great write up, much more difficult than it looks

first off, great write up and great pics!

i ran into some very significant problems doing mine (which required a lot of cursing and pb blaster). specifically, my rotor was rusted tight to my hub and i could not get it break free. i may have been able to remove it if i had purchased a larger flywheel puller. so, i decided to remove the 3 e torx bolts that hold the hub to the lower control arm and try to pull both the hub and rotor off at the same time. much to my surprise, the hub was rusted tight to the control arm. d'oh! fortunately, my neighbor came up with a great idea. we installed the donut spare loosely to the hub and rocked it until the hub broke free. then i was able to separate the bearing from the rotor after the fact. installation was much easier. and i 'paid it forward' by putting a little anti-seaze on all the surfaces.

my only other recommendations would be to get 3/8 inch drive e torx sockets. 1/2 inch drive is a bit too big to wedge in for the 12:00 bearing mounting bolt. we actually had to jack up on the control arm to gain enough clearance to get the socket back on the bolt to tighten it.

i can't wait to do the drivers side. (that was sarcasm if you missed it)

 

My Front O/S ABS Sensor had gone so I've just replaced it and the replaced the hub. (very good guide by the way).

However I'm not sure how to get rid of the ABS/TCS warning lights? I live a long way from the nearest Saab dealership and my local garage's diagnostics machine couldn't reset it for me.

Tried disconnecting/reconnecting the battery in hope that might work. Any tips?

 

try unplugging all four wheel sensors repeatidly

to clean up the connectors then try ecu reset by dissing battery
its usually the connector corroded on all brands of car due toroad salt water etc

 

Welcome to SC.

If you are still getting the warning then you have not fixed the problem. When the ABS unit senses the appropriate resistance from the sensors it will automatically stop sending warning messages. - no reset required.

Possible problems:
1) You have another hub/abs sensor that needs to be replaced,
2) You may have a wire harness problem - these are common on the rear wire harnesses.
2) Your ABS unit ECM may need to be replaced (Hopefully this is not the case),

One way to figure out which ABS sensor is faulty is to have a Tech II diagnostic performed.
or
Measure the resistance at each sensor with the new sensor as the base line.

If all sensors return similar resistance levels - jack up the rear of the car and follow the rear wire harness around to a junction box in front of the driver side - UK (Passenger US) wheel, disconnect the connector for the ABS sensors and check continuity to the sensor connectors. - search the forums as there are several threads on this.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the advice pal.

Rang around and there's no tech II in the area but the vauxhall dealership think they'll at least be able to see what's uP with it, will see how that goes and take it from there

 

I tried everything to get the the wheel bearing at 12 o'clock out. I found it way easier to take the the bottom 3 bolts holding the balljoint in and then just hammering the wheel bearing out. Very good info though. ;ol;

 

Many thanks to the OP for this DIY, saved me bunches of cash. I replaced my front left hub this weekend and it was DEFINITELY easier to unhook the control arm, remove the shaft, and then torque on those hub bolts in a vise to get them loose.

One thing that would have definitely made this easier would have been air tools though!

I have to say.....it's nice to be able to hear the turbo whistle again! Lol

 

What is a sign of a bad bearing?

Hear my my symptoms:

Its not suspension (brand new suspension)

When I am taking low to medium speed ramps or even straight aways and I start turning a certain direction (i want to say left) very slightly i start hearing a noise that sounds like I have a bad tire but the tires are fine. Kind of a whining noise but deeper I would say

Any ideas if its a bearing based off of that

 

Thank you so much for this!! I was quoted over $700 by any indy. Unfortunately, I bought a KMM bearing and that is noisy as well but not as bad as the defective one. I'll be getting a timken soon.

 

Is there a reason to replace the whole hub assembly? Why not just replace the bearings?
Also does anyone have any experience with the cheaper ones off of eBay? Don't really have the $250-$300 to spend right now but the bearings are getting really loud.

 

For one, I think just getting to the bearing itself will be a very hard task. It may be possible if you have the right tools but I'm sure you would wish to have just bought the bearing hub which is very easy to remove and install. get a timekin from rockauto.com. It's about $140 shipped.

