Wheel Hub Assembly Replacement

[ncburch22]

Not sure if this has been written out somewhere, but my new wheel hub assembly finally arrived around noon today. Decided to knock it out this afternoon. It took about 1.5 hours. I followed Atlantic British' YouTube directional video for advice.

Signs of a bad bearings/hub vary, but I experienced a growling noise(very similar to tire noise) and grinding upon right hand turns.

Tools used and torque specs:
4ton jack w/ two 2ton back ups.
1/4" Socket for ABS sensor.
10mm socket for bracket bolt.
15mm socket for hub bolts 85ib.ft.
21mm 12 point socket for caliper bolts. Make sure to use a 12pt.
32mm socket for axle nut 258ib.ft
32mm socket for wheel lugs
103ib.ft.
Diamond point chisel to lock axle nut into place.
Rubber mallet or hammer to knock old assembly out.
Wire brush to clean surfaces around hub ring and ABS sensor.

An impact wrench is almost necessary as the hub bolts are tough to get off. I used Liquid Wrench(wd40 works too) to spray all the bolts prior to taking off.

 

[howardduff]

I did this job on my LR3 first the RH side and about 9 months later the LH. I had so much trouble getting the hub out of the bore the first time, I made a puller that fit over the wheel studs and used a slide hammer on the LH side. That was still a hard disassembly. The noise is a tell tale and you can also raise the wheel off the ground and if you have side to side and top to bottom shake it is probably the hub bearing. It's a shame they don't use anti seize on the bore so that it doesn't freeze up. The same for the bolts holding the hub in place. Every bolt I remove I use anti seize and I have yet to have one come loose prematurely, and when you need to remove it again it comes right apart.

 

[Surfrider77]

Nice write up! What am I looking for in a faulty hub? Looks like a solid piece of steel in the pic.

 

[ncburch22]

Nice write up! What am I looking for in a faulty hub? Looks like a solid piece of steel in the pic.

They tend to rust out and begin to creak and crack over time. The bearing assembly inside of mine had failed causing the grinding noise. Metal on metal contact.

 

[PaulLR3]

Nice write up! What am I looking for in a faulty hub? Looks like a solid piece of steel in the pic.

The front hubs on my LR3 failed at 90K miles. Listen for a growling noise that turns into a howling noise. Sounds like you are running really aggressive mud tires even when you're not.

 

[ryanjl]

Nice write up! What am I looking for in a faulty hub? Looks like a solid piece of steel in the pic.

Most of the time it's the wheel bearings that go out first. Rather than go through all the effort of removing the hub and replacing just the wheel bearings, it's not much more expensive (and a lot less effort) to just replace the entire hub assembly.

 

[umbertob]

Land Rover doesn't even sell the bearings on their own, just the assembled hub.