Rear wheel bearing question?
 

I am getting ready to pull off the rear bearing carrier so I can take it down to a machine shop to press a new bearing in.

Wayne's book and web site have a very helpful DIY.

The Bentley's service book has some additional steps that was not in Wayne's book.
They recommend removing the aluminum diagonal braces and the reinforcement plate.
Also disconnect inner CV joint from the transmission?

Is it necessary to do the additional Bentley steps?

Thanks

I've done the rear bearing but don't remember about the support. That's the least of your worries though. But you do need to remove the inner cv joint. After removing the 32mm axle nut you'll need to swing the suspension outward and drive the axle inward. Removing the inner cv will allow you maneuver the axle as you can't swing the carrier outwards far enough otherwise.

Driving the axle thru the carrier required considerable effort.

Based on several stories here of cv bolts coming loose months afterwards, it would be a good idea to put some blue loctite on them. Good luck.

how do you know you need to replace the rear bearings? I'm not sure if it's my rear tires or the bearings going out. but I'm starting to hear this very low rotational sound which is independent of engine speed and is dependent on car speed. Again, the sound is very low and not noticeable to the average person.

Jack the car up and spin the wheels. 3 of mine were smooth. The bad one sounded like the bearing was packed with sand. On the frwy there was also an obnoxious grating whining sound. When I got it apart the bearing was disintegrated.

Yes and no. I had a front bearing go on me (could hear the low rotational noises when driving), but when I jacked her up and played with the wheel (push/pull top/bottom and side to side, AND rotated the wheel) I heard/felt nothing unusual at all. But when I replaced the bearing, the noise while driving was gone, confirming the diagnosis. Whether or not you can hear it when the car is jacked up, I'm sure, depends on how far gone the bearing is.

That would be me. Luckily the shaft fell off in my driveway.

You remove the inner CV joint basically so you can remove the axle from the wheel carrier. While driving out the axle make sure you are careful not to mushroom the threads on the end of the axle! You remove the braces and plate just to give you the room that you need to drop the axle down and out... makes sense once you do it.

Kirk

What he said!
 

If you use a hammer to drive the axle out, leave the axle nut loosely on the threads before you start to hit it. The nut will protect the axle threads and if you booger up the nut (not likely), you will be replacing it anyway (right?).

BTW, you do not reuse your axle nut so have replacements on hand.