bimble7116

Hey Everyone,

I've just replaced the NSR wheel bearing on my 2001 Legacy 2.0GL estate - and just in case it's useful to anyone, here's how I got on.

I've just bought the car and it drove fine (106k miles on it) but there was a loud resonating (you can't ignore me!) howl from the NSR wheel area. The purchase price reflected this snag and that the clutch, which, despite working well is really stiff - so the lump will need to come out for that shortly. I ordered a new wheel bearing from the local factor that I know well and who stock a lot of Japanese made stuff for Scoobies.

The bearing is a large, substantial piece of engineering - which goes some way to explaining why it's £85!

So car on blocks, wheel off. Using a long bar and 32mm surface drive socket, the drive shaft retention nut needs to come off. It didn't look like the beast had been apart before with the exception of the brakes. Having said that, even the caliper bolts were butch tight and took a fair bit of grunt to shift them. With the caliper itself hung on an adjacent arm, the brake pads and the bracket removed, release the handbrake and the disc pops right off.

You then have the brake shoes that operate the handbrake winking at you - a bundle of springs and 2 fiddly retention clips to enjoy! These have to come off, so have a good look at how the springs are arranged - they're not too bad, then release the shoe retention clips. I found that there was a bit of a knack for this - compressed the spring with one pair of snipe nosed pliers, then turned the pin with another pair of snipe nosed - and voila off they came.

The bearing housing and hub assembly is right there in front of you. There are 4 x 14mm bolts to undo which are accessed from behind the back plate. They will be tight - I found a 6 point surface drive socket more effective at getting them moving. With the bolts out, you'd think the bearing and hub assembly would be reasonably willing to come out from it's recessed housing...?

Not so, it took a sustained session of pretty unsubtle persuasion, plenty of penetrating oil, a big drift and a bigger hammer! Eventually it budged a little, then with simultaneous use of pry bars it levered out.

With the lot on the bench it's then a matter of separating the hub from the bearing - not easy as they're tightly together and have been for years! Ideally a hydraulic press would be the weapon of choice - but with such luxuries not being available, I improvised using a vice, some metal bars to provide enough clearance for the hub to be driven out using a suitably sized old socket and the mark 1 long handled 2 pound hammer!

After several blows the hub emerged from the bearing - albeit with the outer bearing race still clinging to the hub. This wasn't going to shift without help - I used an angle grinder. Working slowly, with care, you can grind away a flat of the clinging race until it's so thin that a sharp chisel will cut through it along it's length which releases its grip and it will ping off with a slight hammer tap. An alternative would be to heat the thing up with a blow lamp and give it a wallop to get it off.

Back to the car, remember to offer up the brake backplate with the new bearing and slot the bolts into position. Tighten the bolts progressively in turn will ease the bearing into position - make sure they are properly tight. Now at this point I should point out that the preferred way to proceed would be to re-fit the hub to the bearing using a hydraulic press - before fitting the bearing to the car. In my case, I fitted the hub to the bearing after it was back on the car by driving it home with a big drift and that trusty long handled hammer (which cost me 50p at a car boot!). I did wince a bit whilst doing this - more than a bit - as it can't be good for the bearing.

When the drive shaft emerged through the hub, I fitted the old hub nut (there's a new one provided with the new bearing) and tightened it progressively to ease the hub fully home into the bearing. I then removed and discarded the old nut, fitted the new one and tightened it to 120 lbs/feet.

Start to see the job taking shape - with the hand brake shoes now to re-fit. It's a potch - taking patience and persistence. I fitted the trailing or rear shoe first, the securing pin is a fiddle to locate - when it was located, I used a blunt phillips screwdriver to push the pin against the spring, then turned the spring cap with a pair of snipe nosed pliers to lock the pin and the shoe in place.

Fitting the leading or front shoe, you need to locate the lower spring and the manual adjuster whilst holdng the shoe in place, locating the securing pin and then locking it and the shoe in place. Having someone to help with holding things would make it much easier. The two short top springs, one for each shoe then need to be fitted between the shoes and the central locating pin at the 12 o'clock position.

Turn the manual adjuster until the disc fits snugly back in position, then try out the handbrake for 'feel right' travel. Refit the caliper bracket, the brake pads and the caliper. Just leaves re-fitting the road wheel, removing the car off it's blocks and test drive. With my car, that loud intrusive noise that had motivated me to sort this asap was gone, which has greatly improved the car.

Hope this helps - it's not too bad a job. Plan ahead a little, see if you can find someone who will press the hub out the old bearing and into the new. I would think a 10 tonne press would suffice. Other than that, be methodical and don't be shy to use firm methods to get things moving. Most older Legacies will be on the wheel bearings they left the factory with - so understandably will need some 'grunt' to shift.

Best regards

Andy H