I’ve got a bad rear wheel bearing in a 2002 Ford Exploder (Explorer😉). I’m either going to press out the hub and bearing from the knuckle or take it to a shop to do it. To that goal, does Auto have a press die set?
Sorry to not answer your question, but based on this video
the rear axle is IRS, and the wheel bearing is held in a hub carrier assembly, so “press die set” or no, it SHOULD be fairly straight-forward to press this out on the hydraulic press (or the arbor press)…
For what little this is worth, as well, I don’t think I’ve ever worked in a shop that had a “press die set” (in fact, it’s not a phrase with which I’m familiar, though I can make an educated guess at what you mean).
I’ll bet @TLAR (among others) can help. Usually you use a socket or similar. These really don’t typically take much actual pressure to press in and out. They’re just unwieldy…
Oh, a bearing separator IS crucial, or at least handy, and I know we have one of those. Saw Brandon use it once…
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Whatever you do, be sure you get your pre-load on those bearings right.
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On the 240sx, Brandon made a die out of round stock to press them out, and the bearing splitter to change them out.
To answer your question, we don’t have a set of dies to push them out. It can be cobbled together, we just don’t have it ready to go.
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I’ve seen and used hub puller type sets before. The rear bearing is huge and to push out the outer race requires a big a$$ die. Nice to know there is a bearing separator floating around.
Thanks for all the advice and video!
I’m a bit late to the game, but as Owen states above- the press “dies” from a hub bearing tool will be the ticket when using the hydraulic press to push the old bearing out and the new one in.
One note tho - most European cars use a circlip to retain the bearing in the bearing housing (not sure about your vehicle)
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Yes Tom good point, it does have a retainer ring in the back of the knuckle.
I found a hub die set I think I will buy and use for this as long as it has the right diameter. I’m going to remove the knuckle and measure it prior to purchasing the set. If it works, I’ll purchase it and do both of my rear knuckles at Auto press and then donate the set to Auto as I doubt I’d ever redo these again before selling.
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Might just be me, but I would have the new bearing already in hand, which you could measure…
At least with this one, unlike many of the European cars, there’s a snap ring on just one side, so there’s no debate about which way it has to move…
Good point. But, what I meant was the hub die puller set not the bearing.
If the diameters are off on the bearing and hub dies and I can’t find a die set with the right diameters, then I’m just going to take them to a shop and have them done. Just depends on the time needed and the hassle factor.
Not sure that describes clearly what I mean, but until I know for sure that I will press them in myself, I dont want to buy anything yet. But I do know that I have to pull the knuckles for sure whether I do the work or a shop does.
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Owen,
I have a older version of a hub bearing remove/install tool - where you do the job on the car without removing the hub. It came with several different sized drivers …so if you want to meet at the Space and see if it will work for your application, that works for me.
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Thanks Tom - I’m going to check this out a little more and see if this might work. I’m hoping for time to get to this next week. I’ll touchbase once I know when I can get time.
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Just give me a head’s up, I’ll be at the space most evenings this week after 8pm
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Working on those engines in pallet storage? 
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Thanks to all for all the advice and @jast for the videos. I followed them exactly.
I found the bearing splitter and it work great.
I ended up making press discs with the plasmacam to the diameters I needed. Turned out exactly what I needed.
Once again, many thanks for the advice and suggestions.
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Love to see some pics of the discs, and/or process (I know it’s boring, but much like watching t-ball, it’s SOO much better if it’s YOUR kid, or at least, a kid you know, or at least, as in this case, on your home field!)
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LOLZ … I know what you mean, soccer is my favorite sports now because my DD(darling daughter) plays.
I’m bad at taking pics while I do projects, but I will take some of the discs and post later.
Basically, all I did was measure the diameters I needed and drew them on the plasmacam program and cut them out. Someone could cut out a whole range of discs for pressing if needed. The accuracy cutting through a 3/8” plate was a bit wonky and I needed to grind it in some spots. I may have had the cut speed up too high though. I would need to play with it to dial it in.
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Here are the 2 discs I cut out. The bigger one was used to push the new bearing in and the smaller one was to support the inner race as I pushed in the hub. So as to prevent from ruining the new bearing.
Removing the old one was just pushing out the hub with a large socket and the bearing was destroyed and then using the smaller disc to push out the old outer race.
I used the bearing splitter to remove the inner race from the hub.
One thing to note: I took off the emergency brakes after I removed the hub. This gave me a flat surface to push the new bearing in. Then before I pressed the hub back in, I re-installed the emergency brakes.
I know pics describe it better, but I hate getting my phone greasy and dirty while I work!
BTW: I had received a quote of $850 to have it done and $500 if I just brought in the knuckle. This one shop definitely DID NOT want to just press in a new bearing. I offered him $150 to do it and he wouldn’t take it. Lol.
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Are those 1/2 thick? Looks good!
Thank you.
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No it was 3/8”…
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