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Patriot Front Wheel Bearing Replacement

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JLutz

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I figured I better start a writeup on this since it has consumed so much of my time and taken my jeep off the road for almost two weeks now.

For a couple months I have been hearing a strange noise coming from the front end of my Jeep. I installed new control arms and the RRO lift a few months ago. the ball joints in my old control arms were junk and it appears they caused me further problems. Because of the bad ball joint, my front wheel bearings wore out and were making a rubbing sound that corresponded directly to road speed. I was able to eliminate most of the drivetrain when diagnosing the problem because it did not change while driving the same speed in different gears or coasting in neutral.

Thinking "no big deal, I'll replace the bearings" I ordered a pair of replacements with the proper ABS ring and started taking things apart. While disconnecting my steering knuckles I came to the realization that I pretty much had to wreck the ball joint boots to detach them so I ordered a pair of those too. The passenger side steering knuckle came out no problem, I took the strut with it so I could keep my camber as close as possible. I am using a friend's shop in a small town nearby so I will be putting some miles on it before it gets in for an alignment, it's ok my tires are garbage anyway.
 

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Discussion starter · #2 ·
Now when I moved over to the driver's side, I realized I was in for a fight. I broke a set of pullers trying to free the axle from the hub. Got a bigger set of pullers... Broke them too. Time for a bigger hammer, literally. Took a sledge hammer to it to try to crack the axle free but it was not going! In the end, the axle came along with it because that was the only way to get the steering knuckle off the vehicle.

I took the knuckles(along with the struts and one axle) to a friend of mine who is a foreman at one of the heavy truck shops in town to use his press to separate everything. Between him, myself and about 5 of his mechanics, we figured out how to block the parts up to safely press them out. We then stood behind some metal grating and watched the show! The axle came out relatively easy(considering how bad I thought it was) but the bearings sounded like a gunshot when the press broke them free. If you are doing this, note that you have to press the hub out from the back/inside of the steering knuckle to access the monster snap ring that holds the bearing in place. Remove the snap ring and you can attempt to free up the bearing. I attempted to do this all with hand tools and quickly realized it was hopeless.
 

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Discussion starter · #3 ·
I will update again once I have everything back together. At the moment my bearings are in the freezer in hopes it will help me fit them in and I am cleaning up the insides of the steering knuckles. The inner races of the old bearings stayed stuck on the hubs but I am soaking those in penetrating oil and I picked up some new bolts for the puller so I will try to get them off tomorrow. If that does not work I will try cutting them off and let everyone know how it went.

PS: Don't even attempt this unless you have access to a fully stocked mechanic's shop. I almost never go to a mechanic but today had me wishing I had just paid someone else to do it!
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
No problem Sandstone, hopefully I saved you the ordeal I'm going through. I love the looks on mechanics' faces when they realize that we have press-fit bearings on the front! The back hubs are supposed to be fairly simple so I may do those once I'm through since they're about the only factory part left under my unibody.

Just before heading off to bed I figured I would try my hand at installing the new wheel bearings. I blocked the steering knuckles up on some wood and cleaned the inside out with some wd-40 "specialist"(got it on sale same price as the regular stuff and it seems to cut through rust a lot better) and an old toothbrush. Then I greased the inside of the knuckle with some lithium grease(just a fine film to get the bearing to slide). I took my bearings out of the freezer where they spent the past couple hours cooling down to help with the press fit. If you can warm the knuckles up a bit this goes really smooth but I managed to do it without hearing them up. The cooled bearings just barely fit into the edge of the hole they go into(this is because in truth the bearing is slightly larger than the hole when warm) but the edges of them have a bit of a soft shoulder so you can feel them "seat". Then I put the biggest race driver in my kit on the handle and drove it in with just a claw hammer until it was flush with the inside lip on the steering knuckle and not blocking the hole for the snap ring.

Depending on the kit, your sizes may be different but make sure your driver fits the outer race. If you use a driver that is too small you may separate the bearing and then you'll have to start all over. Also, I used a rented kit and I wrapped a rag around the handle to protect it but it is aluminum and you are using it to drive a hardened steel part into another steel part so it did get scored up a little. We'll see what they say when I return it, worst case I bought a bearing driver kit lol.
 

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Discussion starter · #6 ·
For an update... I finally got the bearing inner races off my hubs. I went as far as seeing if I could just buy new hubs but no one wanted to sell me a set without the steering knuckles. My attempt at pulling the races off failed miserably, there's really not enough of a shoulder to grab on to.

My success finally came when I decided to cut them off. I started my cuts with an angle grinder to speed up the process but I had to do some extra work with the Dremel and a cutting disc to get pretty much through them without cutting the hubs. Once I was just about through I used a hardened steel(not for wood) chisel to crack the bearing races and I was able to pull them off by hand. Only damage to the hubs was a little knick where the chisel hit them but I will polish that out with some emry cloth or 2000 grit sandpaper before I press them in. I should have the jeep back up and running this weekend if the reinstall goes smoothly.
 

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#7 ·
Interesting. For most cars you can just order the wheel hubs, or they come with the new bearings. Going to have to remember that when I have to do mine. I'd never even attempt to do a press in wheel bearing replacement without a good strong press. They all sound like a gunshot when they pop out on the press. This is one of those jobs that is just easier at a shop.

