Wheel bearing replacement
 

I’ve got what seems to be a wheel bearing that’s going in the front right wheel. I’m considering tackling the job myself but had a couple of questions.

I am thinking about buying the SIR B90-P2 kit for extracting and installing the bearing but hesitated a bit on the price.

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...-SIRB90-P2.jpg

For those of you who have used this tool, does this one look like it would do the job?:

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...olB90-P2-2.jpg

(It's offered by a tool site I'm not exactly familiar with, but at $187, it’s sure a lot more reasonable.)

The one on the Pelican page indicates it’s for use with the rear wheel only. (My problem is in the front wheel.) But it seems like I read somewhere that this can be used for both front and rear. Does anyone know for sure on this?

The other option I considered was removing the wheel bearing carrier with the bearing in place and taking the whole thing to a machine shop to have them do the bearing switch. Seems like a reasonable option to me, but then I got to thinking that, since I’ll eventually have a rear bearing go on me, is this approach a viable one with the rears as well? (If not, it seems like buying the extractor now would make sense.)

The Bentley manual says to use special tool 9560 (ball joint press) to remove the tie rod and control arms from the wheel bearing carrier. According to a post on RennTech, that tool runs in excess of $200. Suppose this would work?...

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...eparator-1.jpg

The Bentley manual also says “to aid in wheel bearing removal, aluminum wheel bearing carrier can be heated to 100 degrees C. Do not exceed 120 degrees C.” Seems like a pretty narrow tolerance…how on earth does one accomplish that??

TIA for any answers!

Be carefull with what tool you buy.

There is one on ebay (190$) which is called exactly like that B90-P2 but it doesn't include hub removal bracket(horse-shoe). It comes with only nut, bolt and 2 plates (I learned it hard way).
The picture is actually of SIR master kit which includes all plates for all cars and I have a hard time to beleive it's only 187$

SIR Tool will work on both front and rear bearings and universal ball joint separator should do the trick.

Thanks
Sasha

I have a left rear bearing to replace this winter as well. After doing a bit of internet research I found this site:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/964-forum/498717-wheel-bearing-puller-home-made.html

and I'm thinking of doing the same. I see no need to buy a $200 tool if it isn't really necessary.

For future reference.

I also did mine with about $30 worth of nuts, washers and threaded rod. The hardest part was pushing the the axle from the hub, but I had an old universal hub puller that did the job.

I've done both my rear bearings on my 2000S...
 

....without the SIR tool. The tool looks great but I went the path of removing the carrier and pressing out the hub and bearing.

I froze the bearing and did not need to heat the carrier.

I did not use a ball joint puller but if I had one that'd work, I would have. I had a helper lean on a pry bar on the top of the control arm while I hit the carrier with a hammer. You do have to smack it pretty good but the ball joint will just pop out.