The Handy Rear Wheel Bearing Change Out

[Handy_Cruiser]

After installing an entire rear disc break axle under my 2001 PT Limited, I found that the bearing on the right side was noisy. Luckily, change out is fast and easy.

I got my trusty RockAuto discount code ready to go. I decided to do both rear hubs while I'm at it. It looks like $91 for two new Raybestos "Professional Grade" rear hubs with bearings and 2-day shipping. That's about $10 cheaper than the hubs at Autozone. And of course, there's no tax online.

So let's get her done.


I removed the back wheels, brake calipers and rotors. Then it was just a matter of removing one 30mm nut on each side to remove the rear hubs. Also, in this photo you can see the little-bitty parking brake shoes that go inside the disc rotors. Yes. There are little brake shoes inside each rear rotor that engage when you pull the parking break lever.




To my surprise, I found that the rear hubs on the PT do NOT use seals bearings. Instead there are two open ball bearings in each hub. Who knew?




And there is a grease seal on the back of each hub. Here you can see my old one was corroded and leaking. Luckily, grease doesn't leak that bad. But it's a sign that the bearing is bad. And of course, it was.




The rear hubs on the PT are only held on with one 30mm vinyl locking nut. The spindle is straight (not tapered) and the hub just slides on and off. No puller is required. I don't believe this is the best design. I had rather the hub press on for a snug fit and then the nut be pinned and locked. But it's not.




I wish I had new 30mm vinyl locking nuts. But I didn't know I'd need them. They may be available at a dealership. Instead, I used high strength Lock-Tight and torqued the nuts to about 180 foot pounds. I've done this before on similar setups with no issue. But I will likely eventually replace the old nuts with new ones during the next brake job. Also, since the bearings are open, I went old-school and packed each hub with high quality wheel bearing grease before reinstalling the caps. I don't know if the extra grease will help, but it definitely will not hurt.




Now my PT is back together and the back wheels are running smooth once again. Total job time was about one and a half hours. It's a good day.

[Danny7627]

Hi Handy

I've been hearing a bearing noise for a week now (rear drivers side). I just ordered two Timkens part # 512167 E-Bay $49.14 each.

TIMKEN 512167 Rear Hub Assembly | eBay

Should be here in a few days. Should I get new spindle nuts or can I get away with the old ones?

I ordered two new hub dust caps as the new assemblies don't come with them (Mopar part 4509396)

Thanks for posting the tutorial.

Danny

[Handy_Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Danny7627

Hi Handy

I've been hearing a bearing noise for a week now (rear drivers side). I just ordered two Timkens part # 512167 E-Bay $49.14 each.

TIMKEN 512167 Rear Hub Assembly | eBay

Should be here in a few days. Should I get new spindle nuts or can I get away with the old ones?

I ordered two new hub dust caps as the new assemblies don't come with them (Mopar part 4509396)

Thanks for posting the tutorial.

Danny

The hub disc caps should be reusable. But you likely will want new spindle nuts. It's really not good to reuse vinyl locking nuts. They should be replaced once removed. I believe I'm okay with the Lock-Tight, but I would definitely have gotten new nuts if I had known.

[Busted_PT]

The nut is usually and rutinely reused in shops as well as the dealers. And at 180 lb of tourque, is in no danger of backing off. I have personaly reused many without any ever coming loose. You will have to use conciderable effort to remove once reinstalled. No need for lock tight either. We are talking personal prefrences here. Not standared operating conditions. If it makes you feel good go for it. But not a requirement on a safety bases. There have been tons of these replaced on all the forums and none that I have come accross have reported any issues with reuseing it. Or anyone with loose hubs other than bearing worn out. Not a loose nut. The hub itself is the bearing outer race with a two peace inner race. So no bearing that can be pressed out and replaced. If you have anti lock breakes you will need the huds Handy bought. If not you can buy the ones without the notched ring. Except for Handy's I havent seen any disk brake cars without anti lock. Mabe someone can confirm this. Danny the hubs you orderd are for a drum brake pt, witch I belive is correct for your car.

[Handy_Cruiser]

Most of my shop experience with suspension is with big trucks way back in the day. We never reused vinyl locking nuts on critical parts. But it sounds like Busted_PT has had a lot more modern experience with this on cars like the PT. If he says the nuts are reusable, that's good enough for me.

[Busted_PT]

Originally Posted by Handy_Cruiser

Most of my shop experience with suspension is with big trucks way back in the day. We never reused vinyl locking nuts on critical parts. But it sounds like Busted_PT has had a lot more modern experience with this on cars like the PT. If he says the nuts are reusable, that's good enough for me.

Like I said it's what ever you feel confortable with. You can lay the nut on a firm serface nylon side up and brad dowm the edge a little to tighten it up. But a caution here. A little goes a long way.

I especialy like the fact that you didn't put the jack on the body (rocker panal). As a old body man I never could stand to do that unless it is an emergancy and that's all you can do with the cars jack. Good thread by the way. It realy is a easy DIY if they can do your own brakes.

Danny I will have to admit that I bought the $19 dollar hub on ebay. As Handy did, I packed more grease in it as best I could.

[Jep]

You should have dropped some lowering springs on your pt while you were doing that "handy dandy"

Would have seemed like a good time to do the rears.

I'm sure you could find some "handy dandy" excuse to do the fronts

[spndncash]

Thanks for your pictures I am doing this job tomorrow.
I hate to sound like someones mother but PLEASE in the future put a jack stand under the car. If you don't own jack stands at a bare minimum throw the wheel under the car.