The bearing and hub are a sealed unit and are removed together. The price difference is probably the quality of the bearing. The repair is easy unless that hub has been in there for many years, then it is likely very "stuck". I pulled one last night and had to use PB Blaster and apply heat and a big hammer for it to finally pop loose. There are three bolts holding it on, I believe they are 12mm. You will need a 12point socket for them.

Loosen the axle nut. You'll need a 30mm deep socket and a breaker bar. (Break this loose before jacking the vehicle)
Pull the brake caliper and wire it out of the way.
Pull the brake disk.
PB BLast the heck out of the bolts and parts.
Remove the three screws.
If you have a puller, you can use that to try and pull the hub out. Be careful not to stress the CV axle too much.
Be ready to apply heat to it and pound alot.
Once you have it out, clean the hole pretty throughly and put some anti-sieze in there so the next time won't be so difficult.
Install the new bearing and tighten it down.

Good luck.

 

My experience with the left was about 5 years ago, but about a year later, had to do the right. That time, I rented (money returned from Autozone upon return) a puller. Cranked the puller so hard the threads were stripped after use, plus hammer and PB. When putting your 3 long bolts back in, if you have access to a friends torque wrench, use it. Probably goes a long way towards extending the the life of the new assembly. But I'm not sure amount of torque to apply. Just keep at it, it eventually comes off. And, what the other members said....

 

Go for the cheapy they are fine...Usually get a new axle when the boots go bad..no real boot replacement anyway. Bummer. Been there. I have done 2 bearings on one of my 96's They can be a PIA. No more backing plates either..I got the last 2 in existence 4 years ago.


Dick

 

Gawd, I love this forum. I'll give it a shot this weekend. Thanks for the hints and suggestions.

 

Just an update- this was as easy of a fix as anything I've done. This, coming from a relative novice. Got some spray, got a loaner puller, and got the job done in no time, flat- no heat, and no pounding. The only bump in the road was the lack of a torque wrench. Had to guesstimate how tight to do the axle bolt, based on the effort needed to remove it (taking into account the loctite that was used).

To put the new bearing on, I used the three bolts to evenly tighten things up. While making sure the bearing was seated correctly, it was easier to get it installed by slowly using the bolts, rather than trying to manually push it on, then line up the bolt holes with the brake's dust shield.

As for the old bearing- it was toast. I'm really surprised I was able to get it home at all. Lots of metal scraps- only about 2/3 of the bearings were still intact, etc.

And for those who are to follow- Navyguns and Cannon45 were spot-on. Thanks!

 

I did the same with mine, twice. I got it partially in and then saw the brake shield laying to the side. Doh! Try again!

Glad it worked out for you.

 

How about putting the brake shield on backwards...LOL