FREE REPAIR MANUALS & LABOR GUIDES 1982-2013 Vehicles
Courtesy of Operation CHARM: Car repair manuals for everyone.

Front

HUB AND BEARING

REMOVAL
1. Raise vehicle.
2. Remove front tire and wheel assembly from the hub.

CAUTION: Wheel bearing damage will result if hub nut is loose, then vehicle is rolled on the ground or the weight of the vehicle is allowed to be supported by the tires.

3. Loosen hub nut with the brakes applied. The hub and driveshaft are splined together through the knuckle (bearing) and retained by the hub nut.
4. Remove the disc brake caliper, adapter, shoes and rotor from the steering knuckle.





5. Remove nut attaching the outer tie rod end to the steering knuckle. Nut is to be removed from tie rod end using the following procedure, hold tie rod end stud with a socket while loosening and removing nut with wrench.





6. Remove the tie rod end from the steering knuckle arm, using Remover, Special Tool MB-991113.





7. If equipped with antilock brakes remove the speed sensor cable routing bracket from the steering knuckle.





8. Remove cotter pin and castle nut from the stud of the lower ball joint.

CAUTION: No tool is to be inserted between the steering knuckle and the lower ball joint to separate stud of lower ball joint from the steering knuckle. The steering knuckle is to be separated from the stud of the ball joint only using the procedure as described in Step 9 below.





9. Turn steering knuckle so the front of the steering knuckle is facing as far outboard in the wheel well as possible. Using a hammer strike the boss on the steering knuckle, until steering knuckle separates from stud of lower ball joint. When striking steering knuckle, care MUST be taken not to hit lower control arm or ball joint grease seal.

CAUTION: Pulling steering knuckle out from vehicle after releasing from ball joint can separate inner C/V joint, thus damaging it.

10. Lift up on steering knuckle separating it from the lower ball joint stud. Use caution when separating ball joint stud from steering knuckle, so ball joint seal does not get cut.

NOTE: Care must be taken not to separate the inner C/V joint during this operation. Do not allow driveshaft to hang by inner C/V joint, driveshaft must be supported.





11. Separate the steering knuckle from the outer C/V joint. Separate steering knuckle from outer C/V joint, by supporting the driveshaft while pulling steering knuckle away from the outer C/V joint.
12. Remove the nut from the upper ball joint stud.





13. Remove the upper ball joint stud from the steering knuckle using Puller, Special Tool, C3894-A.
14. Remove steering knuckle from vehicle.
15. Mount steering knuckle securely in a vise.





16. Remove the 3 bolts attaching the hub/bearing assembly to the steering knuckle.
17. Remove the hub and bearing assembly from the front of the steering knuckle.

NOTE: If bearing will not come out of steering knuckle, it can be tapped out using a soft faced hammer.

INSTALLATION
1. Thoroughly clean all hub and bearing assembly mounting surfaces on steering knuckle.
2. Install the replacement hub and bearing assembly in steering knuckle aligning bolt boles in bearing flange with holes in steering knuckle.
3. Install the 3 mounting bolts and tighten evenly to ensure bearing is square to face of steering knuckle. Tighten the 3 mounting bolts to a torque of 110 Nm (80 ft. lbs.).
4. Slide drive shaft back into front hub and bearing assembly.
5. Install the steering knuckle on the lower control arm ball joint.
6. Install the steering knuckle to lower ball joint castle nut.
7. Install the steering knuckle onto upper ball joint stud and install nut.
8. Using a crow foot and torque wrench, tighten the upper and lower ball joint nuts to the following torque specifications.
^ Lower ball joint castle nut 74 Nm (55 ft. lbs.).
^ Upper ball joint nut 27 Nm (20 ft. lbs.).

9. Install cotter pin in lower ball joint stud and castle nut.
10. If equipped with antilock brakes install the speed sensor cable routing bracket on the steering knuckle and securely tighten attaching bolt.

CAUTION: When installing tie rod on steering knuckle the heat shield must be installed. If heat shield is not installed, tie rod seal boot can fail due to excessive heat from brake rotor.





11. Install tie rod end into the steering knuckle. Start tie rod end to steering knuckle attaching nut onto stud of tie rod end. While holding the stud of the tie rod end stationary, tighten tie rod end to steering knuckle attaching nut. Then using a crowfoot and socket tighten the attaching nut to a torque of 61 Nm (45 ft. lbs.).
12. Install brake rotor, and caliper, shoes and adapter assembly.
13. Clean all foreign matter from the threads of the outer C/V joint stub axle. Install hub nut onto the driveshaft stub axle.
14. With vehicle brakes applied to keep stub axle from turning, tighten hub nut to a torque of 203 Nm (150 ft. lbs.) of torque.
15. Install wheel and tire assembly. Install wheel lug nuts and progressively tighten in crisscross sequence. Tighten nuts to a torque of 135 Nm (100 ft. lbs.).
16. Lower vehicle.
17. Set front toe on vehicle to required specification.