Press need for wheel bearing?

Has anyone attempted to replace a front wheel bearing in a 1st gen 4x4 at home without a press? Impossible? Exploring all my options before I take out the knuckle.

I also noticed there are 2 seals for the bearing on each knuckle. The toyota parts diagram shows them being the same seal. Is this the case or are they different?

 

It's been awhile, but mine took about 21 tons to press out the bearing, so I'd say almost impossible. I posted up the FSM pages from a 96 Tacoma here https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/manual-hub-wheel-bearing-replacement.486737/. I also have them from a 2013 Tacoma, if you need them.

 

F'ing impossible. Get yourself a Harbor Freight 20 ton press on sale for around $170. I just helped a guy add some Tacoma manual hub knuckles to his 3rd Gen 4runner. We had to press the hubs out because the knuckles didn't come with brake dust shields and you need to remove the hub to get new dust shields on. When you press out the hub, you destroy the bearing so we put in new bearings and seals. The first hub came out with part of the bearing attached and we had to cut it off with a Dremel. The other hub came out clean.

The two seals are different.

A press sleeve kit is handy to have for this job as well. If you plan on doing quite a bit of press work, the expense is worth it. I've also used it when replacing rear axle seals and bearings. I bought this kit on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-P...077356?hash=item3d1b2f1c6c:g:oP4AAOSwd2xXQbwR

We videoed the job and I'll post it on this forum soon.

 

The FSM shows a tool that is similar to the OTC hub grappler being used to press bearings. I successfully used the OTC tool to do mine. The tool might be too expensive for the casual DIY-er. Don't fall for the lore of the 20-50 ton press required to do these.

The two seals inner and outer are different in looks and in price.

 

Before using the Harbor Freight press, I read a write-up where the guy destroyed a couple 7 ton pullers trying to remove the hub. They were Craftsman pullers so he got new ones but I didn't feel like destroying the pullers I owned so I figured the press I already owned was a much better option.

How much does the OTC Hub Grappler Tool kit that allows you to pull hubs and press bearing in and out run? You can get a Harbor Freight press for $170 with the common 20% discount coupons they have all the time.

 

Thanks guys I had a feeling. Would any of you happen to have those part numbers? I got a part number for one of them but I'm not sure if it's inner or outer.

Thanks again!

 

Another option: Remove your knuckles "spindles" and take them to the shop. Four lower ball joint bolts and 1 on top. Had my old ones pressed out and new ones pressed in for only $20 bucks. Just make sure to torque the nut in the back.

 

Where did you get this done for such a good price?

 

That must have been a serious Bro Deal. What shop is going to do the press work for $20? Knowing what shop hourly rates are these days, I highly doubt a shop is going to press out the hubs, press out the bearings, press the bearings back in and finally press the hubs back in for $20. Not to mention sometimes the bearing comes out with the hub and part of the bearing is still locked onto the spindle complicating the job. Did you give the shop owner a happy ending in the back room for that rate?

 

Price was for 1 side. It was about 4 years ago at Tops Auto in Anaheim.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/tops-auto-supply-anaheim

Pepboys charged me $40 for my passenger side about 5-6 years ago. https://www.yelp.com/biz/pep-boys-anaheim-6

If I were to do it again I'd just buy a press.

 

The kit runs about $470 on Amazon. Which is a worthwhile investment considering that by the time you buy the Hazard Fraught press and pressing sleeves on eBay you're already close to $300

 

A press and a parts cleaner are on my short list of things to have in my home shop once I finish school. Spent two hours tonight cleaning my front driveshaft getting it ready to paint and put back on after I swap my front diff lol.

 

$470 for a specialized tool is pretty steep. I know people scoff at the idea of using Harbor Freight tools but they work surprisingly well and you can't beat the price. I also own OTC tools and I really like them but your hub grappler tool has a very limited application. With the Harbor Freight press and the press sleeve kit I bought on Ebay, I've now done two rear axle seal/bearing jobs (ABS and Non-ABS) and the manual hub conversion job so we could video and upload them to YouTube.

I also bought a Harbor Freight transmission jack to help my friend Sean pull his broken auto trans and replace it with a remanned one. That jack worked awesome and I think I spent around $200. Would Harbor Freight tools be the smart choice for a shop that will need to use the tool a lot, probably not. For a DIYer only needing the tool for occasional use, it's a smart purchase in my opinion.

 

That's a really good price. I doubt I'd find any place in the Bay Area willing to do both knuckles for less than $200. The Bay Area is nice but pretty much everything is more expensive here.