1997 Rear Wheel Bearing Change

[GT4 BOOSTER]

as per title , im going to attempt the hub bearing change on the mrs rav 4, anyone done 1, ease of job any tips ,special tools etc ??

[anchorman]

It isn't unlike doing a bearing on a front wheel drive in some ways - a typical layout is shown in the attached 4.2 pdf;

Rear_hub.pdf

I'm not 100% sure about a 4.1 but you can see that on a 4.2 you can unbolt the hub off the backplate once the drive shaft has been removed. It might be easier to try and obtain a complete hub but if you decide to fit new bearings then it is a case of finding suitable mandrells and somebody with a press or wail them out with a lump hammer. Sometimes the bearing drops to bits and leaves you with only the outer race and nothing to hit as the bearing sits inside the shoulder of the hub. If that happens get somebody to run some strips of weld in about 5 places on the inside of the bearing. When it cools it will shrink inside the hub and provide you with something knobbly to hit against if it needs more persuasion - they sometimes drop out if you leave it and go and have a brew. Clean the inside of the hub with fine emery and lubricate it with engine oil before tapping the outer race only of the new bearing back into the hub. Stop as soon as it changes note after contacting the end of the bore.

A couple of other points;

Undo and finally tighten the drive shaft nut with the wheel still on the ground (159 ft/lbs).

Remove the driveshaft and the hub with it jacked up and supported. DON'T try to get the driveshaft out with the weight still on the wheel.

Good luck!

[GT4 BOOSTER]

The bearing on the rears comes with the hub , no bearings are listed for this model . i have a new hub/bearing assembly to fit , im wondering if the back brakes need to come off to gain acess to the 4 hub retaining bolts also does the rear drive shaft pull out from the hub assembly once the nut is removed? CHEERS.

[anchorman]

rear_drive_shaft.pdf

rear_hub_remove.pdf

Keep in mind this is 4.2 but it won't be that far off.

[GT4 BOOSTER]

thaTS great , it looks like the 4 bolts are acessed via the cut out in the hub face and shaft has to be removed from diff side 1st then pulled out of hub - seems easier than a thought , i just hope the hub parts from the bearing housing once off , i guess a tap with a hide hammer will pop it out. THANKS AGAIN.