Very often, worn or damaged wheel bearings cause car breakdowns on the road. Therefore, it is necessary to replace bearings in a timely manner, without waiting for their complete failure. In most cases, this must be done when the vehicle has traveled more than 130 thousand kilometers.
In addition, watch for any signs of bearing wear, such as noise when the vehicle is moving or unexplained braking when turning the steering wheel. Any of these signs indicate that the bearing must be removed and replaced with a new one. In principle, you can contact a car service to replace the bearing, but if you wish, you can remove the bearing yourself. The procedure itself is not complicated, but in order to avoid trouble, you should adhere to a few simple rules.
- When removing or changing bearings, never use a hammer to strike directly. Remember to always check the condition of the housing and the axle whenever you work on the bearings - even slight wear on these parts often leads to rapid wear or damage to new bearings.
- Bearings must be handled with extreme care - despite their strength, they are very sensitive parts. Therefore, careless handling during installation is quite capable of leading to a violation of the internal geometry of the bearing. This means that the part will fail prematurely and lead to damage to other parts directly connected to the bearing.
- Choose the right tools that you plan to use when removing bearings. In addition, try to never dismantle the inner ring from the hub unit - this should not be done under any circumstances, it is easier to replace the bearing with a new one.
