Can I replace just the wheel bearing or the entire hub?

[s4hype]

So my front wheel bearing has become louder than my radio. Can I just replace the bearing or do I have to do the entire hub? 2014 S4 with no suspension mods and 72k miles

[Silentmdrummer]

The hub is pressed in to the bearing and the bearing is bolted in to the knuckle. You’ll have to remove the whole assembly, press the hub out of the old bearing, and and press the hub in to the new bearing then reassemble. There’s a pretty good DIY on here about doing to wheel bearings


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[irish07]

So my front wheel bearing has become louder than my radio. Can I just replace the bearing or do I have to do the entire hub? 2014 S4 with no suspension mods and 72k miles

There’s no bolt on style hub for these cars. It’s a press in type bearing(flange) then bolted to spindle. When I do them, I also replace the hub flange that presses into the bearing, these parts don’t come assembled so either you buy a complete kit to assemble or you buy the parts separate.

Reason I replace the hub flange at same time. The hub flange can become bent and result in failing the bearing, It’s also pointless to spend time removing the race that gets left on the flange if there’s a chance the hub caused the bearing to fail in the first place. For me it’s not worth the risk of assuming the hub flange is perfectly fine, aka I replace it. Some ppl may debate this and suggest to only replace the bearing..really no right or wrong answer, complete preference.


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[s4hype]

The hub is pressed in to the bearing and the bearing is bolted in to the knuckle. You’ll have to remove the whole assembly, press the hub out of the old bearing, and and press the hub in to the new bearing then reassemble. There’s a pretty good DIY on here about doing to wheel bearings


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Yeah, I've looked at it but it's a crap load of work, this looks like the way I'll be going to save money.

There’s no bolt on style hub for these cars. It’s a press in type bearing(flange) then bolted to spindle. When I do them, I also replace the hub flange that presses into the bearing, these parts don’t come assembled so either you buy a complete kit to assemble or you buy the parts separate.

Reason I replace the hub flange at same time. The hub flange can become bent and result in failing the bearing, It’s also pointless to spend time removing the race that gets left on the flange if there’s a chance the hub caused the bearing to fail in the first place. For me it’s not worth the risk of assuming the hub flange is perfectly fine, aka I replace it. Some ppl may debate this and suggest to only replace the bearing..really no right or wrong answer, complete preference.


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So if the hub isn't bent I should be good? The entire assembly is expensive! I was wondering if I could cheap out and just buy the wheel bearings and press it on to save some money. Thanks for the info guys!

[irish07]

Yeah, I've looked at it but it's a crap load of work, this looks like the way I'll be going to save money.



So if the hub isn't bent I should be good? The entire assembly is expensive! I was wondering if I could cheap out and just buy the wheel bearings and press it on to save some money. Thanks for the info guys!

Cheap out and you might be doing another bearing in a short time frame..but entirely your choice.

Yes you could buy just the bearing, but then you’ll need to remove the hub flange from old one by pressing out and then spend time removing the bearing race left on the hub flange. Fyi, don’t damage the hub flange when removing bearing race or you’ll have no choice to replace it.


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[Drocfrosh]

I had my rears done at a shop last month. We reused hubs, noise is gone, for now. He had a special VW/Audi tool to push the bearing out/in. It was like $675 incl labor

[darkstarghost]

Just got my car back yesterday from the shop. They just pressed the bearing out.

[bbrown14]

Bearing replacement is actually not incredibly difficult on these cars. As long as you have the proper tools its about 45-60 minutes per side. One you have the braking system off and you've removed the axle bolt, remove the four triple square bolts on the back. There is one that's a bit difficult to access on the bottom of the knuckle, but if you have replacement hardware you can just use a hammer and a punch to push it past the bearing. Once the bearing and the hub are separated press the bearing off the hub with a hydraulic press or a larger C-clamp. The inner race will still be on the hub but with an angle grinder they come off pretty easily. I would take care to not cut through the hub, but if you score it a bit you'll be fine, just make sure to sand down the mark of any groves that might hinder the new bearing from pressing exactly onto the old hub. Once you've got the new one on its just a matter of replacing the reassembled hub onto the knuckle, that same screw might be difficult to get back in, but if you use the same hammer/punch technique you can (EXTREMELY lightly) hit the bolt past the bearing. Just make sure to torque it back on correctly and you'll be fine.

Something that helped me with the inner race removal was grinding it almost down to the surface of the hub and then using an air hammer to remove it. Also if you're working on jack-stands you can pull the upper control arms out of the knuckle for extra space, but I know that pinch bolt is seized on most of these cars.

Either way, its a doable job if you know what you're doing and you have the patience to remove those back bolts. I took the opportunity to replace all the front control arms when I did this job on my own car, as I had to mess with the bolt and the bearing the first time, and I didn't feel like doing it again for the other side.

[s4hype]

I ended up just pressing the bearing out and I think I got lucky with the pinch bolt, it just came right out. The grinder was butt puckering, was worried it was going to mess the hub up (just small scratches). The noise is finally gone and I hope it stays that way!

[A4x]

Just replace the bearing. $90 from FCP Euro and lifetime replacement. The hub is not causing it to go bad.

[Midnight_Rider]

I found out recently that any shop can do this and you don't need to go to an Audi specific shop. Audi quoted me $1,200 to start replacing the bearing, and more if hub too.

Found a shop nearby that will do this for $500 including parts. Independent Audi shop quoted me $1,000 or little less to do one bearing.

[bbrown14]

I ended up just pressing the bearing out and I think I got lucky with the pinch bolt, it just came right out. The grinder was butt puckering, was worried it was going to mess the hub up (just small scratches). The noise is finally gone and I hope it stays that way!

Awesome glad to hear it! I got lucky with that pinch bolt also, slide right out for me. Don't worry about the small scratches, it wont affect anything when the new bearing is pressed on.