Front wheel hub retainer ring bolts

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:37 pm

After seeing that the 2002 FSM said "remove bolts, slide hub assembly out of knuckle", I figured it would be easier and faster to replace my wheel studs if the hub was out of the knuckle. The diagram in the FSM made it look easy. And I didn't have a computer handy to consult 2gn.org first. THAT was my mistake.

Anyway, after backing the 3 bolts out that hold the hub retaining ring on, I realized that there' no way the hub is coming out of the knuckle while the knuckle is still on the car. And I don't want to take the knuckle off.

But now, I can't get 2 of those 3 bolts to start back into their holes. So it looks like my only option is to continue to take the hub out.

My question is: is there ANY way to get the front hub out of the knuckle while the knuckle is still on the car? Thanks.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:48 pm

Good luck. In theory, you can use something like a silver slapper and a special mount to try and slam the hub out (they do this to Subarus at my work). I wouldn't want to do it this way though. Oh, and you will need a new wheel bearing as well.

Here is a better idea...why don't you just knock the studs out while the hub is still installed? It is so much easier.

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:24 am

Danteneon wrote:Good luck. In theory, you can use something like a silver slapper and a special mount to try and slam the hub out (they do this to Subarus at my work). I wouldn't want to do it this way though. Oh, and you will need a new wheel bearing as well.

Here is a better idea...why don't you just knock the studs out while the hub is still installed? It is so much easier.

Yeah, I did. The old studs are out, that was easy. The new studs are really long, so they don't squeeze in the back, because it's not a straight shot. The knuckle is in the way, so you have to angle them through...and the extra length makes that song and dance a real pain. The options were: remove the hub, or trim the studs a little (just enough to get them weaseled through). Because the FSM made it look and sound easy.....we went for the remove hub option, instead of trimming 20 studs.

The real problem now, is that we can't get those retainer ring bolts started back into the knuckle. There's no space to work, because you're sandwiched between the back of the hub, and the front of the knuckle. And the thread's probably got tweaked, because we backed the bolts out against the hub, hoping it would push it out.

Hindsight: take the time to just trim all the darn studs....

Post by **Diablo0** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 3:42 am

My guess is you don't want to have to get an alignment huh? If so... been there but I was replacing the wheel bearing.

What I did wasn't perfect but I feel it worked. I removed bolt from the ball joint to free that p and then removed the 3 bolts at the tophat of the strut. Then removed the bolts for the ABS sensor and brake line. Then removed the hub nut for the axle and removed the whole knuckle/hub as one big assembly.

From there I just used the press to press out the hub/bearing. As I'm pressing out the hub/bearing I'm slowly unscrewing those 3 bolts, press a little more, unscrew a little more.

Once everything is back together just reinstall the whole thing in the car. The alignment may not be perfect if the 3 tophat bolts are slightly off from where they were but it should be close.

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:36 pm

What about the tie rod end? Just disconnect it at the knuckle?

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 10:27 pm

Yes.

I miss the P bodies a lot when it comes to the wheel bearings. On those, you can slide them out of the knuckle by hand. I still don't understand the logic of going backwards to the early FWD days...

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:37 am

Well, the front right corner is getting all kinds of new stuff now. The strut, knuckle and control arm are all off the car.

New wheel bearing, new tie rod end, and new ball joint are all in the recipe for the fix. The wheel bearing had a lot of play in it, the tie rod end as well....pretty rattly. The ball joint is preventative, I remember doing ball joints on my old car around 100k....so while I'm right here, I'm doing this one.

What did everyone use to press the new wheel bearing in? I've got a socket that will work to push is OUT, but nothing big enough to catch the outer race when pushing it in.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the funny story behind my dad and I getting off track with the project right from the beginning. When we were deciding if we wanted to try to take the hub out, I consulted the FSM to see how doable it was. Well, the 2002 Neon FSM and the 2002 Dakota FSM are both blue, and look very similar. I accidentally grabbed the Dakota FSM, flipped it open and looked at procedure for removing the hub. It said to disconnect all the normal stuff and then slide it out. So right off the bat, we were thinking it came out easy. It wasnt until we looked back at the FSM again for something else, and Dad saw something about an UPPER ball joint. He was like what in the heck is going on here.......so he flipped it shut and sure enough: 2002 Dodge Dakota on the cover.

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:44 am

I haven't done it yet, but if you can get the old one off the hub, just grind the outer diameter down so it won't stick in the bore if it goes that far. It is the right size.

Or if you have a decent piece of heavy flat stock, lay it across the bearing.

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:52 am

occasional demons wrote:I haven't done it yet, but if you can get the old one off the hub, just grind the outer diameter down so it won't stick in the bore if it goes that far. It is the right size.

Or if you have a decent piece of heavy flat stock, lay it across the bearing.

Ok. The flat stock is available for sure. I tell you what, this design is pretty retarded. To push the old bearing out, you HAVE to ruin it, because the outer race is hidden in the knuckle.

Post by **Diablo0** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:09 am

quicksilvr wrote:new wheel bearing in? I've got a socket that will work to push is OUT, but nothing big enough to catch the outer race when pushing it in.

I used to do it the way you shouldn't. I used to take the retainer ring and place it on the bearing as it should be then press the hub into the bearing then press that whole assembly into the knuckle. Not exactly the best way to do it since all the pressing force is on the inside race of the bearing which could cause it to seperate if when pressing in it doesn't go in smoothly.

I've since picked up a wheel bearing kit at Harbor Freight... it was a tad pricey but works much better since it has nice large plates that cover the whole bearing so the pressing force is distributed over the whole assembly.

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 3:55 pm

Ok, I got this all done today, and it was actually pretty easy with just a press and some big sockets. No other special tools needed, except a torch.

I'm going to write a How-To while it's fresh in my mind.

Here's one picture of it all setup on the press, after pushing the hub into the bearing.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 4:54 pm

Yep. With a press and a couple of adaptors (or whatever you can find) it is pretty easy.

What sucks is when you press in your new hub about halfway into the new bearing and notice that you forgot to bolt on the retaining ring. Getting the hub back out without ruining anything is the real challenge. Don't ask me how I know

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 4:57 pm

Danteneon wrote:Yep. With a press and a couple of adaptors (or whatever you can find) it is pretty easy.

What sucks is when you press in your new hub about halfway into the new bearing and notice that you forgot to bolt on the retaining ring. Getting the hub back out without ruining anything is the real challenge. Don't ask me how I know

Yes, that sounds like something that might happen to me too. However, we made an obvious point to NOT do that.

Here's a link to the new How-To for everyone reading this thread.

viewtopic.php?t=57699