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Front wheel bearing replacement

55K views 15 replies 12 participants last post by  Darwin 
#1 ·
Have yr. 2000, 4.7 L, Grand Cherokee. Looking for step-by-step instructions for replacing front wheel bearing.
 
#2 ·
ah, its a piece of cake.
Before jacking it up, remove the axle nut (36mm)
Jack up the vehicle, remove the wheel and ofcourse use a jack stand. I do one side at a time because it might take a lot of torq to get the hub bolts loose.

Take off the caliper and brakes.
remove the 3 bolts that hold the knuckle on (1/2 12pt).
take a hammer and hit around the inside of hub until it comes off. Once it is off take some sand paper and clean up the rust where the hub and knuckle push together.
put on new hub, torq the 3 hub bolts to 75lbs and the axle nut to 175 lbs
 
#3 · (Edited)
heres a write-up with pics by ArloGuthroJeep from *********

http://www.*********.com/forum/f13/how-replace-axle-shaft-wheel-hub-bearing-assembly-w-pics-377208/

wow, you cant link to *********.... which has tons of useful writeup..... ghey


On my Jeep I have aftermarket wheels so I am able to access the main hub nut with the wheel still on.

Start by removing the cotter pin:


Then the cap:


And behind the cap is a spring (shown on left):


Next, use your trusty 36mm socket to break that nut before you take off the wheel:


With the nut torqued to 175ft/lbs and rust/dirt seizing up the nut, it isn't a surprise that a cheater bar helps:D In this case it is my old tie rod.


Now jack up your axle:


And remove the wheel, place it under your sliders if you have them or under your hub in the event your Jeep falls off the jack, it won't crash onto the ground:


Next, remove the caliper bracket (2 x 18mm bolts) and hang it from the spring via wire or zip ties:

Next, on the back side of the knuckle there are three bolts. They require a 12pt 13mm socket to remove them and can be stuck on there pretty good as well. The first one is at the top, then the other two are on the lower left and lower right (imagine a triangle):

At this point you can remove the hub. In my case the outer axle shaft came out with it since I blew up the joint:


When putting everything back together there isn't anything special to do.

  • Torque the 3 12 pt 13mm hub bolts to 75 ft/lbs.
  • Torque the main 36mm hub nut to 175 ft/lbs.
Tricks/suggestions:

  • If you don't have a wheel where you can get easy access to the big hub nut to break it, remove thw wheel, and then have someone apply the brake while you loosen the nut.
  • Some of the ABS cables get in the way, just remove them from the bracketry and push them to the side when getting to the hub bolts.
  • If available, be sure to use PB Blaster on the bolts/nuts if they haven't been removed in a while. Last thing you want to do is snap a bolt!
  • My only other hint to this procedure is that it is easier to get to some of the bolts if you turn the wheel to either side.
 
#4 ·
I had a bad left front hub and followed the directions above without problem. They are excellent. Very good directions. First one took about 2 hours gathering tools, going slowly, and changing out the front hub. It was so easy I decided to change the other side also. Second one took 40 minutes. I could not find the torque setting for the brake calipers anywhere on this board. That is the only missing piece above. I have a 2004 with the 4.7 HO and Quadradive.
 
#5 ·
I just changed mine about 1 month ago. If all goes according to plan, the above works great. Even if you break the 13mm bolts, that's not a big deal b/c they screw into the hub assembly and not the steering knuckle.

I ran into a couple problems in the steps due to my Jeep having 85k miles on it and from all the corrosion of Indiana winters. Here's what I learned/suggest:

* Even if only one wheel bearing is bad, go ahead and replace both of them. It's easier to spend the extra 30-60 minutes now than have to regather tools later.

* I thought removing the axle nut torqued to 175 ft-lbs would be difficult, it wasn't. The most difficult part was removing the three 13mm bolts. Mine were stuck on there GOOD, even with using PB blaster. There's not a lot of room to get a wrench in there so it's slow going.

* Buy 3 new 13mm bolts per bearing assembly. The originals were hard coming out and are hard to get back in. Get new ones and make your life easier (they're cheap).

* If a hammer doesn't let the bearing assembly come loose, use a 3 jaw puller. This was the hardest part for me. I hit it with a hammer several times and nothing came loose. So I used a 3 jaw puller. I put the jaws on the hub (where the wheel studs are) and the center on the axle. I turned it and it pulled the bearing apart. I was BARELY able to get the puller onto the assembly where the 13mm bolts pass through. Once it started to move, it came free easily.

Good luck. It's not too difficult but slow and frustrating.
 
#7 ·
how do you know your wheel bearing needs to be replaced? i hear a noise coming from my left front wheel, maybe wheel bearing? what about brakes rubbing? i know my alignment is off too..... any help is appreciated thank you
 
#11 ·
Wheel bearings usually make a moaning sound. Sometimes they'll sound like you have big knobby tires going down the road (if you do have these tires, it would be hard to tell). If it gets really bad you'll get excess heat from that bearing. You can sometimes jack the wheel up and pull it in and out slightly. USUALLY if they go bad, they'll only last for a few weeks.

But, my front wheel bearing went out and sounded nothing like other vehicles. Mine was a high pitched whine that was proportional to the speed of the vehicle. I've never heard a bearing sound like it and figured it was something in the front diff. It stayed that way for 3-4 months before I finally got annoyed enough to figure it out.
 
#8 ·
Intlaero, the caliper adapter bolt torque is:
Install the caliper adapter mounting bolts.
Tighten the mounting bolts to 103 N·m (76 ft.lbs).

And the caliper slide pins:
Install the caliper slide pin bolts and tighten to
72 N·m (53 ft. lbs.)
 
#9 ·
Hi MichaelNawrocki. Just jack up your car and rotate the wheel (put a stand under the car to avoid it falling from the jack). If the brakes are rubbing, you can clearly hear it and depending on the amount of rubbing also feel it. If ok, take the wheel on upper and lower side and feel if there is some play on the bearing. The noise could also come from the front axle CV joint
 
#10 ·
Thanks frango100! Ill give that a try this week. I already replaced the right side last year, so I might as well do the left also. Thank you for the help
 
#12 ·
Does anyone know the exact size of the 3 holding bolts, length and threads. I have seen many times they are 13 MM and 12 point, but nothing as to the length and threads. I'm old hat with regards to keeping hardware. Lots of standard stuff, even taps and dies, but not very much metric on hand. I'd buy the correct bolts in advance if anyone can share that information. I think it's a very good idea.

Thanks
 
#13 ·
I just did my front passenger side last weekend. I have to say that the instructions that "doublejz" gave are really good. I needed a 1/8" punch to remove the cottor pin and a puller to remove the hub from the knuckle.
 
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