Hi,
I'm seeking advice, on getting a front bearing replaced for my 2001 xj-8. I've tried my most local "wanna-be" foreign car specialist shop. They disasembled and attemted to press out the bearing, trying 20-25 thousand pounds pressure. The say it wouldn't budge. They were also stumped, by how to remove the abs ring. They said the special tool would cost around 300 bucks, and that the bearing would still be frozen in the hub, therefore needing a new hub. New hub part price would be in the 600 dollar range. So, I had them re-assemble, and got out of there for around an hour and a half labor charge(fair,I guess). Still waiting to hear from them, about further work/prices.....
Ok. Meanwhile, I called my nearest authorized Jaguar dealership/service center, for a price quote on replacing the bearing. Obviously higher part and labor prices, totaling about 580 bucks. Of course, this would only be so, if they are capable of pressing out the old bearing, and getting the new one in. I'm sure the dealership would have the specialty tool for getting the abs ring off(or at least a 2" twelve point socket, for same). The problem is, if they can't remove the old bearing, I'm now stuck up on the rack, with them telling me I need a new hub, at their "astronomical" OEM prices. Along with, this closest dealership is over an hour and a half drive distance away.....
I've read a bunch of the related blogs here and elsewhere, along with any youtube available videos out there. I even searched today, for the few local "machine shops" I have nearby, that might be competent enough to attempt the replacement. Life's tough, when you live in "nowheresville" Florida.
Any advice, or words of wisdom, would be helpful.

 

Use the search function here, there are several in-depth threads concerning this.

Welcome.

 

The special tool, is a socket that can be had for 80 bucks or so. The race will stick on the hub, but any competent mechanic should be able to free that off. I managed to do both sides of the front of mine, with said tool, a harbor freight cheapo impact gun and 12 ton press on a floor jack and hand tools. And even if I had bought every single tool and everything I used, brand new, plus bearings? still under half what that place is costing.

I didn't take any videos, but I just did these within the last two months.

I can't remember if I did a write-up, but it was basically like this:

Remove the wheel, brake caliper and bracket. You might have to wiggle the rotor a ways to get it to slide off, depending on if any rust is built up. I used a small wire brush just to clean up the surfaces and it slid off. Pop loose the tie rod end, and upper and lower control arm ball joints. (Tool for that I picked up online for 20-something bucks?).

The dust shield is a pain only because the little torx screws don't give much clearance. But it's possible to do, just takes a little finesse. Pair of pliers to remove the retaining clip, and remove the ABS sensor too. Use your ABS ring tool or if you feel daring, a 2" 12 point socket (but use a LOT of downward pressure if you go that route to avoid it from skipping.

Take the complete hub assembly to your press. Ideally you'll have a set of press dies and sockets. The easy part, is to press the hub out of the outer assembly. The harder part is finding enough creative ways to support everything to do it. I used a few plates, and metal pieces laying around. The hub will fall out, with the inner race on it. I found the fastest way was to use an air chisel and insert it where the bottom of the race meets the hub, and it made short work of breaking it loose. A bearing splitter kit I bought did nothing at all. If you don't have an air chisel, you can use a grinder or dremel carefully and split one side of the race while it's still on, to give it some relief. Some light tapping with a hammer and chisel or something like that, will free it up.

Next, remove your snap rings. If you have new ones, then you don't have to be careful here, just bust them out - if you don't have new ones, they can be pulled out carefully with either a GOOD pair of snap ring pliers, or, in my case, a pair of long handled needlenose pliers that happened to have a fine enough point to fit the holes just fine. Pressing the rest of the bearing out of the knuckle is cake. Pressing the new one IN is relatively easy as well. Just clean the surfaces, put one snap ring back in, and press it,m then the 2nd ring afterwards. Mind you, my bearings were 160K+ mile originals. The only tricky part comes in pressing the hub back in. Make sure you have something to support the inner race when you do this, a socket that the hub will clear but will support the race, or you'll risk splitting the inside of your new bearing all to pieces. And that's a mess. But take your time, plan each move with focus on supporting each part of the bearing in each step, and it goes fine.

It's easier to put the dust shield back on before you press the hub back on, just throwing that out there.

Crank down your ABS ring again, put your sensor back in, and then bolt it back to the car.

That was pretty much it. Like I said, I did both sides on different nights, in a friends garage. I used a light coating of ATF on the new bearings to help them slide in, and on the first side, I also had it outside in a box in the snow that night, but it didn't make much difference from the 2nd when everything was room temperature.

I also had reservations about doing it, would the 12 ton press be enough, did the impact have enough force, etc.

Here's what I bought in prep: a bearing die kit (guy's press I was using didn't have one), for 20 bucks. A bearing splitter kit that I never used, 30 bucks. Snap ring pliers that were junk, 10 bucks, and pliers worked better. Impact gun (I used my harbor freight electric one on the 2nd side, just to see if it would handle it - and it did. But it does take a bit before it starts breaking free. So if you have something similar, just keep hammering, it'll eventually break free and loosen. And, putting it back on, the right amount of torque is actually hammering that harbor freight gun until the ring goes no further.). Gun cost, 45 bucks or so. ABS Ring tool, 80. And the ball joint separator was about 20 something online. Add the cost of the bearings, and even if I had bought my own press, I'm about $300 total all in, for both sides, including the proper socket for the abs ring.

Absolute worst case, get the knuckle out of the car, buy the ABS ring tool, and take it to any shop worth a salt, and it should be cake for them.

btw, here's the socket I purchased - it comes from overseas but didn't take long at all:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LASER-5537-A...8AAOSwcvdXPGpb

Really don't know where shops insist they have to order from where it costs four times as much, because I've seen it quoted that high quite often. But considering it's so much easier and less risk of damaging the Ring to put it back on than the socket idea, and really isn't THAT much worse than the socket cost if you don't have one, it was a no brainer for me.

Ball Joint separator:


Made it really easy for that, it pops on and doesn't slice into the boots at all. Couple cranks with a socket, pops them right apart.

 

I just finished replacing the front wheel bearing on my XJR. It takes about 1.5 tons of pressure to press the bearing out. If the ABS ring was not removed prior to pressing on the bearing, you will want to replace it!! the socket is $19.99 at Lowes and locks right into the ring. I used an electric impact gun and it came right off.

 

Thanks for the responses. Especially the lengthy step by step description. I'm sure it will help others, who are wanting to replace the bearing themselves. I just lack the time and desire to do it myself, even though with the right tools, you guys make it sound easy enough. I'll probably go with setting up a visit to my distant dealership, and bite my tongue about the high prices. I guess I just don't have much confidence, in the local repair shop near me. They went through a change of ownership about a year ago, and now service foreign AND domestic cars. Every time I pass the place, it looks like they mostly do the domestic stuff. Formerly, it was foreign only. Again, such is life in "the sticks".
Sorry to be "chicken", on this repair. I've read a few horror stories about tearing things up in a short distance, if the job isn't done properly. At least with the dealership, I'll have piece of mind, by way of guarantee. I'll chime in when the repair is done, in a few weeks. Thanks again.

 

Completely understand your hesitation, and it's warranted. You wouldn't want to have it pulled apart, and then run into a hiccup causing you to have to leave it stranded. Fortunately I had just picked up a 9-3 to use in the meantime. I'd say the driver's side took me about 3 1/2 hours, but that was the first time I had done it. The passenger side I was under 2, taking my time. It's amazing what tricks you remember to make it faster. But I also had no hiccups, and didn't break anything along the way.

The good part about the dealership though, is a nice documented repair history.