 

Help buying parts

Could somebody inform me as to where best to buy a quality wheel bearing/hub assembly (front) for the best price?

I have a '99 Saab 9-5.

Also, if I purchase the entire assembly, then I no longer need to buy a wheel bearing separately, correct?


Thank you.

 

Could somebody inform me as to where best to buy a quality wheel bearing/hub assembly (front) for the best price?

I have a '99 Saab 9-5.

Also, if I purchase the entire assembly, then I no longer need to buy a wheel bearing separately, correct?


Thank you.

Wrong forum. This is the 9-3 forum. Different car and part.

 

I didn't want you to go without some praise for this. This was brilliantly done. Thanks a lot for your help on this sir.

Time to pop open some Rolling Rocks.

 

So after doing this replacement things were good... but now the sensors are being funky on my new hubs I think possibly.

When I get below 25 but over say 10 the ABS kicks in in the left front wheel... very very very annoying. Also the ABS light came on. I unplugged and replugged the sensors and it went off after a short time lit. Regardless the speed thing is still wonky. It happened again when I did some swerving on a road, unplugged and replugged and again it reset. Does this indicate there's a connectivity issue with the Left side? What steps do you guys think I should take? Clean off the backing plate and mounting point and rescrew and reclip?

 

Its a great DIY pictoral !!!!!

I am in the process of putting a new wheel bearing and i had a question. WHen you clean the splines and are ready to put the new bearing in, do you have to grease the splines? If so, what kind of grease is best?

Also out of curiosity, why is it that only one wheel bearing is bad and not both?

Thanks

 

same part number for xwd sedans?
my dealer wont give me the #.

 

Don't make the same mistake as I did (i wasnt thinking)

I forgot to turn the wheel so I have easier access to the bolts. I ended up struggling and taking off the bumper etc.

I realized what I've done after I completed the job.


IDIOT

 

Anyone have any opinions about these? http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=191366307771

This is my next project to get rid of some terrible, head-rattling, vibration.

Forgive the potential for an ignorant question, but how would you determine which wheel may have a bent hub?

 

I am assuming that for that price these are likely Chinese made units. There have been some reports of the ABS sensors not working right on off brand hubs similar to these. I would probably stick with Timken, SKF, or *** for hubs.

Not sure of the best way to figure out which one is bad. I assume wheels have been checked?

 

Is the Timken part # 512145 the correct hub assembly for the front? Thanks

 

This is the 9-3SS forum. Try the OG9-3 forum.

 

Nope right forum.....Saab 9-3 hub .......thanks !

 

this is 2003+

 

wheel bearings 1999 9.5

I followed pics above, very helpful. My set up a little different. Didn't need pull tool to take off hub. The bearings cost me 46.99 at Autozone, and they let me use socket to remove castle nut, for free. Had to remove Knuckle and brought both parts, hub with bearing, and knuckle to Midas. They removed the old bearing and "pressed" the new one in for me...$60.00...big savings. The whole job cost me roughly $107.00 and my time.

 

I followed pics above, very helpful. My set up a little different. Didn't need pull tool to take off hub. The bearings cost me 46.99 at Autozone, and they let me use socket to remove castle nut, for free. Had to remove Knuckle and brought both parts, hub with bearing, and knuckle to Midas. They removed the old bearing and "pressed" the new one in for me...$60.00...big savings. The whole job cost me roughly $107.00 and my time.

Well it would be different as this is the 2003+ 9-3 forum and would not be the same a 1999 9-5. :roll:

 

Just for reference here is the official WIS procedure:

Wheel Hub Front.pdf | Powered by Box

app.box.com

 

Replaced both front bearing/hub assemblies on my 2011 Aero last weekend to address a bearing rumble that was apparently caused by the right front bearing. I replaced both sides since I didn't know which side was bad, spinning the wheels did not reveal anything and even after getting the hubs off there was only a slight roughness to the right side assembly - but enough to get a nice roar going after driving a bit. I used *** bearing assemblies, got them from eeuroparts for around $135 each I think, they were identical to the *** units originally installed on the car. Quite a value, I think considering what you get.

