tmanley

1996 a4 quattro auto 2.8l v6

Replacing rear wheel bearing. came out ok...was in BAD shape and where the bearing goes into hub assembly is nice and clean/smooth and good shape.

Ive gotten the bearing pressed in about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way. but MAN in all ive ready Ive never heard how much force is "NORMAL" to press that puppy in!! I have put what i feel is ALOT of pressure and its been a bear to get it in! shes going in even and all that just im afraid gonna break it. I cant it to go anymore with a 600ft lb air wrench....

IS THIS NORMAL!! Any TRICKS to get in? tried heating up the outer portion to try and expand a little but man..shes is a reall PITA it get it seated all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks

ECS Tuning-Audi

Seams pretty normal to me usually shops use a press which will apply up to 3000lbs of pressure.

Jason

mtroxel

When I do that I use a 12 ton bearing press. Not sure how that compares with a "600ft lb air wrench" (sounds like a torque measure) but it does take serious force. Once the new bearing is even with the casting, I use the old bearing as a "pusher" to press it in that last 1/4 inch or so. Then you can knock out the old bearing with a hammer.

jschick

yes you need a press! and you MUST use something that presses on the outer race of the Bearing Do not press on the inner part of the bearing you will destroy it! as said above you can use the old bearing or I use a metal plate since the old bearing will tend to get stuck in their!!! Also make sure you put it in the right way, this bearing only fits one way!! if you haven't noticed one side of the bearing the inner hole is smaller then the other side!! so the wheel hub fits one way! I have rushed them just to realize I put it in upside down.

mtroxel

Ouch! I haven't done that.................................yet.

tmanley

ouch is right. I did make sure...in fact Im going to have to pop the hub back off as that is sorta on now as I tried using that for the last bit. Gonna have to pop that out which should not be too bad and sounds like with that sorta force going to have to grind down a large washer I have for the rest of the press into the unit as the only bearing was toast and cannot be used.

So ok...I was like what the heck....so you do need the press. I saw some how too where they didnt so thought maybe they were not that bad.

ok.....will get it off and then just plan on an aligment. I had to replace the lower control arm anyways so I already needed an aligment.

Thanks guys.......appreciate it.

goodys90

How did you get the old one out?

5v/cyl

+1 Usually the most force needed is to get old one to start to move. New one should go in easy compared to getting the old to move the first few mm's.

HBAudi

If you use the hub to push the bearing into the carrier you will damage the bearing and shorten its operational life. To seat the bearing fully, the outer race of the old bearing can be used if .5mm to 1mm is removed from the outer surface with a grinder or lathe.

Before you attempt to remove the hub from the bearing, take the carrier and hub to a reputable machine shop so it can be removed without further damage to the new bearing.

Catamount90

As soon as you pull the hub out, the bearing will be destroyed.

If you've already pressed in the hub, you're going to need a new bearing.