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Did I remove this hub bearing wrong? (post-mortem)

Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Asked by UuDdLrLrSs on January 6, 2021

I’ve removed the front left hub bearing assembly on my Subaru. Its the type which bolts in place so you don’t need a press.

To get the old one out I used a slide hammer. This was semi-successful – it took a lot of banging to finally get it to budge, only it didn’t so much remove the assembly as disintegrate it:

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The actual hub with the lugs came out, and the flange + inside race portions were left in the car. I separated the flange from the knuckle using a chisel. That went OK though I dinged the heat shield a little.

This question is intended as a post-mortem. Did I do something wrong? Would there be a more effective procedure to use when I do the other side?

Other details:

  • I did apply some penetrating oil to the bolts and the flange in advance. Bolts came out no problem. I found some corrosion on the flange portion (not terrible)

  • The axle nut was of course removed before attempting to remove the bearing

  • Didn’t use heat or anything other than the slide hammer

  • Slide hammer had "universal" fitting which went on the lugs.

One Answer

My guess would be that the assembly came apart for two reasons. The wear in the bearing caused some play between the inner race and the bearing shell. Some corrosion resulted in more resistance between the bearing mount and the knuckle than the bearing and the inner race. The result was the inner race wanted to come out easier than bearing mount. You did nothing wrong, you got the defective part out albeit in pieces. This is a classic case where a small amount of anti-seize during initial assembly would have made the job much easier.

Answered by mikes on January 6, 2021

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