W124 Front Wheel Bearing Replacement

[S80]

Hi Guys,

The next bit of 'fettling' on my 280E is replacement of the front wheel bearings. Definitely not just adjustment - you can feel the wear when the hub is rotated, and the characteristic 'groan' is present The car's done 164k so no complaints, really.....

From what I can gather off the Net, the job's no different in principle to any other taper roller bearing replacement, with one 'fly in the ointment'. I've read that there is very little of the outer races available to get a drift on - in 'olden times', the hub would have recesses which allowed easy access to the back of the outer race.

I assume that the 'correct' tooling costs an arm and a leg, so is bearing replacement a DIY proposition, or should I take the removed hub to a 'suitably equipped workshop'.

Cheers

 

[thisiskirkham]

Hi,

I met Ian yesterday and was very impressed with his services and advice.

His new website is on:

http://www.124works.dealtap.com

Cheers!

Sam @ www.thisiskirkham.com

 

[television]

Hi Guys,

The next bit of 'fettling' on my 280E is replacement of the front wheel bearings. Definitely not just adjustment - you can feel the wear when the hub is rotated, and the characteristic 'groan' is present The car's done 164k so no complaints, really.....

From what I can gather off the Net, the job's no different in principle to any other taper roller bearing replacement, with one 'fly in the ointment'. I've read that there is very little of the outer races available to get a drift on - in 'olden times', the hub would have recesses which allowed easy access to the back of the outer race.

I assume that the 'correct' tooling costs an arm and a leg, so is bearing replacement a DIY proposition, or should I take the removed hub to a 'suitably equipped workshop'.

Cheers

The bearing replacement is quite straight forward, the inner casing can be tight, but that one may be OK, its often more the outer race that goes.

If the worst comes to the worst you may have to get someone to press out the inner one. Putting back is easy by warming the hub and freezing the bearing, always someone to help if you get stuck, but I think that you will do it OK

 

[S80]

Thanks for the encouragement, Malcolm!

I'm reasonably confident - just like to find out what's involved before finding a 'gotcha' on a Sunday morning when everything's shut :-(