solid to hub. Doable under the car, though if I ever do this again I will start by taking the whole arm out.

One question to you experts, how on earth is the outer rear suspension arm bolt supposed to come off? It hits the floorpan/sill when removing and only violence can make the arm pop out. Still easier than working under the car if the bearing race is solid on the hub...

[Nick W]

That shows that everyone has different and ideas of what they will put up with. I wouldn't get involved in the extra hassle of removing the arm just to change a wheelbearing. By the time you've removed the shock and spring, undone the mounting bolts and wrestled with a bloody heavy, awkward chunk of metal, you'd easily have the drive flange off, hub removed and finished swearing at the circlip. Possibly even got as far as cutting the outer race off the hub.

I do wonder about the uneccesarily complex design though. Granada's/Sierras use a similar setup that has the hubnut on the outside, combines the hub and the drive flange. Which makes servicing it much easier.

[kcl]

That shows that everyone has different and ideas of what they will put up with. I wouldn't get involved in the extra hassle of removing the arm just to change a wheelbearing. By the time you've removed the shock and spring, undone the mounting bolts and wrestled with a bloody heavy, awkward chunk of metal, you'd easily have the drive flange off, hub removed and finished swearing at the circlip. Possibly even got as far as cutting the outer race off the hub.

I do wonder about the uneccesarily complex design though. Granada's/Sierras use a similar setup that has the hubnut on the outside, combines the hub and the drive flange. Which makes servicing it much easier.

How do you cut the outer race? Not easy I'd say, esp. if it has rusted solid, you can not tell when you are cutting the hub... and you can not reach the end of the race due the collar in the back of the hub (where the bearing stops).

[05omegav6]

The difference is a simple one Nick... Fix Or Repair Daily, with emphasis on Daily, rather than every ten years or so

[Nick W]

How do you cut the outer race? Not easy I'd say, esp. if it has rusted solid, you can not tell when you are cutting the hub... and you can not reach the end of the race due the collar in the back of the hub (where the bearing stops).

You use a Dremel with a heavy duty cutting disc. A couple of minutes gentle grinding will give a 1mm wide slot that  is almost as deep as the race, and doesn't quite touch the collar. A hefty whack with a tapered cold chisel will split the race. Which will then fall off. If you do it right, the race will be a loose enough fit to work as a spacer to pull the hub back through the bearing.

I find the worst part of the job is dealing with the circlip, which is why I bought some much more robust pliers after the last one I did.