R33 Rear Wheel Bearing Replacement

[Cowboy1600]

Anyone able to take a punt and tell me why I cannot get the hub out?

I've removed the four bolts at the back and cannot find ANYTHING this is holding it on.

I hit it with the puller, it was very hard but I gave it a turn and something went bang and a tiny bit of broken metal fell out. It's easier to turn now but the WHOLE assembly is coming off the CV shaft.

It's got me buggered.

[Ryan180]

Great write up, i have just completed one side on my 180sx with an R33 rear end. I used this guide with a few little tricks of my own and i thought i might share them.

First of all, you will need a couple more tools doing this way

32mm socket

bearing press

bench vice

3 pronged pulley style puller

• 36mm socket

19mm – For 4x Bearing Bolts

• 17mm socket or spanner

• Breaker bar

• Jack and stands

• Leadlight

At this point, this is where the vice and a 32mm socket come into play. Place the hub assembly upside down resting the 4 bolt holes of the bearing on top of the vice jaws (studs pointing to the ground). Grab the 32mm socket and place inside of bearing and attach a1/2inch extender, now grab a decent sized hammer and bash the crap out of the socket. You will end up removing the bearing from the hub except for some of the inner casing. So you will still end up with a bearing looking like this.

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And this is what the hub looks like, to remove the rest of the bearing casing I used a dremel being careful not to score the hub, then gave it a few love taps with a chisel which will cause the bearing to crack right though, then just lightly pry it off with a flathead

I then pressed in the new bearing using the same vice, the vice I have wasn’t quite big enough for the job but still did the job, when pressing the bearing on the shaft it would get really tight in some spots, at that point I would gently tap the bearingwhich would help slide the bearing further on the shaft, repeated this method to fully seat the bearing.

And you’re done, just need to put it back on the car.

Hope this saves you a few hours

[Ryan180]

- While you have the hub off, take the disk backing plates off (can be done with hubs on but not as easy). The have a big impact on brake cooling and only serve to collect rocks as far as I can see.

I tired taking off the backing plate but soon realised you still need this to mount the handbrake shoes

[RSFOURDayz]

Gonna be doing this on friday coming, only i recon i'll just take my old hub and new bearing into my local brake shop and get them to do all the hard work lol

[whitenight27]

where did u get the hubs from?

[RSFOURDayz]

http://Nizzbits.com.au cost about 300bux.. Might be cheaper on ebay but i wanted good quality genuine nissan bearings since it's a prick of a job to change

[whitenight27]

ok Nissan has them for 250 might use them :-P

[RSFOURDayz]

Sory, i just looked up what i paid, it was 195 delivered. That's for an r34 though which uses the special GTR style beearing. I know just jap has them otherwise email Nizzbits as it should be arouns 195 delivered or cheaper.

Edited August 4, 2012 by RSFOURDayz

[RSFOURDayz]

Just jap has them here for 150 http://justjap.com/store/product.php?productid=17821&cat=375&page=1

[fmlycar]

You can get the bearing and stub axle off without disassembling the handbrake shoes. Before you remove the rear bolts that hold the bearing on, use a punch or similar and give each one a tap while still half threaded in.

[zoomzoom]

How tightly should the bearing assembly be mounted in the hub? Judging by this thread it should come out with a basic puller, however I bent a 3 jaw puller trying to push the bearing out of the hub. I've had to remove the entire hub from the car, but it wont fit on my 6 ton press. Even then it looks extremely difficult to support the cast hub in order to apply force to the bearing. I'm struggling with ideas.

[GTSBoy]

16 hours ago, zoomzoom said:

I'm struggling with ideas.

Discrete addition of heat might be required.

[No Crust Racing]

On 6/9/2023 at 7:28 PM, zoomzoom said:

How tightly should the bearing assembly be mounted in the hub? Judging by this thread it should come out with a basic puller, however I bent a 3 jaw puller trying to push the bearing out of the hub. I've had to remove the entire hub from the car, but it wont fit on my 6 ton press. Even then it looks extremely difficult to support the cast hub in order to apply force to the bearing. I'm struggling with ideas.

It'll be partly fused on there with rust and build up between the surfaces.

I dont remember what press we used (look at the dates on the post) but I've got a 20t now and was advised you usually go 12-20 for DIY workshop stuff. 

Heat helps, but I usually go with soaking in and around the joining surfaces with penetrants then a bit more force than you think. 

Hit the hub around the bearing interference section with a hammer, a few sharp blows will help break it loose also. 

 

[zoomzoom]

Yep I soaked them in WD40 overnight and came back the next day with a mallet. They were indeed stuck due to corrosion, but came loose after a few minutes of hitting. It's definitely easier to do this with the hubs out.

Also on the issue of presses, I have a 6 ton press which has been fine for every bush and bearing I've had to do over the years, including this job, but the downside is the platform is quite small, making it difficult to mount a full hub on them for pressing. I was just looking up a 20ton press for the wishlist.

[No Crust Racing]

1 hour ago, zoomzoom said:

Yep I soaked them in WD40 overnight and came back the next day with a mallet. They were indeed stuck due to corrosion, but came loose after a few minutes of hitting. It's definitely easier to do this with the hubs out.

Also on the issue of presses, I have a 6 ton press which has been fine for every bush and bearing I've had to do over the years, including this job, but the downside is the platform is quite small, making it difficult to mount a full hub on them for pressing. I was just looking up a 20ton press for the wishlist.

Yep it's the bed size that's the issue, bigger press just gives more room to work. I grabbed my 20t used for like $150 on FB I think. 

Rarely get anywhere near close to its load capacity but when I have to straighten the baffle from the fire place once a year the whole plate fits easily on the bed and can be flattened in a few goes.