Since I haven't found anything similar on here, I just wanted to share my experience yesterday on changing the rear wheel bearing. Which by the way the stealership wanted $1,200 to change

Please don't consider this a how-to guide but more of a reflection!


I ordered a rear wheel bearing and decided to reuse the rear hub.

Lesson #1 - Listen to other people and just buy a new hub! It will make the job way less stressful! I mean here I was thinking that pulling and repressing the bearing would be the worst part but I was wrong. Removing the race from the hub was brutal and it almost sent me to the hospital. I was hitting the race out with a chisel and mallet after almost angle grinding the race down to the hub then bam, a small piece of the race flewoff and hit my wrist making for a rather horror movie looking scene just as my wife walked up to ask how I was doing lol.

Lesson #2 - Buy one of the following types of wheel bearing kits (despite any FWD labels).
https://www.amazon.com/ATD-Tools-8625-Bear...T93832H144

I used this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/front-wheel-b...63260.html

When using this wheel bearing adapter just make sure you have a spray can of your favorite grease to keep the threads of the tool lubricated. Also freeze the wheel bearing for easier install. Metal contracts when it's cold.

Lesson #3 - I went to the local car parts store to rent some tools (free) and picked up a slide hammer/puller kit as well as a hub remover kit. The guy a the store said to me, I didn't really need the hub puller one since the slide hammer included a hub attachment as well. Well I replied back that my luck I would need the one it didn't include. Needless to say I was right so just be sure you get the correct style hub attachment to remove the hub. Even then it didn't fit the hub flush and I had to hammer it out on a slight angle.
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/powerbu...9150011-P#

The hub attachment that worked was the taller one from this kit
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Powerbuilt-Mast.../203117086

Lesson #4 - You do not need to completely remove the knuckle with the wheel bearing removal/install adapater kit. Just remove the axle from the knuckle. To get the axle off you need to remove the 31mm axle nut (wheels on the ground) then remove the two rear lower control arms to angle the knuckle up to get the axle out.

Lesson #5 - The wheel bearing might seem wobbley after you reinstall the hub but this is only because you don't yet have the axle nut back on. This part scared the hell out of me and I thought I broke the new bearing when I was pressing it in.

Lesson #6 - You will need a good asorment deep sockets and wrenches all the way up to 31mm.

And I thought these things only happen to me.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

Interesting observations, thanks for sharing.
Did mine a few months ago (both rear wheel bearings started making that horrible droning noise within a couple of weeks of each other).
Biggest problem I had was releasing the handbrake shoes as the adjuster was seized solid and I didn't dare bash the disc too much in case it broke.
Regarding getting the old bearing race out I Mig welded a generous slug of weld round the old part and the heat allowed it to separate from the hub easily.
I think the new bearings were roughly £9/£10 each from John Craddock so it wasn't too costly and made the car a pleasure to drive once more.

Hi,

I did mine yesterday. I have done a handfull of these on different makes now, so it starts to be a routine job. A threaded rod and suitable spacers/washers/flanges does the job to drive out and in the bearing. No need to buy a fancy tool set. My old trusted bearing puller was used to pull of the bearing inner ring from the flange. Removing the flange from the bearing was done by hitting it from behind using a suitable drift/rod.
Some pics:
"pulling" out the bearing:
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Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated

Funny thing but I was just thinking that it's only in the last 10 years or so that my family has had wheel bearing problems with various cars (not just LR). Prior to that I never had had one fail in 30 years of motoring both private and company cars. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Basically, it seems that wheel bearings on modern cars are long lasting items but there is one now and then failing around. Seems to me that there is not necessary to replace them in pairs as the other side sometimes lasts 100000miles more.
Mine has done 210000km`s. Both rears are replaced and one at the front. The other front one is still firm and free from play (crossing fingers)

Old BMC cars like minis and 1100's chewed up bearings and hubs as no investment had been made in tooling for years hence the demise of the UK Motoring Industry and the rise of the Japs. I suspect we are at a point were lightness is God for better mpg / C02 figures and failures are making a come back. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Lesson#5! I thought I was the only idi8t. I started ringing the place that pressed the new wheel bearings in! LOL

I am getting ready to do rear bearing replacement on my 2008 LR2 and have a question. Does the speed sensor need to come off/out before pulling the axle out and hub out?

Im sure all the sensors came out when I did mine! there was 2 if im not mistaken?

Two? I only see one at the top and of course it does not want to come out easily. I broke one off in my German car the other day, don't want to do that with this one. Still haven't resolved to other cars stuck sensor.

There's a few complete rear knuckles for sale on Ebay.com and they have the one sensor up top, speed sensor I assume, still installed. I figure then that you can take the axle out and then remove the hub and bearing and then replace without removing the sensor?