Anyway, I just wanted to add my thanks the OP for taking the time to put this together. I had the WIS but it was still very helpful to see the photos.

After doing this job, a couple observations for anyone planning to do this:

First, the axle splines were really tight in the hubs on my car - even though it has just 31K miles and had not been driven in a salt state. I used a 2 arm puller with an impact gun and it tool quite a lot of torque to free the axles from the hub. I can't imagine trying to do this without a good impact gun. When doing this, I had the axle nut threaded to flush with the axle spline and used a protector collar to keep the axle from damage - and even with that I was worried about potential damage to the end of the axle as it took A LOT of hits from the impact gun to free the axles.

Next. the OP removed the calipers then the caliper brackets, I just removed the whole unit as an assembly with the caliper still attached.

Like the OP, I didn't mess with the ball joint swivel connection. Left that intact.

And, the 3 hub bolts on my 2011 were a strange 18mm hex, not torx. Access is tight but doable.

Side observation/rant - on my 2011 the brake line interferes with the upper bolt/pin that holds the caliper to the caliper frame - so you actually have to remove the brake line to access the hex bolt - WTF??? Who designs such a stupid system that forces you to bleed the brakes whenever you need to change the front brake pads??? Fortunately, I avoided this step by just unbolting the whole assembly.

Next rant - What was the deal with SAAB and using locktight on the caliper bracket bolts??? On the rears of my car, they used Locktight Blue and that was bad enough but they used Red on the front bolts, the same stuff you use for bearing races and such parts that are NEVER really serviced. And these bolts are torqued to 155 ft/lbs + an additional 30 degrees of bolt rotation. What were those Swedes afraid of anyway? Like 155 ft/lbs ++ isn't enough you need to use red locktight also? You need a good long breaker bar to get these bolts loose, and plan to clean off the old locking compound from the bolt threads with a wire brush or wire wheel on a grinder, too. I used Blue on the reassembly, and fortunately my front brake pads and discs have a lot of life left in them (unlike the rears, that I had to replace at around 30K), so it will be a good long while before I have to get at those bolts again.

Whole job took about 3 hours for both sides. First side, almost 2 hours because I wasted time at first trying to free the axle spline without the impact gun and just for general learning what was needed to get the job done. Other side, about 1.

Again, many thanks to the OP for the post.

 

Saab bearing change

Where is the bearing? All the work is obvious but there is no info on the bearing itself. What does it look like; how is it fitted; where is it?

 

This 3 arm puller is taking the bearing off.

New silver shiny thing? Wheel bearing.

Wheel Bearing

 

Bearing removal

So I saw this and looks like you can just hammer the old hub off instead using a puller? But I guess that's for when you remove the ball joint only. Using puller is when you want to avoid that I take it? I am getting a strange hum from the front right that almost sounds like a steady muffled lawnmower sound and wonder if its the bearing. I have a 2003 Vector with 84K miles and never replaced them.

 

So I saw this and looks like you can just hammer the old hub off instead using a puller? But I guess that's for when you remove the ball joint only. Using puller is when you want to avoid that I take it? I am getting a strange hum from the front right that almost sounds like a steady muffled lawnmower sound and wonder if its the bearing. I have a 2003 Vector with 84K miles and never replaced them.

Saab 9-5, 9-3 Wheel Bearing and Hub Replacement DIY - YouTube

Video is specifically for a 2002+ 9-5 although the NG 9-3 is similar it does not have a removable ball joint.


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1. No. The caliper carrier is bolted to steering knuckle which is what bearing is mounted to as well. Should be clear in the photos.

2. I believe it is an 8 inch unit from Harbor Freight although a 6 inch might also work. The four piece set includes both for $30. On my 2008 I wound up having to remove the knuckles from car to have bearings pressed out at a machine shop as there was a lot of corrosion and the puller would not work.


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Thanks so much. I just ordered the Timken 513191 hub assembly from Rockauto and will get the 8 in to be safe. I was wishful thinking on the caliper removal. That's my biggest fear that I won't be able to remove it.