jseklund

Hi guys,
my gf's 2001 A4 has some wheel bearing noise that's been getting pretty bad lately. I have replaced entire hubs on cars, but it looks like the bearings on the audi need to be pressed out and and new ones pressed in. I'm not 100% if it's the front or back bearings at this point. When I did her brakes a while ago, I noticed her rear hub looked to be sligthly out of alignment on the driver's side - this caused the brakes to squeal in the back every once in a while. I have had this on the list to replace (hub and bearing) - but it hasn't appeared to cause enough problem to do it just yet.

Now, there is hub noise which SOUNDS like it is coming from the front of the car - so it may be a good time to do all the bearings...

My questions are - what brands do you recommend? The cheapest I've found appears to be on Blauparts - about $76 for a pair of fronts and $100 for the pair of rears.

My plan is to take the brakes apart, disconnect the housings from the control arms, etc. - and then bring the uprights to a machine shop I know to press the new bearings out/in. Are there any steps I should be aware of with this plan that might suprise me? Any special tools?

I've never done press fit, and don't have a press obviously - so I don't want to get caught with my pants down on anything. Any thoughts from the people who have done this or have knowledge of the process would be great. Thanks!

5v/cyl

When I did mine I used this from Harbor freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/fwd-fro...ers-66829.html

Worked great and didn't have to remove the whole knuckle and take to a shop to press it. Get the CV out of the way and your good to go.

Most aftermarket bearings are going to be *** brand. Most of these are China made and are hit or miss for quality. My last *** bearing was Canada made and has held up for 40+k miles. Best are German OEM bearings and can be sourced from the dealer. Not sure about price, but I've heard they are not that pricey.

jseklund

Thanks 5V/cyl! I will check out the tool. I have a machine shop guy that I think gets a bit of a kick about my DIY stuff on Audis. I take things in to him and often he doesn't even charge me. I have a feeling he'll do all 4 of these knuckles for me for about $75...but it would be nice to be able to leave the knuckle in place....I've seen things on the forum where people say they had trouble with a 20 ton press getting the bearings out...so I'm a bit nervous...

Thanks again for the input..

SLE3PER

I have done B5 bearing replacement a few times now and only had a problem once. They usually press out without too much trouble but that first pop is pretty explosive. The one problem I had was when I was pressing the new bearing it, it was slightly cocked and at that point your in a world of hurt. Had to take it to a shop and their 50 ton press barely got it to press in. Bottom line make sure its perfect before you start pressing it in. Then for that last little bit, use the old bearing to get it all the way in. It is a little difficult to support the upright while pressing, I used some steel plates I had laying around.

I used this, got it for $99.
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-...ess-33497.html

Also, when you press the hub out the bearing will separate and you will have to chisel the front half of the bearing off the hub, its a little bit of a pain but gets easier once you've done it a few times. A bench vise is a must.

Here is the tech article that I used.
https://www.audiworld.com/tech/wheel44.shtml

Good luck!