wheel bearing

[pavulon]

Have been trying to replace '09 subaru outback front wheel bearing/hub assembly all day (well I took an hour to figure out my clothes washer needs a new pump but that's another story). The old assembly is frozen in the upright. A slide hammer has disassembled the frozen hub and there is no going back. Heat and a hammer have failed to release what 4 years of winter salt have married. I fear having to remove the entire upright and take it to a machine shop for more heat and a press only to have the upright break. I'm out of tools (no compressor or air tools) and ideas.

This and my pick-up stopped running when I went to get the slide hammer. Good times.

[pavulon]

[fastfredracing]

Some of them are a real sob to get out of the knuckle. Can you try to partially thread the bolts in from the back of the hub, and try to knock it out by smacking on the bolt heads? Just be warned that you may ruin the bolts from hitting them.
You can also try to get a chisel in between housing the bearing and the knuckle, and use your bfg and man hands to whack the piss out of it. Soak it with some pb, and them come back and pound on it some more.
You could also try to thread some bolts in from the front side, to try to make a little more leverage on it, then beat it from side to side, you WILL ruin the bolts doing it this way, so get some spares.
Once you get it to move, an air chisel is your best friend. Good luck. !

[vonsmog]

Big ass pipe wrench with a six foot pipe on the end, then stand on in the end of the pipe. You should be able to make it twist free with enough force. Some good lube will help as well. Since you don't have any air, a air chisel is out.

[trekkor]

Remove the knuckle assembly from the car and get a loaner tool kit from O'reilly.
Bearing driver.

Drive it out with the tool using a small sledge hammer.
Better would be to put it in a shop press ( cheap at Harbor Freight )

( I'm really surprised by the amount of rust on that )

[Scott R]

You should just take it apart, anymore beating will probably ruin something else like the ABS sensor, or worse.

[TimT]

Can you try to partially thread the bolts in from the back of the hub, and try to knock it out by smacking on the bolt heads?

This.... or try and get a chisel under one of the ears...

Salt is a biatch

[TimT]

Its apparent you have beat on that pretty well already.. is there any evidence of movement?

[fastfredracing]

Here is another good tip. Turn the wheels all the way to the left, so that you can get a full good hearted swing at the thing, without having to worry about clearing, or smacking the fender. Then to opposite lock, rinse, and repeat. Once you get it to move, you are home free. Just soak it, and keep working at it from side to side.
Auto mechanics........ easy in theory, just the execution that is the hard part.

[pavulon]

Originally Posted by TimT

Its apparent you have beat on that pretty well already.. is there any evidence of movement?

Unfortunately, no. It is really depressing to see what salt does to stuff around here.

Thanks for the input so far. I'm hoping I can take the upright off. I'll try tomorrow as the bolts are soaking in PB blaster. Any odds on needing an alignment after this much pounding?

[sc_rufctr]

Alignment? Probably yes but I wouldn't worry about that right now.

At this stage I would take out the upright and use a press to get it out. I have a small cheap press ($120) that has paid for itself 10 times over. Can you get access to one?
Lots of PB Blaster or make your own using ATF and acetone (50/50) would be very helpful.

The trick with stuff like this is to hit it in the right place. A twisting force can work wonders.

[Vipergrün]

Wow that is ugly. Time for PB Blaster and Oxy/Acet torch. Are you driving on the beach?

[pavulon]

I live in a town of 5k people and it's 45 minutes to any place that sells a press...and my pickup is dead...and I'm on call tomorrow. At this point I'm pretty well resigned to (hopefully) taking the upright off before I have to account for collateral damages. There are a couple of machine shops here in town that have heat and a press. I'm not excited about doing another one on this car.

[azasadny]

This is exactly why I don't work on my Mazdaspeed3 or our other daily drivers. The salt in MI just rusts everything and even the simplest task becomes a nightmare.

[Oh Haha]

I had the same issue with the hub on my Suquionox. I ended up taking the upright off and mounting it into my bench vise. Lots of Blaster PB, some heat, and hitting the hub to force it to "spin" in the housing worked.

I marked the upright location so I could put it back together close enough to drive for a day or 2 until I was able to get it aligned.

[fastfredracing]

This is when I laugh about people who think mechanics make too much money . I would probably get paid 1.25 hours for that job.

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

This is when I laugh about people who think mechanics make too much money . I would probably get paid 1.25 hours for that job.

And I am assuming you would use an air hammer with a chisel to split those apart.

Good tip.

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by DanielDudley

And I am assuming you would use an air hammer with a chisel to split those apart.

Good tip.

No, the air chisel is not much good until the bearing starts to move. I usually pound on the wheel flange ( the part his slide hammer pulled out). A few full swing good whacks with a heavy hammer knocks 99 % of them loose, then I either tap them out with the hammer , or air chisel.
If you think this one is tough, you should try to get one out of a rusty f 350.
I probably do at least 3-4 wheel bearings every week. Routine business. I have to do a set on an older 4 runner this morning. The owner started doing them himself, then gave up.
Hopefully today is a better day for you Pavulon. Once you have the upright out, you will be able to get a good clean swing at it, and it should pop right out. It is a rare occasion when I need a press to get them apart.