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My sister's 93 had a right one going out. I always heard, "They have to be pressed in and you shouldn't try it cause you're going to mess something up." Warnings don't usually stop me, so......
I searched this forum and found a thread that mentioned using heat and cold to do it. That sounded good, but for me it didn't help a bit(I was too slow I guess) I also don't have ANY special tools. And by special, I mean things as simple as a chisel. So this may be useful for poor Festiva mechanics like me.
What I used: set of sockets and ratchets, set of wrenches, hatchet, PB Blaster, a concrete block, hydraulic jack, and a piece of 2x4.
When I got the knuckle off, I turned it backwards and pinned the top hole in the strut with its bolt so I could swing it out away from the car and prop it up with the car's tire tool on the block and 2x4. Then I used a large socket and the butt end of the hatchet to pound the hub out of the inner race. I supported the strut from the bottom with the jack so I wouldn't ruin it.
I flipped it over and re-pinned it so I could use the open end of a wrench and the hatchet to remove the outer race that's pressed into the knuckle.
Once all apart everything got cleaned and greased and I used the old races to pound in the new ones.
It's been about 3 weeks and it's still silent, so she's happy and if it happens again, I'd bet I could do the whole thing in under an hour.
I hope this helps someone.
I searched this forum and found a thread that mentioned using heat and cold to do it. That sounded good, but for me it didn't help a bit(I was too slow I guess) I also don't have ANY special tools. And by special, I mean things as simple as a chisel. So this may be useful for poor Festiva mechanics like me.
What I used: set of sockets and ratchets, set of wrenches, hatchet, PB Blaster, a concrete block, hydraulic jack, and a piece of 2x4.
When I got the knuckle off, I turned it backwards and pinned the top hole in the strut with its bolt so I could swing it out away from the car and prop it up with the car's tire tool on the block and 2x4. Then I used a large socket and the butt end of the hatchet to pound the hub out of the inner race. I supported the strut from the bottom with the jack so I wouldn't ruin it.
I flipped it over and re-pinned it so I could use the open end of a wrench and the hatchet to remove the outer race that's pressed into the knuckle.
Once all apart everything got cleaned and greased and I used the old races to pound in the new ones.
It's been about 3 weeks and it's still silent, so she's happy and if it happens again, I'd bet I could do the whole thing in under an hour.
I hope this helps someone.