How many shop hours?
 

What's the labor time for both front wheels on this procedure?

w123 ...

Pad
Rotor
Bearings
And ... caliper replacement

Would have to include brake bleeding front AND rear, I presume?
Anybody know?

30-45 minutes a side if you've got experience.

actual book hours, no idea.

Hi guys I am halfway through using this diy to replace the (front) calipers, rotors and grease the bearing, but then night fell.
I am replacing the bearing but leaving the old races, next time I'll get them (knocking them out scares me).
My question .. how much grease should be packed in the cavity behind the bearing?
Half full? More? Less?. Apologies if this has been addressed, I'm tired and may have overlooked it.
Much thanks to 79Mercy for posting excellent pictures.

edit: one additional qestion I keep seeing youtube videos of manually working grease into the bearing.. anything wrong with just directing the end of the grease gun into the gap at few places round the rim? Seemed to drive through the grease allright.

The space between the bearings won't provide any lubrication to the bearings if you fill it with grease............you only waste a pile of grease. The bearings themselves need to be "packed" with grease as shown in the video. Directing the grease gun to the area of the bearing does nothing in terms of getting the grease into the rollers. The entire bearing should be packed full of as much grease as you can possible stuff in there. But, anything outside the raceway isn't going to matter whatsoever.

If you put too much grease on the spindle you wont be able to put the hub on.

To pack them by hand wear a pair of medium or heavy duty nitrile gloves and put a nice big dab of grease in your palm and work the grease into the bearing.

In the course of normal driving/braking the hub will get quite warm sometimes. I would think the grease would thin some-what and centrifugal force would bring grease to the hub wall and to the bearings.
On removing a hub I find the grease is nicely distributed on the hub inner wall and the inner sides of the bearings full. Pack the hub with orange wheel bearing grease and the bearings with a compatible black wheel bearing grease then see where the orange stuff ends up.

If the outer bearing is fully packed with grease, where is the orange wheel bearing grease going to go? It cannot go into the bearing if they are fully packed, unless the grease in the bearing moves outward past the outer bearing and into the cap.

The same logic can apply to the inner bearing. The grease seal prevents any migration of grease out of the inner bearing, thereby, effectively, preventing any grease from the space to migrate outward toward the bearing, if it were inclined to do so.

I don't see this happening.

The orange grease will end up against the inside of the bearings and try to fill any voids found. If the bearings are fully packed the orange grease will not enter the bearing.

I'm doing this job now...I'm replacing the left side bearings because, like an idiot, I accidentally pried on one of them while removing the grease seal, deforming the race. Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy. :mad:

FWIW, on the other side I found a good way to remove the seal when it's stuck...stick a small chisel or screwdriver against the edge of the metal part of the seal, where it sticks out of the hub, and tap a couple times to form a divot...then angle the chisel, with the tip in the divot, and tap to force the seal outward. Do this a couple times, 180 degrees apart, and it'll pop out.

Now my question is, does anyone have any slick tricks for getting the old bearing races out? I've been hammering like crazy on those buggers and they won't budge. Maybe I can groove them with a cutting wheel and hit them with a cold chisel, to try to fracture them?

First of all, "hammering like crazy" is the fundamental problem. The races fit with very little interference and do not require much force for removal. They do, however, need to be removed perfectly square with their mounting face.

The act of using a hammer and a drift on one side of the race drives that side forward and jams the race in the hub. If you realize this has occurred, of course you can tap on the opposite side and square the race back up again.

But, most folks do not know whether the race has been knocked out of squareness because it's very difficult to see the size of the gap that develops.

The best procedure is to tap lightly all around the face of the race with a drift and continue this process as it starts to move. Remember, harder hits are not your friend in this situation. Patience is a virtue.

if you have a welder, you can run a bead along the inside of the race, then bang the hub on the floor, and the race will fall out.

Aha. Thanks, I'll try that. I started out trying to finesse it, then got more aggressive when I didn't see any movement -- but it sounds like I needed to just keep finessing it until it popped out.

That's extremely clever, but unfortunately I don't have one.

For reinstallation, I'm thinking it may help to put the new races in the freezer to shrink them.

You'll only get .0008" out of that. It helps a bit, but the race will be warming the entire time it touches the hub.

Dry ice will start you off with .002" shrink and you'll be amazed at how easy the task becomes. I pay $1.50/lb. for it........well worth the cost.

Excellent idea, thanks. The local supermarket carries the stuff.