[allyxj]

I need to change my worn front wheel bearings but the jeep dealership and parts shop say I need to change the whole asembly and it looks fairly pricey for parts which should be nickel and dime.

Does anybody know if it is possible to take out just the bearings and press in some new generic ones like SKF or similar.

thanks,

Al

[UKJeepThang]

It is possible to strip the old hubs down and replace the internals but specialist tools are needed.

All the people that I know buy complete replacement hub assemblies, and they are very easy to fit.

[balloo93]

Basically to get the parts necessary to do the replacement on the old hubs, it comes out to be about the same price as new hubs.

[HeepToJeep]

The dealer's lying to you (HUGE surprise). I went to Rockauto.com and bought one new complete Timken assembly for $88 and also bought four Timken bearings and six Timken seals so I could rebuild both old hubs....one for the opposite side of the new one and one for a spare. I got their seals on sale so it wound up costing about $35ea to rebuild them. Had it not been on my dailiy driver and only means of transportation I would have simply rebuilt both and saved the cost of the new one.......the rebuild bearings and seals from Advance Auto (SKF) are more expensive than Rockauto.com but they have a two year warranty verses the one year warranty of a new hub assembly. I opted for Rocks parts for two reasons 1) cheaper 2) they offer the Timken OEM brand (which had proven themselves already by lasting 20yrs)

On a side note, start soaking all of the bolts and hub assemblies daily with PB Blaster while you're tracking down and awaiting parts.....it will save you a huge headache when pulling them off and splitting them. The first one I took off hadn't been soaked and it was a bastard to remove and take apart, the opposite side got soaked daily for about three days and didn't give me a bit of trouble. Careful with the PBB around your rotors and pads or you no stoppy!

Wm

[mravojed]

While not trying to steal the thread,
I've got two old hubs that would need rebuild badly. Bearings are also lighter for shipping here (Europe) than complete assemblies.

Anyone knows of a good how-to on bearing replacement for these hubs? What tools are needed?

Thanks.

[minitruck83]

Originally Posted by mravojed

While not trying to steal the thread,
I've got two old hubs that would need rebuild badly. Bearings are also lighter for shipping here (Europe) than complete assemblies.

Anyone knows of a good how-to on bearing replacement for these hubs? What tools are needed?

Thanks.

Haven't had to do this yet on the XJ but I'm guessing they could be either driven out with a brass rod and a BFH, or find somebody with a press.

Allen

[HeepToJeep]

Originally Posted by mravojed

While not trying to steal the thread,
I've got two old hubs that would need rebuild badly. Bearings are also lighter for shipping here (Europe) than complete assemblies.

Anyone knows of a good how-to on bearing replacement for these hubs? What tools are needed?

Thanks.

Ask and ye shall receive.....
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/15/42/98/0900823d80154298.jsp

Wm

[allyxj]

thanks for all the suggestions. managed to get complete new hubs for about 80 bucks a side. Runs well smooth now.

[mravojed]

Shortly after HeepToJeep pointed out on rebuild howto, passenger side hub disintegrated on trail, spitting out what were once ball bearings - exactly the type that howto claims is not rebuildable. Shame..

Also, hubs from 87 are not compatible with 90 knuckles. They don't stick out enough, so I had to find help from local farmer to fabricate some sort of spacer to fit between hub and disk It was scary but got me home.

[tangofox007]

Originally Posted by allyxj

Does anybody know if it is possible to take out just the bearings and press in some new generic ones like SKF or similar.

The answer varies by year model. And, in some years, 2WD is different than 4WD.

[1996xj]

I replaced both my front hubs yesterday. They were $71 each at Napa.

[mrboom]

http://www.trexautoparts.com/

[jps4wd]

just replaced my hubs and ended up doing a brake job as well because of the beating the rotors took to get off the old hubs. i think they were the originals from 2000