Replacing Front Wheel bearing 996 C2 ON THE CAR

[ziiz996]

Could use some professional  knowledge on this topic. 

1, Can you replace the wheel bearing without removing the front Knuckle from the car.  The strut is in the way behind the knuckle for me to insert wheel bearing removal tool.  Looks like the knuckle needs to lowered 2 or 3 inches to make clearance.  I loosened 2 of the 3 the coffin control arm bolts except for the bolt connected to the sub-frame (the 2 bolts one for Fork control arm and one for the bottom of the Knuckle).  I loosened but did not remove the bolt for the strut/Drop Link). 

2. If I remove this bolt and loosen the 3rd coffin arm bolt do I have have to mark the threads before removing?  I read somewhare that that bolt needs to be torqued after unjacking the car.

3. Would that allow me to lower the knuckle a few inches to access the back of the Wheel Bearing?  Alignment issues?

 

Help is much appreciated.

   

[JFP in PA]

59 minutes ago, ziiz996 said:

Could use some professional  knowledge on this topic. 

1, Can you replace the wheel bearing without removing the front Knuckle from the car.  The strut is in the way behind the knuckle for me to insert wheel bearing removal tool.  Looks like the knuckle needs to lowered 2 or 3 inches to make clearance.  I loosened 2 of the 3 the coffin control arm bolts except for the bolt connected to the sub-frame (the 2 bolts one for Fork control arm and one for the bottom of the Knuckle).  I loosened but did not remove the bolt for the strut/Drop Link). 

2. If I remove this bolt and loosen the 3rd coffin arm bolt do I have have to mark the threads before removing?  I read somewhare that that bolt needs to be torqued after unjacking the car.

3. Would that allow me to lower the knuckle a few inches to access the back of the Wheel Bearing?  Alignment issues?

 

Help is much appreciated.

   

Yes, the wheel bearings can be replaced without removing the carrier from the car, but it requires special tooling such as the SIR set up.

It is always advisable to mark suspension components when working on the car to aid in getting back somewhere near correctly so you can drive to an alignment shop. And yes, I would always advise an alignment check after doing this type of repair.

[ziiz996]

so if I loosen the 3rd Lower control arm bolt after I mark it, will that allow to lower the Knuckle?  Do I need to support it from BEFORE I loosen the 3rd bolt?  all other control arms are still connected, but loosened.

 

 

[ziiz996]

BTW, I have the OTC 6775 tool.

 

[ziiz996]

Actually it is the OTC 6575 not 6775.  I stand corrected.

[JFP in PA]

27 minutes ago, ziiz996 said:

so if I loosen the 3rd Lower control arm bolt after I mark it, will that allow to lower the Knuckle?  Do I need to support it from BEFORE I loosen the 3rd bolt?  all other control arms are still connected, but loosened.

 

 

 

The way we do it is to disconnect the sway bar and the lower strut mount in order to gain enough space to remove the outer and inner hub assemblies.  Once that is.done, it is a simple matter to remove the bearing.  As we use the SIR tool, I cannot comment on the OTC method, but there is probably a DIY using it online somewhere.

[ziiz996]

I was able to remove the old bearing using tool below and  the with a new  wheel bearing.  I used a breaker ratchet  and still it went in very tightly.  I used a long bolt with a disk (Picture below) that is the size of the hub shaft in the front and a large disk (metal) in the back and a long NUT.   Refer to toolkit below;  

I had the HUB in the freezer and put some Kroil on the hub before inserting it in the wheel bearing; HOWEVER the front wheel hub went in too easily in the wheel bearing! with a ratchet breaker bar.!!! 

 

When done, I noticed that the hub had a some play and I could see the red rubber outside seal ring was moving as well!!  Could it be that the new wheel bearing is defective?  Remember that the 

 

The Keyboard froze on my last comment.  I wanted to add that the outer race was stuck on the hub when I removed it and it took a lot of force to remove the old race.  actually it ended up breaking and finally came off.  But the hub shaft looked OK.

[ziiz996]

Follow up. 

 

Be careful purchasing non Porsche parts.   Apparently there are 2  wheel bearing parts numbers that *** (Porsche OEM) sells.  The auto parts suppliers indicated that they are not identical in Diameters!!!  I am ordering a Porsche genuine part to mitigate this situation.