Front Wheel Bearing

[Ronnie]

My front N/S Wheel bearing is on the way out. I've never changed one of these before.

Does anyone now if there are variations on the bearing itself between 340, 360 or GLT? My car is 1984 spec.

Any tips for doing the swap? I found a thread about rear wheel bearings fixed in with locktite - is this the same for the front?

I'm also guessing I should change both sides at the same time, or am I just making more work for myself?

All help appreciated

[Chris_C]

I did the front of my 1.7 the other day Aaron, only did the nearside, but it's not too bad tbh. You need a BIG breaker bar and 6 sided sockets to get the caliper bracket off (do the 2 BIG bolts on the back of the hub, then you only have to undo 2 of them ) the hub was easy enough, it's getting the old shells out that is a pig. I didn't have a set of drifts, so took it to a local garage, who didn't charge me for the 2 mins they took to smack them out

Getting the new ones in straight is a pig as well, just be patient! Since I've fixed the one that was REALLY grinding, now hear that the other one is grinding, lame.

Volvo charged me 25ish for the kit of GOOD bearings, a set of third party ones I've got look a tad pathetic, with grease, new everything.

[petefarrell360]

Yeah, Chris covers it pretty well. I did both on my GLT. To be honest neither were that bad, but, I could tell something wasn't right and decided to do both of them, as if one is worn, the other couldn't be far behind IMO. Despite the different forces and one side always getting more of the brunt of cornering on roundabouts, I thought I'd save the hassle of not having the time to do it, or it being the middle of winter and not fancying playing in the cold!

I ground up my own drift to fit the lip of the old bearing runner. Getting the new ones in square and without damaging them is the key.

Removing the old plastic rubber seal and spring can be difficult, as it often breaks up, so that'll take a little while to remove from the rear of the hub.

You'll need a 24 mm socket too for getting the hub retaining nut off. If you can reuse the old one then all is good, the new ones that came in my kit were the wrong size!?! So I had no choice, but they were ok, managed to use a new part to pinch it onto the hub shaft.

A torque wrench is handy for doing the hub retaining nut up and the caliper bolts. The hub nut is explained fairly well in Haynes IIRC, the Auto Data and Peter Russek manuals are very similar on this section. It's a case of tightening to the torque settings, then loosen 90 degrees I think. You can check it's right if you can just about move the washer about from side to side a bit. As the bearings don't want to be too tight, but oviously not loose either. I've not had to adjust mine since I did them, but sometimes they do settle a bit and need readjusting.

No loctite that I know of for the bearing cases Aaron, just purely a tight fit into the hub. And AFAIK there isn't any difference between the 300 models, I think they are all the same, and could even be the same as the DAF 66.

I cleaned all the inside of the hub out once it was all apart with brake cleaner to get rid of the old grease, cleaned it all out of everything, let it dry and then as Chris says, use new everything and loads of grease! Work it into all the new bearings first, then put them in.

It was something I'd never attempted before until a couple of months ago. Pretty satisfying job to do!

Becareful about getting any grease on the brake discs, being a messy job it's hard to avoid, so that brake disc cleaner is useful again. Saying that, if your discs and pads need changing, nowe is a good time......

Pete

[sven360]

Same bearing as Daf 66-it's an Achilles heel so to speak

Pretty straight forward from what I recall-as said previously caliper can be a pig-should be 17mm but I had to bat a 16mm impact on in the end

Pretty well explained in the Haynes-but I torqued em up as per Haynes but had too much play so nipped 'em up a bit more-haven't had a problem in 18mths and quite a few events so take the torque values with a pinch of salt

[IvanAE86]

Setting the bearings by torque is something that actual volvo-mechanics over here never do. They set it by feel, then mount the wheel and see if there is any play in the bearing. It should just be tight enough so it doesnt have play. I have tried this myself under their supervision twice now, and I have found that when setting them like this they usually need retightening within a week.
So I would just add a little bit extra or just take the car for a drive and readjust (the former is better since you dont ruin the locknut too much).

