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How to change a rear wheel bearing on an E30
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How to change a rear wheel bearing on an E30
Your resource to do-it-yourself and interesting bmw and e30 stuff: www.rtsauto.com
Your resource to tools and tips: www.rtstools.comTags: None
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Awesome! Looks great!Estoguy
1986 BMW 325, Alpenweiss ~ "Elsa"
Need a photographer, come visit my site: http://estoguy.wix.com/unique-perspectives
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Looks like OEM tools just ripped off SIR tools; they copied their B90 tool.
Still not cheap, but a significant difference between the B90 at $700 and Oemtools at $316.05.
Your resource to do-it-yourself and interesting bmw and e30 stuff: www.rtsauto.com
Your resource to tools and tips: www.rtstools.com
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Originally posted by Das Delfin View Post^ harbor freight sells a version of that kit for $110. Called the "FWD wheel bearing kit"
This is a very satisfying job to do
A lot of parts stores rent FWD kits for free (with deposit).
The B90 tool is generally more complete for Euro cars than most FWD kits, so if its a long term investment, it makes sense since you can use it on other euros.Your resource to do-it-yourself and interesting bmw and e30 stuff: www.rtsauto.com
Your resource to tools and tips: www.rtstools.com
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Nice write up and just used this yesterday. But I rented the slide hammer hub puller from Advance Auto, here it didnt fit the 4x100 bolt pattern. Without modifying their part and some hoe handle engineering I made it work. But looking on line at others they don't specify that they go down to that small of pattern. I did notice some had two flanges in them.
1992 BMW 325iC
1978 Chevrolet Monte Carlo1965 Chevrolet Corvair Monza 140hp
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Originally posted by JasonC View PostNice write up and just used this yesterday. But I rented the slide hammer hub puller from Advance Auto, here it didnt fit the 4x100 bolt pattern. Without modifying their part and some hoe handle engineering I made it work. But looking on line at others they don't specify that they go down to that small of pattern. I did notice some had two flanges in them.
Got it from Autozone
it's a Kenny Powers quote on wheels
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Originally posted by Das Delfin View PostWhen I did mine I had to rent the slide hammer and hub adapter as two separate items. There were two different sized hub adapters and of course I got the wrong one the first time. This is what worked for me.
Got it from AutozoneYour resource to do-it-yourself and interesting bmw and e30 stuff: www.rtsauto.com
Your resource to tools and tips: www.rtstools.com
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Thanks noid for the writeup, this was super helpful. Some notes here from the rust belt for anyone in the future who they might help.
I went the fancy route (w/ the OEMTools 27213) thinking that it's not that much more than a slide hammer and the cheapo bearings-only kit from HF and would probably work the best/easiest. But I kind of wish I hadn't, especially since I could've just borrowed those two tools from a parts store. Maybe the fancy kit works well for parts that aren't as fused as mine, but in my case I bent the cross bar of the hub puller, destroyed the washer and spacer, and had to buy an extra spacer to put direct pressure on the hub spindle (more on that). It will also mangle/flatten the slots that the e-brake shoes clip into. That said, I can't tell you how it would've gone with the slide hammer, maybe worse, so take that for what you will.
The Bentley says to break the axle nut first while the car is still on the ground, this ended up being how I did it (after hammering out the locking plate) with a breaker bar and cheater since my impact didn't have the juice.
There's one big issue with the hub puller design for hubs as fused as mine was: the tapered nut applies outward flaring pressure on the hub spindle, you can see here how it basically fits inside the hub and pushes both toward the outside of the car but also radially outward on the inside of the hub spindle:
In my case this was enough pressure to lock it to the bearing. And unfortunately, none of the provided plates are small enough diameter to match the hub spindle. You can install one backwards but it's not deep enough to push the hub the whole way out, and even once I got it started, switching back to the nut didn't work. What I ultimately did was buy a spacer that is close to (but less than) the diameter of the hub spindle, so it'd apply force only in the correct direction. Sockets won't work because they don't have enough inner diameter, you need something roughly 1.5" OD and 1" ID. If you don't already have something, what I got was an Amana Tool 67235 High Precision Steel Spacer, 1" in length, for $13. Then assemble with a plate like this:
Getting the old inner bearing race off the hub was not easy with it super fused, I tried chisels but that just mangled the lip on the hub. Ultimately what worked was borrowing a bolt buster, wrapping the coils around the race, and getting it as glowing red molten as possible. With the hub face up, the race just dropped off for me once I got it hot enough (you want it flipped over from how it is in the photo and come at the race from the bottom, I perched it on the hub puller):
As E30 Wagen says you have to support the bearing as you're installing the hub or else you will push your brand new bearing apart.
The Ford axle kit worked exactly as advertised and made that step a breeze.
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Originally posted by natefoo View PostThanks noid for the writeup, this was super helpful. Some notes here from the rust belt for anyone in the future who they might help.
I went the fancy route (w/ the OEMTools 27213) thinking that it's not that much more than a slide hammer and the cheapo bearings-only kit from HF and would probably work the best/easiest. But I kind of wish I hadn't, especially since I could've just borrowed those two tools from a parts store. Maybe the fancy kit works well for parts that aren't as fused as mine, but in my case I bent the cross bar of the hub puller, destroyed the washer and spacer, and had to buy an extra spacer to put direct pressure on the hub spindle (more on that). It will also mangle/flatten the slots that the e-brake shoes clip into. That said, I can't tell you how it would've gone with the slide hammer, maybe worse, so take that for what you will.
The Bentley says to break the axle nut first while the car is still on the ground, this ended up being how I did it (after hammering out the locking plate) with a breaker bar and cheater since my impact didn't have the juice.
There's one big issue with the hub puller design for hubs as fused as mine was: the tapered nut applies outward flaring pressure on the hub spindle, you can see here how it basically fits inside the hub and pushes both toward the outside of the car but also radially outward on the inside of the hub spindle:
In my case this was enough pressure to lock it to the bearing. And unfortunately, none of the provided plates are small enough diameter to match the hub spindle. You can install one backwards but it's not deep enough to push the hub the whole way out, and even once I got it started, switching back to the nut didn't work. What I ultimately did was buy a spacer that is close to (but less than) the diameter of the hub spindle, so it'd apply force only in the correct direction. Sockets won't work because they don't have enough inner diameter, you need something roughly 1.5" OD and 1" ID. If you don't already have something, what I got was an Amana Tool 67235 High Precision Steel Spacer, 1" in length, for $13. Then assemble with a plate like this:
Getting the old inner bearing race off the hub was not easy with it super fused, I tried chisels but that just mangled the lip on the hub. Ultimately what worked was borrowing a bolt buster, wrapping the coils around the race, and getting it as glowing red molten as possible. With the hub face up, the race just dropped off for me once I got it hot enough (you want it flipped over from how it is in the photo and come at the race from the bottom, I perched it on the hub puller):
As E30 Wagen says you have to support the bearing as you're installing the hub or else you will push your brand new bearing apart.
The Ford axle kit worked exactly as advertised and made that step a breeze.
Sounds like the OEMTools clone version has some weak metallurgy compared to the SIR kit.
I think, I may redefine 'fancy' now as using the OEM Tool - 83300492287, especially because its less than even the OEMTools kit. It doesn't have provisions for removing the hub, but the factory manual looks like it intends for you to hammer it out anyways; and so a slide hammer is the tool of choice.
As for removing the inner race, my preferred tool of choice is a posi lok (103, or a 104 might fit too).
Your resource to do-it-yourself and interesting bmw and e30 stuff: www.rtsauto.com
Your resource to tools and tips: www.rtstools.com
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