I did both of mine, took about an hour a side. I took the speed sensor out in both cases, just in case. Used a slide hammer to remove the hub and the bearing. Used the old bearing as a drift to tap the new bearing into place ensuring that I was hammering on the outer race of the old bearing and therefore forcing the outer race of the new bearing into the hub assembly. Used a small cut off wheel to cut a groove into the inner bearing race on the hub then carefully used an air chisel to crack the race in that groove. The inner bearing race then came off easily. I used a 3/4 inch threaded bar with suitable washers, 3/4 drive sockets and nut to pull the hub into the bearing. Then bolted everything back up using thread locker on all threads. I found the easiest sequence to be:

1/ remove the centre cap in the wheel and then with a suitable socket and breaker bar break loose the axle net.
2/loosen the lug nuts, jack up and secure the car then remove the wheel.
3/remove the caliper, two 13 mm bolts and two 15 mm bolts. I used a C clamp to hold the piston in place on the calliper just in case someone applied the brakes while apart.
4/remove the bolt holding the rotor to the hub and remove the rotor. Mine came off easily but you may have to loosen off the e brake cables in which case in the rear seat just being the centre console is a small coin or some other container. Pop that out, a clip on either side, and loosen off the brake cables. This needs to be done anyway to allow movement of the hub assembly.
5/remove the two bolts and nuts that connect the stabilizer bars to the hub assembly. These are the two bars that run somewhat from the centre of the car out to the hub. Leave the other bar connected.
6/using needle nose pliers grasp the end of the e cable and pull and disconnect it from the e brake assembly. This is easier if the cable is given some slack as in #4 above.
7/grab the bottom of the assembly and pull it outwards, hard, and the wiggle the CV joint and such it back until you free it from the hub assembly and move it out of the way. Easier to do with two people but can be done with one person.
8/replace the bolts and nuts removed in #5 but no need to tighten them up. They will just prevent the hub assembly from moving.
9/remove the retaining ring from the hub assembly using two small flat screwdrivers, one to raise one end of the ring and the other to slide under the ring and then move along it to remove it. Careful not to loose this.
10/use a slide hammer and suitable attachments to pull out the hub and the bearing. Takes a bit of force at first but then they should come out rather easily.
11/ clean out the area where the bearing was so ensure no crap will prevent the new bearing from seating properly.
12/ using a small grinder cut a groove in the bearing race left on the hub then use an air chisel to crack the bearing and remove. Or use a new hub, they are not that expensive.
13/ Use a good size hammer to start to tap the new bearing into place, tapping on the outer bearing race gently and tapping evenly around the race. Once you get it started and square hold the old bearing up to it and hammer on the old bearing, outer race, to drift the new bearing into place. Once seated the groove for the retaining ring should be seen.
14/replace the retaining ring and using the threaded rod, sockets, lengths of pipe, washers, etc (whatever it takes) put through the hole in the hub and the bearing and then tighten up therefore pulling the hub into the bearing. Make sure it goes in straight and that the bearing is supported on the backside by the inside race. This sill take a bit of force so have suitable stout wrenches.
15/remove the threaded rod, etc and remove the bolts that where reattached in #8.
16/ grab the bottom of the hub assembly and now wiggle the CV joint and axle back into place and through the hub.
17/ I used a suitable length of rebar wedged against a couple of lug bolts to secure the hub from turning and then put install the axle nut tightening until it bottoms out. Use a cold chisel or drift to deform then end of the nut into the groove in the axle.

Now it's just a matter of reassembly and i used thread locker on all bolts and nuts as a bit of insurance that they would stay in place. One last thing, since you were grabbing and pulling on the hub assembly and likely on the backing plate of the brake, before putting the wheel back on ensure that the backing plate has not been bent so that it will rub on the rotor. If it has then just work a large screwdriver or something like that around it bending it back into place so that it doesn't rub.

Just to add my experience.

Removing the old bearing from the hub is relatively easy if you use a puller (I used a laser version from Halfords £30), and you can drift out the hub from the bearing using a suitable socket from behind, no need for a slide hammer, otherwise I purchased a relatively good quality (Sealey) set for bearing removal, and despite being a fairly heavy duty bit of kit, I suspect i was near its ability to pull the bearing.

Neve done a FL2 bearing but done plenty of others over the last 40 years and never used a puller to remove the inner race that remains on the flange.. Whenever I remove a flange, invariably the race is stuck to that and I use a cutting disc to cut through as far as I can, ensuring that you cut all the way across. Then, one sharp tap in that groove with a sharp chisel and the race fractures and cracks all the way through. That then releases the race's grip on the flange and you can just tap it off. A point worth remembering though is that when you are pushing the flange through the new bearing, you must support the rear inner race otherwise the flange will push it out of the sealed bearing.

A word of warning - always wear eye protection. I once has a metal splinter come off and skim up my bare arm like a flat stone skimming across a lake leaving three cuts in my arm. If that had gone in another direction it would have buried itself in my eye.... Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.