galaxy drivers hub

[Grant2012]

Hi all and happy new year. my drivers bearing is making a whirring noise and ive jacked the car up to find that wheel has some wobble. rather then pay a garage to replace it I thought I would just swap it with a scrappy cars hub. is that ok and any pointers for changing it?

[Grant2012]

forgot to say I did see the article in the knowledgebase by the beardy one but I don't have access to a press which is why I wanted to change the whole thing

[insanitybeard]

If you're going to put a secondhand assembly on check it as thoroughly as possible before installing, the bearing in it may be nearly as knackered as your old one, or getting close to the end of it's service life! If you go to the trouble of removing the knuckle yourself, you could just buy a new bearing kit and get a local machine shop or anybody you know with a bench press to change it for you, it shouldn't take them too long as you've done the bulk of the work by taking the wheel knuckle off, so if they're reasonably friendly they might not charge you the earth, pressing the bearing/ hub in and out of the knuckle should only take about 20 minutes all being well!

[Mirez]

Fairly easy, separate the lower wishbone, driveshaft, steering arm and the clamp bolt for the strut.

Two things though, firstly - the clamp bolt is known to shear and secondly by the time you've done all that it's probably easier just to take yours to a local garage and ask them to fit it. If you've done the hard work and just turn up with a hub and new bearing it shouldn't be expensive.

[Mirez]

Pff - 9 seconds too late damnit 
... yeah, what he said 

[Grant2012]

thanks guys. is there anyway to test a secondhand one and what is the service life supposed to be for the bearings?

[insanitybeard]

Pff - 9 seconds too late damnit 
... yeah, what he said 

Sorry.......! 

You can carry out a 'rough' (no pun intended!) test by spinning the hub within the knuckle by hand and seeing how smooth it feels, in truth though, unless it's absolutely knackered quite often any fault in the bearing won't be apparent until you refit it all and take it for a drive with the bearing fully loaded with the vehicle weight and the power coming through the driveshafts. IMO fitting a secondhand assembly is a gamble, the donor vehicle could have been driven over potholes all of it's life or done half a million miles!

P.S, my nearside front bearing failed at about 85k, the nearside one probably takes more of a hammering from potholes though, at least in the UK driving on the left! It's a lottery though, some wheelbearings will last much longer than this, some will fail sooner.....

[Grant2012]

you have be doubting my master plan now! many thanks for the help i will ask a local garage the cost to fit just the bearing if i brign them the hub.

[insanitybeard]

Fitting a used assembly is a gamble and potentially a false economy in my honest opinion- you could fit it and have no problems but equally you could go to the trouble of swapping it and have the secondhand one pack up a few thousand miles later and have to do it all again, which would be a real p%&$er!