If you want to save a little money, you could always take the steering knuckles out and bring just those to a machine shop and have the old and the new ones pressed in. But honestly, you are going to have to go to a shop to have the alignment done anyway, so if you can find a shop with reasonable rates it is probably worth having them do it.
 
#8 ·
I was quoted 1.5 hrs labour to do a front wheel bearing plus alignment cost. Considering the downtime and hassle involved it may be worth it for some to just have it done at a shop, especially if both require replacement.

For me, if one bearing is shot the other side can't be too far behind so I would just get them both done and save on a second alignment cost.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
Shop quoted me $160-200 to press the bearings if I brought my steering knuckles in. The part you guys are missing is, I had this trouble doing this at a heavy truck shop. I would be willing to bet the mechanic I got my quote from would have called back and told me I needed new steering knuckles, or at the very least hubs. GUARANTEED they would have told me I needed a CV axle replacement (and been more than happy to charge for one of those as well) if I took the vehicle in. They would not have been cutting the inner races of the bearings off without hosing me. No, they would not have an "easier time with it" or anything. They're mechanics, not magicians and they don't have any tools I don't. Maybe an alignment rack but I plan on getting the equipment for that soon too.
 
#10 ·
Valid points on the cascade effect. My front driver side bearing has a growl, so I need to look into the fastest and cheapest way without much downtime. A new knuckle from the dealer comes with the bearing installed and is $350, wonder if I can sell the old knuckles to recoup some costs.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
DJMurphy said:
Valid points on the cascade effect. My front driver side bearing has a growl, so I need to look into the fastest and cheapest way without much downtime. A new knuckle from the dealer comes with the bearing installed and is $350, wonder if I can sell the old knuckles to recoup some costs.
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You might be able to get rid of them if you find someone with the right equipment for the job... And a patriot. The other option is a wrecker. I called a local one and they would sell me the knuckles for about $70 with hubs and bearings in them but I decided I would rather reassure myself and go with new bearings. You never know what the condition of that stuff will be and I may have been installing something that was not much better than what I was taking out. I was also able to borrow my sister's car for a couple weeks so the downtime wasn't really a big deal for me. I'm definitely ready to give her back the sunfire and get back into my jeep though!
 
#12 ·
Well you definitely have me thinking on a wrecker, at that price can always pop the bearing out and replace with a new one, I'm partial to SKF brand, probably the best ones that I've seen perform in my industry.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
Ya, I had considered doing the same. Of course by that point I was already in the middle of pressing them out lol. It could vary a lot between wreckers but they should be able to give you a quote over the phone. I usually do pretty well at this particular one because one of my friends and I have bought a fair number of patriot parts off him. I have gotten trim pieces, skid plates, tow hooks and some interior stuff for my patriot for roughly 20% of what I would have paid new.
 
#14 ·
Well that's a wash. FDII uses a different PN than FDI for the knuckle. Found a Compass and Patriot at local wreckers but both are FDI's. Chances of finding an FDII is probably slim to none.
 
Discussion starter · #15 · (Edited)
DJMurphy said:
Well that's a wash. FDII uses a different PN than FDI for the knuckle. Found a Compass and Patriot at local wreckers but both are FDI's. Chances of finding an FDII is probably slim to none.
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Ouch, that sucks. Ya you probably won't find one of those. They're worth a little more so they're not as likely to be "totalled." It's possible though. That's how I got the skid plates and tow hooks.

Any idea what the differences are? It's possible that they're the same and labelled differently. If I had to take a guess from the rest of the differences I've seen on the FDII, I'd say they're probably heavier but use the same wearable parts(bearings, bushings, etc)... Cause that makes sense lol.
 
#16 ·
I only looked at 2010 and below part numbers online. One says with AWL (FDII) other says without. Maybe different geometry or robustness but without both to compare that's a wild guess. I'll try more research online to see what PN's are available in higher years.
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
I tried to find some info on this but I didn't have much luck. When I called a parts place about this before they didn't ask if I had FDI or FDII, they asked if it was FWD or 4x4. I started looking in my service manual but then I realized it is for a caliber so it doesn't say anything about FDI or FDII. Not much help from me, sorry.
 
Discussion starter · #19 · (Edited)
Another update. One down, one to go. I got the passenger's side reassembled. Thanks whoever posted the torque specs, I think Todde and Gramps put some up that helped. I have the service manual on my laptop but I always forget it when I'm working on the jeep and have to look things up on my phone.

Everything went smooth on the install on that side. Unfortunately, while fighting with the HUGE snap ring that holds the bearings in place, I slipped and messed up the seal on the driver's side one. I have a replacement for that on its way. On the upside, the gasket/snap ring replacement on the transmission went well so I shouldn't have anything else holding me up once I get another bearing. Did I totally destroy it? No but I don't want to install it knowing the seal may have issues. Below is a picture of the snap ring pliers I had to buy for this. They were BIG but were really awkward to work with which is how I ended up with a screwdriver in the seal lol. The second is a picture of what I did to the bearing. Look at the right hand side, it is tough to see.
 

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Discussion starter · #20 ·
Well I got this project finished. After I wrecked the bearing for the driver's side I ended up buying a steering knuckle from an auto wrecker. The bearing seemed to be in really good condition so I think it will be fine. I had to replace the axle that had been seized into the driver's side as well. Got everything installed and filled the transmission today before I brought it home. My road noise is gone but due to unforeseen circumstances I also have different tires on so I will never know for sure how much of the noise was the bearing.
 
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JLutz
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