Anyone had to replace the rear wheel bearings on a s3? Is it a hard job?
Can anyone recommend replacement brands? As Audi want £200+ for a set...
Can anyone recommend replacement brands? As Audi want £200+ for a set...
Rear wheel bearing
- Thread starter Reeced
- Start date
I have just done my rear wheel bearings on 2007 A3 8PA to fix a DSG gear shifting fault (of all things)!
Here are the highlights.
There are two types 30mm and 32mm. Euro car parts say it's 32mm up to VIN # 8P-4-162 001 and 30mm thereafter. My VIN starts 8P-7 so 30mm for me, a quick call to the local dealership confirmed this.
I used the SNR bearing part no R154.55, from lots of shopping around they are much of a muchness branding wise so really buyers choice. Plenty on eBay and Amazon, if you can wait then bearings shipped in from abroad can be significantly cheaper, I bought at a bit of a premium so I could click and collect same day from eurocarparts.
You will need an M18 spline bit for the Hub nut and M14 spline for the calliper bolts. The Hub bolts are a standard thread (anti-clockwise to undo) but need some real welly to get them off. I managed it with a 600mm bar and 90kgs of me hanging off the end.
The calliper bolts are also a pain but this is more about getting the angle for enough leverage, I managed it with a little penetrating fluid and a standard 400mm socket set bar into the wheel arch. Take care not to damage the brake lines doing it this way.
The brake disk rotor will need a torx bit to remove the grub screw. Once it's off my hub/bearing just slid right off the spindle.
It's worth considering picking up some fresh brake disk splash plates as they are prone to corrosion around the three screws that hold them in place. As you need to take the hubs off to replace them it could be worth the £10 each to save a headache later down the line.
Reassembly is pretty straight forward. Be careful not to damage the speed sensor ring housed in the bearing or the electric sensor itself that pokes through the hub carrier. The calliper bolts should be torqued to 65Nm (48lbf ft). I couldn't get my torque wrench in place however so I just went for as tight as I could get them! (If you're not confident get a shop to do it!)
The hub nut needs 180Nm (133lbf ft) PLUS an extra 180 degrees turn. I managed to get about an extra 100 degrees with my 600mm bar before it wouldn't budge another mm! I will check after a week or so to make sure all is well.
Hope this helps take a bit of the mystery out.
Cheers
Ben
Here are the highlights.
There are two types 30mm and 32mm. Euro car parts say it's 32mm up to VIN # 8P-4-162 001 and 30mm thereafter. My VIN starts 8P-7 so 30mm for me, a quick call to the local dealership confirmed this.
I used the SNR bearing part no R154.55, from lots of shopping around they are much of a muchness branding wise so really buyers choice. Plenty on eBay and Amazon, if you can wait then bearings shipped in from abroad can be significantly cheaper, I bought at a bit of a premium so I could click and collect same day from eurocarparts.
You will need an M18 spline bit for the Hub nut and M14 spline for the calliper bolts. The Hub bolts are a standard thread (anti-clockwise to undo) but need some real welly to get them off. I managed it with a 600mm bar and 90kgs of me hanging off the end.
The calliper bolts are also a pain but this is more about getting the angle for enough leverage, I managed it with a little penetrating fluid and a standard 400mm socket set bar into the wheel arch. Take care not to damage the brake lines doing it this way.
The brake disk rotor will need a torx bit to remove the grub screw. Once it's off my hub/bearing just slid right off the spindle.
It's worth considering picking up some fresh brake disk splash plates as they are prone to corrosion around the three screws that hold them in place. As you need to take the hubs off to replace them it could be worth the £10 each to save a headache later down the line.
Reassembly is pretty straight forward. Be careful not to damage the speed sensor ring housed in the bearing or the electric sensor itself that pokes through the hub carrier. The calliper bolts should be torqued to 65Nm (48lbf ft). I couldn't get my torque wrench in place however so I just went for as tight as I could get them! (If you're not confident get a shop to do it!)
The hub nut needs 180Nm (133lbf ft) PLUS an extra 180 degrees turn. I managed to get about an extra 100 degrees with my 600mm bar before it wouldn't budge another mm! I will check after a week or so to make sure all is well.
Hope this helps take a bit of the mystery out.
Cheers
Ben
Update on torquing up! I have just done the front hub bearings to compliment the new back ones and these needed 200Nm + 180 degrees!
I got hold of a 100cm bit of scaffolding tube and this on my 600mm bar gave me enough purchase to add the 180 degrees with a bit of bouncing. I went back to the rears and used the extension to add the extra quarter turn to those hub nuts so I'm properly torqued up all round.
Hot tip: apply the stage 1 torque whilst you're jacked up then replace the road wheel and drop the car back down (remember to pop the plastic hub badge out of the centre of the wheel first to avoid damaging it with a screwdriver!). Use a sharpie to mark the 12 O'Clock position on the bolt head and then add the 180 turn a bit at a time with your bar and extension at an angle where you can get your weight behind it. When your sharpie mark gets to 6 O'clock you're all set.
NB these nuts or bolts are normally tighten dry then the two stage tightening torque applied. (And are one shot) Not too sure about going back a week later to make a final adjustment?
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Absolutely this is not the ideal way to go about it! I'm pretty confident all is going to be well but I'll be back on here to hang my head if the wheels fall off!
