Please, please, and please! If you feel you have moderate confidence in attempting this task, leave it to your independent shop! What a pain in the ***. I replaced it alright... only after paying for the abs tool and having a shop pull and press the bearing. In the process I wiped out the lower ball joint and tie rod end. So now I have to go to the shop anyway and have them remove the lower ball joint and press in a new one. Every place I have read stated that once you have the abs tool you are home free. Oh well. Just thought I'd pass it on.... 2002 XJ

 

Want to sell the ABS Nut tool?

 

Sure! I'll never do that job again. Email me at hgbebe@juno.com. Thanks, David

 

What caused you to change the wheel bearings to begin with? My 98 XJR has been experiencing vibrations and I'm not sure if changing the bearings would smooth it out.

 

I was having a growling sound at breaking. I thought it was the pads at first but I was wrong. I took it to my mechanic and he suspected it was the front left bearing. I went with his suggestion and tried to do that myself. Sadly, that wasn't it either. I would live with the noise I had previously at this point. I have made it worse than it ever was before. As soon as I get ahead, I am going to have my mechanic take care of the front left damage I caused. If you are having a slight vibration it may be something worth living with. Go with the obvious stuff first like wheel balance and alignment. I actually noticed a change when I went to a different tire. If you feel the car is safe to drive then let it go. I love these cars! Unfortunately, I don't have the $$ to back up some of the maintenance requirements. Some things are better left to the pros. Thanks! David

 

my wheel bearings problems (both front have been replaced recently) were noisy (sounded like metal scraping metal). if you're wondering if you need to replace one (poisonpill), jack it up and see if the wheel has any give in the left/right direction.
v8 -- you're right about this job being a pain in the ***. let the tire/wheel pros do this one.