I believe my drivers side rear wheel bearing is shot, the humming sound seems to be getting a little louder every day and it gets quieter when I swerve left.

That leaves my question, how much of a PITA is doing the rear wheel bearings on your own? Even though I think it's only the drivers side rear, I will be doing both sides for obvious reasons. I have a second car so the B5 can sit on jackstands for a week or two...

How involved is the process?

I know they need to be pressed in, what's the best place to get this done at?

If I bought the bearings and took it to an independent mechanic, how much should I expect to pay for both rear bearings?

Thanks for any help guys, I swear to god I fix one thing and the next day something else fails. grrr. Somehow it still seems worth it. LOL

 

So I just jacked the car up, checked all four wheels and there is absolutely no play in any of them. Besides the front wheels when grabbed at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock, but that's just the from the steering I would assume.

Can rear bearings make noise and there be no play in the wheels? I even spun them and didn't hear any grinding or feel any resistance.

 

Yea when they're bad, they don't necessarily have play in them. But they do usually make some noise when you turn them.

Is it a big job? Depends on how rusted that bottom bolt in the hub carrier is. But take the entire hub carrier out of the car and have a guy press in the new bearing. He could probably press both of them in about a half hour so figure the cost accordingly.

 

I took my hubs out and took them to a NAPA machine shop to have the new ones pressed in. I did one and then had to do the other a few months later. They charged me somewhere in the $40 range each time. I figured it was worth it to avoid the headache of trying to do them myself.

 

Is the process for rear wheel bearings on a 98.5 2.8Q the same as a B5 S4?

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I only ask because that's the only DIY I could find on B5 rear bearings.

Is this the same process?

 

Same process. Couple of notes:

1. If you can't get the ABS sensor out without destroying it, follow the cable to the wheel well. Pull out the little rubber grommet where it goes through the sheet metal and you'll see a plug right there. Just disconnect the plug and leave the ABS sensor in the hub carrier when you take it to get pressed.

2. A couple times I couldn't get the trailing arm out where he shows it, so I just unbolted the arm back on the body (mark the alignment there, though you'll really need to get an alignment any way) and just leave the trailing arm connected when you take it to the press.

 

I think on the rears the ABS plugs in under the back seat. Also, I think I would just go that route rather than try to get the ABS sensor out of the hub after all these years.

 

Just a thought... you might not be hearing/feeling the friction in the bearing you're worried about when it's jacked up because there's a tiny fraction of the pressure on it when jacked up and free in the air, as when on the ground going around a curve with the car's weight on it.

 

For me this is the bottom line. If you have a B5 hum in the rear and it changes when you swerve one direction, it's wheel bearings.