Wheel bearing DIY? not really....

[dent]

Just wanted to pass this along.

I just finished replacing the rear wheel bearing on a '13. what a serious pain!!!

once you get everything apart and it's time to take the hub assembly off the knuckle, good luck if you're in a cold climate where they use salt.

thing is corroded bad and almost fused on. it's dissimilar metals so it's going to seize bad.

tried that fancy hub removal tool, not luck
tried using an air hammer/ chisel, to knock it out from the rear using the bolts and putting it right on the hub assembly to torque it, no luck
tried heat, pb blaster over night no luck...

finally decided to take the whole knuckle off and went to town with a BFH, air chisel no luck. gave up and brought it into a shop where they would have a bigger compressor than what i have to knock it out. when i went to pick it up, they told me it took them 2.5 hrs to get it off.

once i got home, took a dremel with a wire wheel to take the corrosion off. that thing was seized bad!!

If you're going to tackle this job at home, be prepared for the worse. thing that gets me is the factory worker could have taken 5 seconds to put a coat of anti seize.....

edit: if i ever have to remove another hub assembly, i would just take the knuckle off and take it in somewhere for them to remove for me. no way i'd fight to get that thing off every again

 

[EEGS]

Just had my 15 sports rears done, they worked on one of them for over 4 hours over 2 days. Removed the knuckle, put in the shops press, then took to a dealer to use their larger press, in the end, they had to replace the knuckle$$$.

Took the old part home and hit it a few times with a slege hammer, never came apart.

 

[shucker1]

Next time try heat with pressure and "Shock" the part cool with PB Blaster.

Or soak the fit in full strength Ammonia. Not the Parsons household stuff.

 

[Kikinz24]

Oh yay I have to change my left rear on my 15. And I'm in Ohio... It's been making a growing/scrape sound at lower speeds I was hoping it was just brakes. Removed them cleaned and replaced and the noise is still there... Does anyone know if the knuckle is the same on a 2wd rear and a 4wd rear... Parts going on are off a 15 2wd I have the entire cradle

 

[KayGee]

I'm in MI and have removed more than a few wheel bearings from Ford and GM cars over the years that had seen winter salt for 8-10+ years. Some have been tougher than others, but never had to remove or replace a knuckle yet.

My large slide hammer and air chisel haven't let me down yet.

 

[KelvinC]

I too had this issue with my '13 Sport and beat on the bearing assemble for 2 hours but to no avail. Then I heated it up based on a YT video and within 20 minutes it was out. "Heat it and beat it"!