Anyone changed their front hub carriers at home? Is it a straightforward task or is it best left to a garage? What are the pitfalls? I am tempted to take this on but need to understand what I am letting myself in for.
It’s pretty straight forward. You need to access the large nut that holds the sub assembly onto the stub axle. Remove the dust cap, and unstake the crimped washer so that you can get a socket onto the nut, this is a 29mm, or 1 1/8 so probably not in your average toolkit. Also the nut is torqued to up to 159 ft lbs, so is very tight to move with standard 1/2 " drive sockets, I bent my breaker bar the first time I did this job. I used the stuff from a 3/4" drive set with a scaffold pole as an extension and the nut gave up quite easily The car needs to be on it’s wheels when you take the nut off, so when it starts to let go, that’s the time to get the car up onto axle stands for the rest of the job,obviously you need to move the brake caliper out of the way and remove the rotor. The hub cannot be rebuilt with a bearing kit. The design utilises the hub as the outer of the bearing so a replacement hub is the only real option [I know it can be done, but it’s not a diy job]…good luck, and shout if you encounter any problems. BTW I said straightforward, not easy!!!
A handy summary that matches with advice from other sources. Very useful advice on the difficulties of getting the hub nut off - It sounds like a 3/4inch breaker bar and 29mm socket will be a worthwhile investment just for this task (I need to do both hubs). It’s likely to be cheaper than paying someone else to change my hubs for me.
I already understand the bearing is part of the hub assembly and will be buying two hubs from a reputable MX5 parts supplier here. Whilst I’m at it I’ll buy replacement dust caps (if available) and two replacement hub nuts just in case.
If you can think of anything else let me know. Thanks for your time and happy new year.
Tony.
Hi Tony
Autolink do the hubs including the nuts—
http://www.boundville.co.uk/hub–wheel-bearing-mx-5-front-no-abs-737-p.asp
I’ve bought the hubs and will try with a 1/2 inch 29mm socket and breaker bar before investing in the full 3/4inch.
For completeness I’ll post an update after I’ve done the job.
Tony
My final update: Changed both front hubs in about 3 hrs. 29mm socket (6 flats only) on a 1/2 inch 3 foot breaker bar worked fine. Usefully I used an axle stand to support the short extension so I could apply full torque without twisting. I also recommend fitting new hub nuts. (I got my hubs from www.Mx5parts.co.uk which came with new nuts in the packet.)
A very straightforward job that has restored silence to the front end.
Thanks to all those that replied to my original query.
Tony
One question, are both nuts right hand threads or is one a left hand thread?
The parts book lists 2 nuts with the same number, so both right hand--------------------------
Did this job at the weekend on my ladies Mk2.5(2005) following the advise from earlier posts. Luckily i had a 1"1/8th socket for the main nut .
I found the hub really easy to change and well within the capability of a fairly competant DIYer.