How to replace front hubs

most of the time if they resist resulting in around 25 ft lbs of torque they're fine.

nice write-up!

Looks like I'm tackling this on Saturday - my passenger hub went bad (had 170K miles on it). Ordered a Timken from Rock Auto.

Replaced the pass hub yesterday and that wasn't too bad at all. The hub bolts came out quite easily fortunately. The hardest ones to get loose were the caliper bracket bolts. A word of advice in case it hasn't been mentioned yet is to remove the lower caliper bracket bolt first - that way the caliper won't try and spin off on you.

The 3rd picture shows a bracket below the hub. What is its use. On both sides of my car it is rubbing against the rotor and making a noise.

on my rear hubs i just put my doughnut tire on and kicked it a few times and it broke the hub loose so much easier then pounding it off

Originally Posted by Utter99

on my rear hubs i just put my doughnut tire on and kicked it a few times and it broke the hub loose so much easier then pounding it off

Wonder if this will work for the front? I will be doing this job in the next few weeks.

Originally Posted by veener79

Wonder if this will work for the front? I will be doing this job in the next few weeks.

Yea it should work the same. Personally never done it that way but a little pb blaster and a slide hammer and the thing comes out easily. The tire thing and the slide hammer are sorta the same general ideas.

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Tried to replace my front hub assembly today. I was able to get everything loose but the three hub bolts. All three started to round off so I just called it quits. Any hints on getting these bolts off? I've got them soaked with PB Blaster, but thats a pretty long bolt to get soaked. Any suggestions welcomed.

Turn the steering wheel to the left and then to the right and use a 3/8 drive socket with an extension. Just did this today too.

Smoke14, thats just what I did. No luck at all. I quit before the bolts were rounded completely off. I guess I'll take it to the shop and let them have a go at it.

Soak everything in WD-40. Keep the socket square and the bolts shouldn't round off. Patience helps too. I had to use a pipe on my ratchet to break them loose so I used anti-sieze when I put them back in.

if you take the 2 strut bolts out, and pop the tie rod out of the knuckle, you can push the axle out of the hub, and then have a clear shot at these 3 bolts.

Originally Posted by marines542

Yea it should work the same. Personally never done it that way but a little pb blaster and a slide hammer and the thing comes out easily. The tire thing and the slide hammer are sorta the same general ideas.

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Did not think of a slid hammer. I have a nice set this one

OTC 7948 10-Way Slide Hammer Puller Set with Storage Case : Amazon.com : Automotive

Hope that will work well.

Originally Posted by scottydoggs

if you take the 2 strut bolts out, and pop the tie rod out of the knuckle, you can push the axle out of the hub, and then have a clear shot at these 3 bolts.

Good to know. I also have to replace the tie-rod ends. That could make it a lot easier. Going to have to get an alignment after the job either way.

Well this morning I replaced both hubs and both tie rod ends in about 3 hours. The car is now over for an alignment. I would recommend if you can get the tie rods off. It makes it very easy move things around.

The passenger side was so easy. The hub fell right out I was shocked. Mostly because I live in the Chicago area and all the salt.

The drivers side was a lot bigger pain. I had to cut off the end of the bolt to get tie rod off. I could not get the rotor off after about 10min of hitting it. So I just left it on till I get the hub off and then hit the hub against the floor and it came right off.

Also the hub did not want to come out. I used my slid hammer and it came right off after 3 hits. I would recommend a slid hammer for this any time!

I've done hubs many times on 3 different cars now, and the easiest way to get the hubs off after the bolts are out is demonstrated on the 1aauto video...put a screwdriver on the back of the hub, and bash the hell out of it with a hammer. Sometimes the hub will separate from the metal sleeve against the knuckle, but that's pretty easy to dig out with a screwdriver/vice grips (bend it out with the screwdriver, twist/pull with the grips). I also use ALOT of PB blaster for this job here in the midwest.

I've never rounded out a bolt, and like was said earlier - be patient with these things. Worst situation I've had with it is the top bolt...always seems the clamp on the axle boot is right in front of it and gives me one more thing to go around, but PB blaster, extensions, and alot of patience works well.

I've never replaced the hub bolts either, BTW, and never had issues. I've done hubs on my wifes Montana twice now (170,000 miles, 11 years old), and don't have issues with the bolts coming loose.

Tricks: The bolts are closer tolderance to 1/2" than 13mm. A 1/2" typically keeps you from rounding. Once the bolts are off and you've free'd the axle from the hub, I beat the hub with the BFH.