Wheel bearing

 Whilst re-building the front axle I noticed that the offside wheel bearing was really rough. It needed changing so off came the hub for a quick change. I originally documented a wheel bearing change HERE so this is more a quick update on changing it again.

As can be seen from the guide, it is a pretty straight forward process. The only two more difficult areas are the removing of the hub nut which requires a special tool (available from the BigJimny Store) and the pressing of the bearing out and in, you could either use the heat method described in the guide or get a local garage to press it for you. I am lucky enough to have a press.

As can be seen in the pictures below, the hub nut has four holes into which the special tool slots. Before using the tool ensure you have bent back the small detent (the slot in the spindle into which the edge of the nut has been bent to stop it undoing). This is crucial as you will simply break the tool otherwise. 

Then squarely place the tool in the nut, make sure is it properly fitted. You will need a heavy duty breaker bar and even an extension (piece of scaffold) to help you out. I used an impact wrench which spun it off easily.

Once you have release the nut the two halves of the hub can be separated and you can access the rear of the bearing. At the rear is a large oil seal which hides a C-Clip. Make sure you have purchased a good quality bearing kit as these will contain replacement clips and an oil seal (see the bearing kit in the BigJimny store) ​NOTE: There are sometimes TWO c-clips holding the bearing in. This appears to be a variation of either 2 thin ones or one thick one, make sure you have removed all c-clips before trying to press out the bearing!

​In the second picture below you can just see the C-Clip lurking in the grease after the seal has been removed. Whilst the hub is apart I also removed the Spindle Oil seal (right hand picture) and replaced with one from the BigJimny Store. This seal fits the other way around to "normal". The flat face fits into the spindle and the "open" face with the spring inside faces outwards.

Finally I re-assembled the whole hub and replaced the Kingpin bearings whilst I did it. There is a guide to the Kingpin Bearing HERE . The bearing kit is available from the BigJimny Store. I always pop a couple of shims in when I change the bearings just to keep it all tight.