EDIT: Walkthrough with pics below


I am doing my front hubs this weekend and was curious, can I do a side at a time without supporting the entire front subframe? Or do I have to jack the whole front and support it while doing it? I only ask because at my apartment I can use the stock scissor lift to do a side at a time, or I have to drive to my parent's and use my floor jack. I have read it is very straightforward, and that the front hub torque rating is 63-ft/lbs, correct? Thanks, Happy Thanksgiving.

-J

 

it is not very hard, but i would not suggest using the scissor jack to change or work on anything but the tire. most likely your hub will be stuck on and will require some smacks with a hammer to break loose, and the scissor jack will not be able to handle the movement. But you will be able to do one at a time, just use a jack stand after jacking it up with the scissor jack.

 

Thank you, am doing them now and wow this is way easier than I had expected. When attaching the new ones, I tried to get the tapered area that the unit sits in as smooth as possible. There however are some real tiny spots that feel like they are just pitted slightly from age. hit it with some steel wool, and light sandpaper. The new one seated in there just fine... is it necessary to have the mounting hole PERFECTLY smooth? I almost wonder how that's even possible with even a few miles on the car (only 65k on mine). Loctite on the hub bolts? Thank you.

-J

 

no it's not necessary to have perfectly smooth, as long as the new assembly sits in there and doesn't rock around. coat everything with a little grease or spray oil to prevent them from rusting together. i don't think loctite is required on the nuts as long as you get them tight enough to stretch the stud a little and then they won't loosen, you could use antiseize if you wanted. if the nuts did loosen you'll know when driving, it's not like the nut can loosen a 1/4 turn and the hub will immediately fly out.

 

Thank you for the tips. Got this done and one of my new assemblies was busted (timken). Just gotta send it back, and put the good one I removed from passenger side to driver side. Far less daunting than I had initially planned. The input was greatly appreciated.

-J

 

Well since I couldn't find any pictures online, I figured I'd snap some to document this. It really *IS* as simple and straightforward as everyone says it is, but, pictures always make things a bit clearer. So here you go:

First, jack up the car and safely support it (my jack stand is there you just can't see it in the picture... the jack is there merely because I didn't wheel it out after lowering it). After that, remove the wheel.


Next, remove the caliper, and subsequently the rotor. If you want to unload the caliper first, then do that. I chose to remove it in one piece and support it.



Now, you will be looking at this:


**BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE UNPLUG THE ABS SENSOR PLUG**


For the next part, I sprayed down the four bolts holding the hub in and the seams of where the hub mounts to the knuckle, with PB Blaster to loosen things up. My car has 65k miles on it and lived a very garaged life before me, so you might have a bit more fuss with these...


You will also notice that I backed the bolts out a bit. i did this so that when persuading the hub from the knuckle, if it all of a sudden gives, it doesn't come crashing into your shin/foot/whathaveyou

Now, I grabbed a light 5-10lb lump hammer and gently started tapping on alternating sides. Without much grief at all, it loosened up enough to wiggle it out by hand:


Success:


Note that the silver part you see wasn't very clean at all. That is after me hitting it with some steel wool and light sandpaper to ensure it was a nice smooth fit for the replacement. At this point, you now take out your shiny new one and installation is EXACTLY the reverse. Or if you are like me, you find out your new Timken is busted, and proceed to put the old hub directly back onto the car...

This was as easy as everyone said. I did both sides and this was the 2nd one I did. Taking loads of pictures and cleaning up the knuckle, took about 30 minutes. Please refer to the tips in the rest of this thread, specifically from 1 FMF for tips on reassembly and cleaning it up. Was a walkthrough with pics really needed? No, it's just a brake job with ONE more step essentially. But, I figured wtf...

-J