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STEPS 1 - 4. |
STEP 5. |
In order to give
you a mental picture of what it's like to use
the tool, here are the steps involved:
1. Remove the 30 mm axle nut.
2. Remove the wheel.
3. Remove the front brake caliper and
pads and hang the caliper up with wire so that
you don't damage the brake hose.
4. Remove the brake rotor screw and
rotor.
VW TECH BY: Scott Neville
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Now you have two
choices:
- Remove the ball joint pinch bolt and pull
the entire strut/wheel bearing housing unit away
from the lower control arm OR...
- Remove the 6 spline headed bolts from the
inner end of the axle and remove the axle from
the car.
I found that removing the control arm pinch bolt
and dropping the control arm is the easiest way
to go (see photo above). |
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STEP 6. |
STEP 7. |
Thread two of the
long "lug bolts" into the lug bolt holes in the
hub and, making sure they are pressing against a
solid area of the WB housing behind the brake
dust shield, tighten them each a little at a
time until the hub is pressed out of the bearing
(see photo below). It is highly likely that the
inner race of the outside half of the bearing
will be stuck to the hub and will come out with
it (see step 11 below). |
Remove the inner
and outer snap rings from the WB housing (see
photo above). Good quality large snap ring
pliers are a big help here. Some report that the
snap rings may be rusted in place, mine were
not. |
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STEP 8. |
STEP 9. |
Pressing the
old bearing out: Oil the threads and the thrust
washer on the tool, insert the giant bolt shaft
through the old bearing (from the outside),
place the "cup" up against the outside of the
bearing housing, place the proper size disk up
against the rear (i.e. inner) end of the
bearing, thread on the giant nut, and tighten it
all together until the old bearing is pressed
out into the "cup." This definitely requires
some "grunt" but, for the two times I have done
this, it never felt like I was about to break
something or that something was going wrong.
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Replace the outer
snap ring. |
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STEP 10. |
STEP 11. |
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Pressing the new
bearing in: Smear a thin coating of anti-seize
compound inside the WB housing and on the outer
race of the new bearing. Position the tool
exactly as described in step 8 above, i.e., cup
and bolt head on the outside of the WB housing.
Thread the new bearing over the shaft of the
bolt and up against the INNER SIDE of the WB
housing, slide the disk up against the bearing's
inner end, thread on the nut and tighten away
until the new bearing hits the outer snap ring
(there's no question about when this occurs...it
STOPS...but make sure the bearing is all the way
in, if it is not then you won't be able to
re-install the inner snap ring as the bearing
will be covering a portion of the groove that
the snap ring goes into). |
If you're not
putting new wheel hubs on (which you should do
if you are racing or hard driving your VW...it's
cheap insurance to replace your hub regularly... use
a quality German-made hub like a FEBI... $29 at
Auto Sports VW Parts) then you need to remove
the stuck outer race from the hub. This is
probably the hardest part of the job.
Fortunately, there are two slots milled in the
base of the hub shaft that allow you to get some
sort of prying apparatus up against the stuck
race. A two armed puller might work but there is
not a lot of purchase to be had for a puller.
I've had good success using the two SP Bolts
(used to remove the hub) as adjustable pry
points as shown in the photo below.
This has worked pretty good for me by
simultaneously prying the old race with a set of
beefy screwdrivers. As always, penetrate
lubricant helps and if the race is REALLY stuck
you might have to resort to a propane torch (or
just buy a new hub as a last resort!). In any
event, be careful not to bend the hub or score
its polished surface! |
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STEP 12. |
STEP 13. |
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My car doesn't
have brake dust shields but if you removed your
brake dust shield to clean it, replace it now!
|
Pressing the
hub into the new bearing: Again, position the
tool exactly the same way as in steps 8 and 10
above EXCEPT turn the disk around so that its
raised central projection points toward the nut
(i.e., AWAY from the WB housing). When the tool
is tightened together, the skirt of the "cup"
presses against the flanged part of the hub and
pushes it into the bearing (see photo above).
This step usually goes well...hubs press in
without a lot of required grunt. |
|
STEP 14. |
STEP 15. |
|
Replace the inner
snap ring (this takes a little deft coordination
with the snap ring pliers... it's doable... just
be patient). |
Insert the drive
axle spline through the wheel hub then
re-install the lower control arm and pinch bolt.
Pinch bolt torque is 37 ft-lbs. You can now put
the washer on the axle spline and and
hand-thread on a new self-locking 30mm axle nut.
|
|
STEP 16. |
STEP 17. |
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Replace rotor, caliper, and brake pads. Insert the drive axle
spline through the wheel hub and thread on a new
self-locking 30mm axle nut then re-install the
lower control arm and pinch bolt. Pinch bolt
torque is 37 ft-lbs. Next step is to re-mount
the tire and lower the vehicle back on to the
ground and firmly chock the tires. For street
applications torque the new self-locking 30mm
axle nut to the specified 173 ft-lbs. For track
and racing applications, according to veteran
Rabbit racers and Greg Raven's Book
(Water-Cooled VW Performance Handbook) the best
way to solve hub failure is to over torque the
wheel nut using a cheater bar and the heaviest
guy in the paddock. Note that torquing the axle
nut should ONLY be done with the tire mounted
and the vehicle firmly on the ground with the
tires chocked. |
The last step is
to re-mount the tire and lower the vehicle back
on to the ground and firmly chock the tires. For
street applications torque the new self-locking
30mm axle nut to the specified 173 ft-lbs. For
track and racing applications, according to
veteran Rabbit racers and Greg Raven's Book
(Water-Cooled VW Performance Handbook) the best
way to solve hub failure is to over torque the
wheel nut using a cheater bar and the heaviest
guy in the paddock (upwards of 250 ft-lbs). When
you do this you do run the risk of stripping the
threads of the axle. I take the intermediate
approach and torque to an even 200 ft-lbs. Note
that torquing the axle nut should ONLY be done
with the tire mounted and the vehicle firmly on
the ground with the tires chocked. |
