Help! Mechanics!
 

My daughter has an 07 Pontiac G6 she said the brakes were making a grinding noise. I pulled off the wheel the rotors had some wear & the drivers side was worn the most . I replaced the rotors & pads. & took it for a test drive & it was making a very loud grinding noise.
I figured it was a wheel bearing I put the front on Jack stands and put it in gear & the grinding noise was clearly from the drivers side wheel. I called auto zone the part was around $180.00. I watched about four or five you tube videos on replacing the hub assembly & it didn’t look like to badly a job.
In almost all of the videos after breaking the CV joint/axel from the hub assembly the hub assembly simply came off. However the hub assembly is cast iron & the spindle/axel housing is cast aluminum & they are bonded through corrosion. I used the old rotor bolted on backwards and tried hitting it(old rotor) to break it free. Nothing I saw one guy use an air chisel between the aluminum & iron & break it free. No luck I third heating the iron housing with a torch however I only have a small torch with with map gas or propane. It’s still frozen in place. I see one video the guy used a slide hammer. I can’t believe that is any more affective than hitting the old rotor. I know you guys have some ideas. I’m letting my daughter use my truck tomorrow she has an appointment, but I need to get this hub switched out. Any tricks that I can try? Thanks Mark

You need one of these: https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=m...l+bearing+tool

I made my own because I'm able to, they're kind of pricey to buy, but they do work.

I went through this on my Wife's Vibe last fall and just welded up my own out of scrap steel I had lying around, and yes I tried heat (oxy acetylene), and an air chisel, all the tools I've been using over the past 50 years turning wrenches to break rusty corroded parts loose. This tool I made was the last choice, and it did work. I've taken a lot of frozen parts apart in the last 50 years, this was one of the toughest parts to disassemble I've run across in all those years.

Without one of these hub buster tools, and a BFH, I doubt you'll be able to do it at home.

Thanks Brad I mainly enjoy paint/bodywork but can fabricate a copy of the tool.I do have a plasma cutter, MIG welder, drill press and plenty of steel.
Just when I thought that nothing could compare with my winter project of replacing the leaky rusty headers on my trans am with SD/RA style cast iron exhaust manifolds. This job is right up there with that job. Of course one of the bolts breaks off in the head on the drivers side towards the center of the head(670s)( next to the frame steering column.I tried an "Easy Out"but a no go. But luckily it was on a port that the casting was free, so I was able to drill it out & install a bolt.
14 years of Ohio winter Salty winter roads does horrible things to parts/car bodies.
I knew someone would have an answer.
Thanks I will let you know how it goes, Thanks Mark

It sounds like you're doing the same thing that I had to do on my daughter's Equinox front bearing/hub. I had to replace hers because the speed sensor ring had fallen apart. And yes, it was corroded together pretty tight.

My explanation will be lame.....hopefully you can find a youtube to show what I did. I was able to take a 1/2" grade 8 bolt, nut and washers, jam it between the hub (wheel flange) and a small edge on the spindle....then start twisting the nut to push outward on the wheel flange. The head of the bolt was against the spindle and the threaded shank projected thru a hole in the wheel flange.
Worked like a charm.

Hope this helps,
Eric

Check with your local auto parts stores - many of them offer free rental of various tools, and one of them may have that removal tool available.

This is the tool I’m going to fab up today Brad gave me the link to this tool on Amazon.

I had a buddy had a Dodge 4wd pickup that the front hub bearings were badly corroded in. After 3-4 days of heat, tool rental etc, he started the bolts back in but only ran them in a few threads. He then put a socket with enough extensions on it to reach the frame. At that point, he cranked the truck and turned the wheel and pushed the hub out of the spindle.

Backwoods but it worked

This is what you want. I had to buy one to do my Equinox wheel bearings. Works like a charm.

Freekin' Amazon. Man. Love 'em or hate 'em, they have almost everything.

The last time I was under the hood of my daily driver to add washer fluid and check other fluids, I noticed the negative battery terminal connector was corroded. Not the worst I've seen but it wasn't good. Happened fast. The battery was 5 years old and I was getting ready to replace it anyway. My local O'Reilly had the battery. They also had a cheap connector that worked for now.

On Amazon, I found the original Toyota part that will be delivered shortly. It's way more sturdy than the crappy one from O'Reilly. But, I'm glad O'reilly at least had something that worked for now.

Well yesterday I had to take my bike in for new tires & brakes so that day was shot. Well I made some patterns out of poster board gathered my steel started cutting welding & this is what I made.

Two whacks with the sledgehammer & bingo it popped out!! Thanks Brad for the tip. Next clean everything up & reassemble hopefully all goes well thanks for all the help! Mark

I have replaced 100's over the years, in my driveway for friends and family. I usually take a small wire brush and knock all of the loose crap off between the shield for the rotor and the bearing. I spray some penetrating oil and then start off with a small chisel and work it around tapping until it starts moving. I then spray some more penetrant and then get a larger chisel and slowly tap it around to wedge the bearing off from the shield and knuckle. It gets pretty corroded around here in Michigan also. GM used a lot of aluminum knuckles on many types of cars. I always wire brush the opening clean and use anti seize when installing the new bearing. Our roads in this state are horrible so a bearing change will be just a short few years away. It makes it a lot faster the next time.