Wheel bearings

[zrice88]

what's the best/easiest way to replace the front bearings on a '91 Festiva L with a 5 speed?

[Dave G]

Re: Wheel bearings

what's the best/easiest way to replace the front bearings on a '91 Festiva L with a 5 speed?

Remove the knuckles and take them to a machine shop. Say "yes" when they ask if you want them to turn the rotors while they're at it. If the ball joints are at all questionable, do them at the same time.

[zrice88]

cant i just do it my self? i work in a garage and have access to a press. won't i need an alignment after that?

[69shelby]

why would you need an alignment after taking them off?

[Festy46]

cant i just do it my self? i work in a garage and have access to a press. won't i need an alignment after that?

You can do it with a press. You will need several short strong pieces of steel to build sort of a "bridge" to support the knuckle while you press the hub from it. You shouldn't need an alignment as long as you took the tie rod out of the knuckle and didn't unscrew it from the inner tie rod/rack. All the attaching points for the hub are non-adjustable.

[zrice88]

thanx for clearing that up for me

[johnhcarter]

wheel bearings

You can't just replace the wheel bearings. You have to also install the correct shim for the bearings. There are at least 10 possible shims. You can try using the existing shim as I did once but that ended up ruining new bearings. You can get the shims you need from a Mazda dealer. The 323 used the same shim. Getting the jig to do the calculation to determine the correct shim is more complicated. The simple solution would probably be to take your parts to a Mazda dealer and have them calculate the shim needed. You can probably save some money if you take them the parts sans the car.

[Tom]

My alignment went bad the last time I replaced a front bearing. I didn't know about the shim.

A really good mechanic did the job for me on a major press but he said nothing about the shim.

Our parts store machine shop couldn't get it to give so the truck shop mechanic got it with his big press, I was surprised, I will never try one myself again.

[zrice88]

Why do you need a shim? i've never heard that i need a shim. my dad and i have replaced the bearings on his '89 and never knew or heard or used any shims. what are they for?

also, how do i remove the hub/rotor assembly from the drive shaft w/o ruining them?

[69shelby]

once you remove the nut for the axle shaft, just tap it with a hammer, comes out easily. Took mine in to get it done, cost $150 with new bearing and rotors. PITA job.

[Festy46]

The shim adjusts how tight the bearing and race are in each bearing set. When you tighten the hub and knuckle together, you are tightening the bearing too. I've never seen a hub without a shim, but I guess it could be possible that your dad's car worked without one. The shim is a thin washer that goes between the 2 bearings to stop them from being too tight when you press the hub and knuckle together. If you are familiar with the rear wheel bearings, you wouldn't torque the spindle nut to 100 lbs. because the bearing would be too tight. This is what would happen with no shim in the front hub. Likewise, you wouldn't tighten the rear wheel spindle finger tight because it would be too loose. A too thick shim in the front hub would keep the bearings loose. Whenever I replace bearings, I use good quality bearings and I have never had to change shims to a different thickness. After I press it together, I try turning it by hand. I've done enough wheel bearings that I can pretty much tell by the "feel" if the bearings are too tight or too loose.

To remove the axle, try holding the hub assembly while someone holds a block of hardwood on the end of the shaft and hits it with a hammer. If it still won't come out, you can use a gear puller attached to the lug bolt holes and press on the axle. I am assuming you took the axle nut off first.

[zrice88]

where could i take it to have somebody else do it? i already bought all the bearings and seals. what can i expect to pay?

[gdawgs]

If you have any experience working on vehicles, you can do this yourself. Nothing all that difficult about it. Festy 46 summed up the shim well.

Whether or not you need a different shim just depends on how the new bearings seat into the housing. My dad just replaced his the other day and he used the stock shim and the preload was fine.

When I did mine several years back, once the new bearings were in, I could hardly turn the wheel by hand, so I made a couple shims and placed it in with the stock shim until the preload was correct.

If you take it in to a mechanic to fix it and start talking about preload spacers, they may look at you kind of funny. The Festiva front wheel bearing assembly is kind of a rare bird, and many mechanics have never replaced bearings with this type of setup.

[nattyphysicist]

If you have a press, then just try it out yourself. If you have to take it apart again, you may need to buy a new inner seal, but can probably save the bearing if you are careful. Don't lose the spacer!

[Tom]

The last one I did I took to Napa and they couldn't get it apart, he was breaking his press. I took it to a truck shop and they got it with a huge press. To tell somebody this is easy is wrong.