Rear (and Front) Wheel Bearing Replacement (5spd).

lookforjoe

True Classic
Picking up from this thread. Rear Bearings are 37x37x72mm. You can use Fiat 500 front wheel bearings for the rear.

I had to redo one rear wheel bearing from 2015, and replace the other side original (137K miles)

Fiat diagram. Plate (#5) is actually between 1 & 2, since it installs from the backside of the hub & sits against the back of the inner bearing seat. 3 & 7 are identical rubber lip seals that are stretched over the ridge on #1 stub shaft, and the inner ridge on #8 hub

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I already had the control arms off the car for the K24 work. I did not remove the spindle from the control arm to do this work. Little fiddly doing the press work, but not that bad. I don't want to deal with the balljoints at this point, so I'm not touching them & risking damage.

So, remove either the entire arm, or follow the manual & remove just the spindle, as you prefer.

With the brakes removed, locate a suitable press tool / old socket that will fit inside (pass through) the inner bearing race - to use to press out the hub

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I used a three-arm puller to press out the hubs - make sure puller is centered as possible, so you don't hurt yourself. Applying force with an uneven setup can make the puller arms fly off the spindle(!)

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The back plate ear is a different offset than the caliper ears, so I added a shim to get the puller arms even

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Use your favorite impact to zip the hub off

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When you do this, the outer inner race may stay stuck on the hub shaft. If it does (one of mine did), I found the easiest way to remove it is to cut diagonally with a cutting disc going most of the way through to the center, then whack slot with a cold chisel to split it open. You don't want to cut all the way through the race or you will likely mar/damage the hub shaft.

With that out the way, unstake the retaining ring

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Then remove it with the tool (I bought mine from MWB)

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They can be really tight - I used a 3/4 long breaker bar

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having multiple vices is not a bad thing :)

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that will expose the bearing

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Find another socket or press tool that will fit over the bearing inner race, but sit inside the rear dust seal plate (#5)

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Use the three jaw puller to press the bearing out from the rear. Spindle clamped in vice.

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and out

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clean out any debris, clean lock ring threads, I put a little grease in the spindle cup where the bearing will be inserted. Inner seat and dust seal seat visible in this pic

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Bearing must be installed in spindle first, then hub second. Outer ridge of outer bearing race needs to take the load when bearing is pressed, and inner bearing race ridge when hub is pressed.

Pics here are not great, I was doing this outside in the dark at this point. Press lives on the backside of my garage. Control arm is set behind the press for this operation, the way I chose to do it. Plate & spacer on top, to make sure load is placed on the spindle. Bearing was tapped into opening of spindle prior to putting in the press, to make sure it is started square to opening. Old bearing is placed under to push new in place. If you do this with only the spindle, then the new bearing and spindle would likely be reversed in the press (bearing on top)
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make sure press tool (old bearing) does not ride against the threads for the lock ring

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You will feel when the bearing is seated.

After that, install the lock ring with some nevr-seize, and stake

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Install new dust/grease seal on hub ridge

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Press hub into spindle, using an old inner race to press only on the new inner race

Pic taken after the fact, hub is already seated here
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Control arm tucked behind press again here. Press until no movement is felt. Backside of hub will be clear of spindle outer ridge.

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That's it. Sorry aboout poor press pics.

CV bolts - 31ft/lb
Axle nut - 159 ft/lb

Front Knuckle & Hub Assembly

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Front Hub (10): press out of knuckle (1) in same manner as rear, after removing lock nut, heavy washer & inner seal (3,4,5)

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remove outer seal (7) from hub

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EDIT: Alternate inner seal / thrust washer (my car has different design on either side)

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Outer half of inner race stuck on hub - easier way to get it off, IMO, is to use a chisel to push a gap between the race & shoulder

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You can use the puller once the gap is present - or just lever it off

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Knock out the inner thrust washer (2)

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outer thrust washer (9)

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manual says "remove internal lock ring (8) ", then remove the thrust ring (9) - problem is the lock ring is BEHIND the thrust ring

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So, the thrust ring (9) - the only practical way I could find to remove it was to punch it carefully from the other side

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thrust washer (9) & old bearing seal remnant

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Lock ring (8) is now accessible

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to be continued...

