Passat TDI Front Wheel Bearings

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Thu 2 Sep 2004 17:47
Passat TDI Front Wheel Bearings - Passat TDI Man
Hi,

Has anyone ever change the front wheel bearings? and if so is it difficult & do you need any special tools?

Thanks in advance
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Fri 3 Sep 2004 18:01
Passat TDI Front Wheel Bearings - Number_Cruncher
Hi,

I've never done a Passat, but front wheel bearings are usually quite a tight fit in the upright. It is much easier to change them if you have access to a press - or someone whose aim you trust with a sledgehammer and drift!

number_cruncher
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Fri 3 Sep 2004 23:49
Passat TDI Front Wheel Bearings - Civic8
I like Number Cruncher dont know the car. But would suggest if you have no idea. Get the experts to sort it out. any amount of Smashing wheel bearing into Hub may damage it.If you know what you are doing then fine go ahead. Getting wheel bearing into hub or out of needs knowledge of what you are doing. It is simple but only if you know how to attempt it?
--
Was mech1
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Sat 4 Sep 2004 17:32
Passat TDI Front Wheel Bearings - Passat TDI Man
Thanks for the advice and you are both right that a press is required so I will leave to someone who has the gear and the nohow

Cheers
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Sat 4 Sep 2004 18:31
Passat TDI Front Wheel Bearings - JohnM{P}
148k on '97 TDi and original bearings still ok, touch wood...
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Sun 5 Sep 2004 15:07
Passat TDI Front Wheel Bearings - Number_Cruncher
Hi John,

Widely varying bearing life is an interesting quirk of the contact mechanics of rolling element bearings. Oddly, the rolling contact fatige all goes on under the surface, and it is only when a crack propagates to the surface that you get a noticeably noisy bearing.

Because the initiation of fatigue cracks is very dependant on micro scale material properties, it can't be predicted in a deterministic way. There is thus, a degree of statistical variation.

They are chosen by manufacturers, considering loading, to an "L10" life, which 90% of bearings should exceed. So, if you are unlucky, your wheel bearings are in the 10% which fail early. Rarely, this can be very early! If you are lucky, your bearing will last for much longer than the L10 life.

The SKF Bearings website is an excellent resource for general bearing design, mounting and use tips - www.skf.com/

number_cruncher

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Sun 5 Sep 2004 17:30
Passat TDI Front Wheel Bearings - sean
Hello, my friend.

Hello Mark, RLBS.

Sometimes people make mistakes.

Your car is fitted with twin bearings.

If you do not use a press, one row will fall apart.

If you do, it's a very easy (12 minute ) job.
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