I've seen the front wheel bearings of more rwd cars about the same weight and they are not much larger than the v300 items.. they do seem to last me a lot longer though, must be the way I use the car.

I also never seem to get those buggered bolts off the caliper brackets.. I've just ground the heads off the bolts myself..that way the tension is off and you can take them out of the bracket later..I'll admit it's not the prettiest way to do things, but it's kind of a last-ditch effort method.

[pettaw]

When the bolts seize on the caliper mounting bolts, usually the only cure is lots and lots of heat and a strong bar and well fitting socket.

The Volvo kits are the best because they come with all the correct bearings and races and also new seals, grease and a new nut that will fit

No Loctite needed to hold the nut in place after you've set the tension, but just one word of caution. Its been covered before. Set the tension to the Volvo green book specs and then mount the wheel and check for bearing play. You might well find you need to nip the bolt up just a quarter of a flat or something to eliminate the play. You then lock the nut by hammering the casing of it, its fairly obvious when you see it.

Oh, and I would do both at once, because if one goes, there's every chance the other one won't be far behind.

[IvanAE86]

I have used both volvo and aftermarket bearing kits.. the grease is the only distinguising feature as far as I could tell. There is enough in one tube to do both sides, the aftermarket kits are a bit cheaper.
Driving the bearing races in is done best by using some piece of tubing of the right diameter and just carefully tapping it evenly until the sound/feel indicates you've hit it home.

Dont forget to work the grease into the bearing using your hands. Just put a dab of grease in one hand and press the bearing into it with your other.

[Chris_C]

Hmmm, I really think I should have nipped mine up a bit more, I reckon the nearside that I just changed is grinding, but I did it to Russek specs (which are aways the same as green book specs). Hmm. Could be the offside (which is making a noise I know) though, will have to change that and see.

The aftermarket kits I got the bearing races themselves are thinner than the Volvo ones... I forgot I had them until I ordered the proper Volvo ones, then checked out of curiosity. Now they are in the random pile... might use them for an AA gun mount or something.

[classicswede]

The proper volvo ones are much better. On the high milage I do I've found the repro's will only last about a year 20 - 30,000 miles. I'm finding that a lot of after market parts are just not upto the job tbh and hardly worth the hassle. Spend your cash wisely.

[IvanAE86]

The original items are just bearings too.. nothing special about them. There are plenty of good quality aftermarket bearings available.. brands like SKF, Timken or Koyo wont let you down.. and are usually what you get from OEM suppliers anyway. I know the bearings for my toyota are made by koyo, and I can get them anywhere using the typenr, and they will cost me half what toyota is charging.
I cant imagine there being soo much more crappy stuff on the UK market compared to the stuff that's sold over here.

[pettaw]

The proper volvo ones are much better. On the high milage I do I've found the repro's will only last about a year 20 - 30,000 miles. I'm finding that a lot of after market parts are just not upto the job tbh and hardly worth the hassle. Spend your cash wisely.

^^What he says, when the Volvo kit costs about 30 quid its the hassle factor of having to change it again when the 10 quid one fails early.

[Ronnie]

Thanks everyone for all your good advice and tips. I'll try to get the job sorted next week and will probably be back if/when I run into difficulties

[classicswede]

The proper volvo ones are a combination of SKF and FAG.

Koyo ones do not last - ben there tried then 20'000 miles later done the job again. The Jap bearings are not very good.

[Ronnie]

I've got a lead on cheap Trupart kits - £14 a pair, also Firstline for more money and also Drive Master kits for £17 a pair. Don't who manufacturers are though - anyone have any experience of any of these?

Bryan Brothers are the Volvo retailers in Bristol and they said they would have to supply the individual items rather than a kit, and was going to run in excess of £50 per side Who do you guys use for genuine volvo parts?

[Chris_C]

The dealers My kits were less than 30quid Then 10% off for VOC discount (well, the dude gives me discount just cos I fund his kids to go to uni too...)