....Ok, so many thanks to Steve Holescher for the suggestion/tip for lock ring removal. Based on his description, I drilled a small hole (3/16") in the knuckle land so that I could get a pick behind the lock ring - perhaps more aggressive (in terms of depth) than his suggestion - I used a 1/4" bit - but it makes removal a breeze

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EDIT: alternate lock ring - "L"/stepped design - my car has one of each style

also drilled the edge (3/16") to allow easy ring removal
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With that removed, I pressed out the old bearing remnant

inset plate to press against bearing race ridge - you can't press on the OD of the race as there is a shoulder in the way, unlike the rears

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set against caliper / dust shield flanges to keep it true

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I cleaned the bore, applied a little grease to the wall & pressed in the new bearing. I did it in two stages - press flush, then flip & press to shoulder

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for the 2nd stage I split a bearing race - I could have use the old Fiat one, but I had a shallower one from a Volvo carrier bearing (32008x) I felt my secure using a shallow open race vs. a deeper one

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shoulder plate and guide for press

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The split race pulls back out by hand with ease.

Then the lock ring (8) goes in. I positioned it so it blocks off the base of the drilled slot

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next step is to tap the outer thrust ring (9) back in the knuckle

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and clean the hub spindle & install the v-ring seal (7). I use liberal amounts of bearing grease

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I used one of the old inner races to press against the new inner race, to make sure no load is placed anywhere else on the bearing. Sleeve ensures sufficient room for hub spindle to come through. No real effort required to press the hub into place.

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After that, the rear thrust ring (2) goes in - I used the split race to tap it in place evenly

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then the rear thick washer/seat with new seal (5), cleaned & liberally greased

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then torque hub spindle nut, 159ft/lb & stake the nut (10)

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I put 2 studs/nuts into the hub flange to make sure the hub could not rotate in the vice whilst torquing to spec

Torque-Hub-Nut1.jpg
 
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Nice documentation. I've had much practice at replacing X wheel bearings. When the cars first came out, there was a problem with the bearing seals. I had to replace all four by ~20K. That was actually considered good back then as many bearings went bad on the sea trip and dealers were replacing bearings on cars with no mileage on them. The 74 cars did not originally come with the outer dust seals but I decided to try installing one last year when I had to replace a rear bearing. It seemed to go together OK although I found that depending on the specific bearing construction, it may or may not help. I found that some bearings have their integral seals tied to the outer race, and some to the inner race so the area benefiting from additional sealing can be in different places.
 
Excellent write up on a chore many will end up doing if they own their car long enough. It's so much easier to form a plan when you have a visual understanding of what is involved.
Digging around on the MWB site I noticed the 4 speed cars use a 45mm bearing and the 5 speeds use 50mm so all the parts are different starting in '79.
 
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You can use Fiat 500 front wheel bearings
Adding to what "Cratecruncher" said about bearing sizes. I don't recall hearing before that the new 500 front bearings are the same as the 5-speed X's (which by the way are the same front and rear I believe), so thanks for posting that bit of info. It's good to know; although the bearings are available for the X, the supply seems to fluctuate and I've noticed the quality also varies. So the newer 500 parts might be more accessible and/or better quality...or not, we'll see. But good to know the option existes. Makes sense they would fit as the rotors and other parts also fit.
 
better quality...or not

- ha! or NOT! (at least the rears on the 500, they fail very quickly).

5 spd X1/9 bearings are different front and rear (4spd cars are the same IIRC), and apparently the X1/9 rears are the same size as the 500 Abarth front bearings (and according to this thread, 500 front bearings are all the same size (500 Pop/Lounge/Abarth).

I found some NOS SKF rear bearings. I put some aftermarket ones in there, but there is measurable play in them that is enough to affect the brake pad parallelism in the brackets/relative to the rotor.
 
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I know this an old thread but I'm doing this now. I pressed the old bearings out, but done the hot and cold trick for the new bearings. Put the control arm in the oven for 30 mins and the bearing in the freezer for 4 hours. Bearing dropped straight in. A nice 'clink' sound as it bottoms out.
 
Now it seems I need to do the fronts - at least the pass side - there is a very funky & scary movement going on in the front end & the only thing I can find is play in the r/f under certain wheel rotation & turn angles pulling/pushing at 12 & 6 o'clock. What's weird to me is that it feels different in different spots. Anyway, I can't find a thread or wiki on the front replacement.

EDIT - main post edited to show front bearing replacement

My recollection is that on my '87 all four corners have the same bearing & (essentially) same procedure?

