Bad Wheel Bearing?

[Mishakol129]

The bearing does not go on all the way against the hub. Only until the rubber lip touches the hub. Not pressed against it much at all.

And of course you damaged the bearings using a hammer.

I'm talking about the part where you put the bearing onto the knuckle using the 12pt fasteners... But I did in fact use a hammer to put the bearings on the hubs, making sure the rubber lip was snug as could be. Oops.

Any play in the bearing and it's fucked.

The job is not hard at all with the right tools and know how. I have done at least 8 that I can recall. 2 on the front of each Accord, then when those went bad due to being low quality I had to do it again.

Yeah, I'm sure. When you're beating on the lower and upper ball joints to oblivion, you kinda lose your patience. Then you find out the previous owner put sedan rotors instead of wagon rotors and so now your brake pads have a huge lip on them that you end up burring off with a dremel (asbestos is yummy).

Why did you buy new hubs? You will have to cut into them now anyways when the inner race stays on the spindle after you press the bearing off. I cut into mine twice. It doesn't cause an issue unless you get really carried away with it and cut the hell out of the spindle.

Well I thought it'd be easier, plus the studs were ruined on one of the hubs. I'm thinking of just buying a bearing set with the hubs already pressed on with a 2 yr warranty. Who knows if when I get new bearings and use a press that its not going to f the bearings up again.

And even with a press you can only push on the inner race, you cannot beat on the bearing with a hammer... Only thing that ever gets pressed on on a bearing is the inner race. Or the outer race on some bearings but we won't get into that.

I almost commented on this thread a few days ago but I wasn't feeling well and there was already some info in here I didn't really agree with. But now that it hasn't worked I'll comment. Sorry about the issues your having.

Damn man, wish you had said something about not using a hammer unlike Eric the Hack Guy in his "Accord Wheel bearing" video.

Getting bigger rotors is a plus though. Who puts sedan rotors on a wagon, tell me? Saw my puny rotor compared it to my wagon rotor and was like wtf, really.

[H311RA151N]

With the knuckle out you sit it down on your table or whatever rotor side down. Loosen the 12pt 10mm bolts a few turns, then grab the upper part of the knuckle with one hand and slide the knuckle off the table until the only part of the knuckle that's on the table in the LBJ area. Keeping the assembly as level as possible just lightly tap in a circular pattern on the 12pt 10mm bolts, stopping to loosen them a bit more as the bearing assembly starts to come out of the knuckle. To install just do this backwards minus the hammer and use the 12pt 10mm bolts to draw the hub bearing assembly back into the knuckle.


As for using a hammer to install the bearing on the hubs... maybe it can work. But if you have play in your bearings then they are toast. I would only use a press. But you probably know that already.


If the studs were screwed on a hub then I understand why you replaced them then.


IMO nothing is really lost but your time. I wouldn't have trusted those bearings. But that's just me.

[Mishakol129]

With the knuckle out you sit it down on your table or whatever rotor side down. Loosen the 12pt 10mm bolts a few turns, then grab the upper part of the knuckle with one hand and slide the knuckle off the table until the only part of the knuckle that's on the table in the LBJ area. Keeping the assembly as level as possible just lightly tap in a circular pattern on the 12pt 10mm bolts, stopping to loosen them a bit more as the bearing assembly starts to come out of the knuckle. To install just do this backwards minus the hammer and use the 12pt 10mm bolts to draw the hub bearing assembly back into the knuckle.

I did this like 3 times today, cept I used 4 6pt bolts and wacked on em till the bearing came out. Was very easy in my case.

I had trouble with putting the hub/bearing back onto the knuckle. I had thought it wasn't all the way in and used a hammer on the knuckle. It broke the bearing so easily I was amazed. Put a lot of torque on those 12 pt fasteners too. Idk what it was, I was worried it would be unsafe or mess it up if it wasn't all the way in.

As for using a hammer to install the bearing on the hubs... maybe it can work. But if you have play in your bearings then they are toast. I would only use a press. But you probably know that already.


If the studs were screwed on a hub then I understand why you replaced them then.


IMO nothing is really lost but your time. I wouldn't have trusted those bearings. But that's just me.

Its funny though, cause in Eric the whatever his name is guy's video he's literally smashing away at it to get it on the hub.


So I'm at a point right now where I got to get the car back on the road and use those new but damaged bearings, on one wheel at least. I confirmed the bad passenger side wheel bearing; there's a lot of play in the bearing from side to side and it sounds dangerous when you drive down the road. Driver side I can live with, but I just need to replace the rotor.

If the left side bearing holds up I'll just buy a new bearing and have it professionally pressed on at a shop, the right way. I'll get a Moog brand part from the auto parts store. Sound like a plan? Or I could buy these AM Auto bearings and hubs already pressed on with a 2 year warranty on eBay for $108. Idk, i've gambled with hubs and bearings maybe I should just get those and be done with it like the dude said in this thread. I just don't want to mess it up again.

[Binladin]

You don't have to cut the race off if you buy a race puller… they're like $30. I've done my bearings twice by tapping them on the hub with a hammer and the bearings lasted 2yrs on my dd but now I have a press Just don't hit em on too far, let the hub nut torquing finish it.

[Fleetw00d]

A couple other tips:

When removing the bearing from the knuckle, I use a much long set of scrap bolts so I'm not whacking the knuckle so much (or ruining the stock bolts if you're going to try to reuse them).

Before putting the bearing back in the knuckle. Use a wire brush on your drill to clean up the bore in the knuckle, then put a light coating of anti-seize on the surface so it will come out easier the next time. Also, Honda has replaced these small headed 12 point bolts with bolts with 6 point heads and a larger washer face.

[H311RA151N]

A couple other tips:

When removing the bearing from the knuckle, I use a much long set of scrap bolts so I'm not whacking the knuckle so much (or ruining the stock bolts if you're going to try to reuse them).

Before putting the bearing back in the knuckle. Use a wire brush on your drill to clean up the bore in the knuckle, then put a light coating of anti-seize on the surface so it will come out easier the next time. Also, Honda has replaced these small headed 12 point bolts with bolts with 6 point heads and a larger washer face.

Damn, how hard are yours to get out? If you need to hit the bolts hard enough to not be able to reuse them then something must be up. They typically only require a tap in a circular or criss-cross pattern. It's not the impact but the taping of the bolts in a circular pattern that works the bearing out of the knuckle.