Bearing puller
From Knowledgebase
To replace a wheel bearing, you need either a hydraulic shop press or a mechanical bearing puller. A shop press makes easy work of pressing out the bearings. You can take your hubs to a machine shop and have them press your bearings out, or you can buy a home-quality press and do it yourself.
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North American products
- A well-known, a commercial grade item (available for about US$300) is the Hub-Shark, made by Old Forge Tools, item 7325: Hubshark 7325 at MyToolStore.com, Hubshark 7325 at Amazon.com
- A step down from the Hub-Shark you'll find a good-enough-for-home-use bearing puller from Harbor Freight, part number 45210-3VGA, available for about US$60.
UK products
In the UK, a couple of cheap kits are available from Sealey - the VS7020 (GBP140) and the VS7021 (GBP100). The VS7020 along with the three M14 bolts from the VS7021 kit (for pulling off the hub) are suitable for the front bearings on a 1995 S6. The Sealey kits are available from a number of online stores at various discounted prices: Sealey VS7020 - Front Wheel Drive Bearing Kit at CCW, Sealey VS7021 - Front Wheel Drive Bearing Kit at CCW
DIY Home-made Wheel Bearing Puller
Eric Kissell made his own bearing puller. Here are some pictures of his home-made wheel bearing puller.
The Bits and Pieces
The tool consists of a long bolt and washer (or thread rod with two nuts locked together), a spacer into which the bearing will be pulled, some adapters to press against the bearing and spacer, and a nut and washer that draws all the pieces together. Since there may be a lot of force needed to get the bearing out, it is recommended that you use a hardened Grade 8 Machine thread for this purpose.
Disclaimer: Create and use this tool at your own risk.
(Thanks to Eric Kissell for providing the photos.)
How to use the tool
Use your home-made tool as follows:
- Size the smaller adapter (think thick washer) to cover the bearing.
- Size the larger adapter/spacer fit over the bearing (the bearing will fit inside the spacer as it is pulled out of its seat).
- Insert the bolt through the smaller adapter, and then through the bearing.
- Slide the spacer over the bolt, followed by the larger adapter.
- Run a nut down the bolt until it hits the larger adapter, snug things down, and then keep turning the nut, drawing the two adapters together, and with them the bearing.
You may need to use some torque on the nut to break the bearing loose. An impact wrench or hammer on the wrench may help. Then again, it might chew up the thread on the threaded rod (this can happen with the Sealey kit). It's safest to use lots of torque (4' extension isn't really up to the job - you need a 6' extension and a 3/4" drive).
Kent McLean 05 May 2009
Paul Heneghan 06 May 2009 (UK ammendments)