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EDIT - looks like fronts are smaller than the rears

Front 35mm ID, 67mm OD, 37mm wide. 7634573 from MWB

Rear 37mm ID, 72mm OD, 37mm wide. Fiat 500 listing or 82289841 from MWB

Turns out I already have one of the BREDA bearings MWB sells - I must have bought it from them years ago, so I can do the right side, and get another to take care of the left when I need to.
 
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My recollection is that on my '87 all four corners have the same bearing
Although I haven't replaced any of mine yet - I thought so as well, but both you and Myron have since posted otherwise.

I see the earlier portion of this thread detailing the bearing install procedure has lost its pics. Any chance you still have them to replenish the write up? I'll be doing this repair one day, likely both the fronts and rears, and would like to review how you did/do them.
 
Although I haven't replaced any of mine yet - I thought so as well, but both you and Myron have since posted otherwise.

I see the earlier portion of this thread detailing the bearing install procedure has lost its pics. Any chance you still have them to replenish the write up? I'll be doing this repair one day, likely both the fronts and rears, and would like to review how you did/do them.

The pics should come back - seems to be an issue with PostImage - when I go into my account, some pics load, some don't.

I'll add pics to this for the front replacement, in case there is a change worthy of note in the procedure. Looks very similar in the factory manual though.
 
I just did front bearings on an '82 (see my 'things you find' thread). 1500 front bearings are smaller than the rears.

Its 1300s that have the same bearings at all four corners. The fronts are the same in either car. The 1500 cars have a larger rear.

Did you get the seal kits too?
 
I just did front bearings on an '82 (see my 'things you find' thread). 1500 front bearings are smaller than the rears.

Its 1300s that have the same bearings at all four corners. The fronts are the same in either car. The 1500 cars have a larger rear.

Did you get the seal kits too?

Yes - I saw the pics of the stubs, Looks like they really went to town getting the bearings off :( Fortunate that they were able to be cleaned up satisfactorily!

The rubber lip seal? I did order another pair to go with the bearing I ordered. For the one I have on hand, I have one new seal. I found with the rears that one seal faired worse than the other, so I'm hoping I find the same situation. I didn't order any of the 'hardware' inside there besides new axle nuts. The bearing hasn't exploded, so I'm expecting all the thrust washers, etc., to be useable.
 
The fronts are a little different in how the seals fit/work. The seal kit includes the two inserts that the seal's lip engages. They are simple stamped pieces with a flat surface for the lip to ride against.

I have pictures somewhere.
 
The fronts are a little different in how the seals fit/work. The seal kit includes the two inserts that the seal's lip engages. They are simple stamped pieces with a flat surface for the lip to ride against.

I have pictures somewhere.

Whom did you use for the kit? MWB only lists individual components.
 
Matt has the individual components on the website.

I had the kits in my parts inventory. I have a _lot_ of parts. I bought these from International some time ago.
 

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Note: I'll update the first post with the pics & process as it went for me. I started on it, but ran out of time.

Matt has the individual components on the website.

Steve - what did you use to remove the lock ring? It's not like a 'normal' snap ring with the taper from in/out to allow purchase of snap ring pliers...
 
Note: I'll update the first post with the pics & process as it went for me. I started on it, but ran out of time.



Steve - what did you use to remove the lock ring? It's not like a 'normal' snap ring with the taper from in/out to allow purchase of snap ring pliers...

When I was doing that job I kept thinking I should shoot a video. :)

One of the two I was able to get a pick in behind the top edge. The snap ring is an L shape. On one of the two I was able to get the pick in behind the top of the L and create enough space to get a thin flat blade screwdriver behind it and then work it out.

The other one I couldn't get a purchase with the pick. So I drilled a tiny hole at the intersection of the snap ring and the hub carrier. It was just large enough to let me get the pick in behind the edge of the snap ring and work it out as I did the first one.
 
When I was doing that job I kept thinking I should shoot a video. :)

One of the two I was able to get a pick in behind the top edge. The snap ring is an L shape. On one of the two I was able to get the pick in behind the top of the L and create enough space to get a thin flat blade screwdriver behind it and then work it out.

The other one I couldn't get a purchase with the pick. So I drilled a tiny hole at the intersection of the snap ring and the hub carrier. It was just large enough to let me get the pick in behind the edge of the snap ring and work it out as I did the first one.

I saw that in the exploded view, and assumed it was just a bad illustration - how on earth is the not visible part of the "L" going to come out if it's behind the bearing?? I had a go with a pick, I'll try again tomorrow, just ran out of time to futz with it. The hole you drilled went from the outside of the casting though to the inner channel the lock ring sits in? I'm not clear on that.
 
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