Front end rebuild, advice please

[dangerous_D]

Goldie, my beloved 1981 Jetta special edition, is sick again.     I've had her for 1.75 years and 16,000 miles, but before that she was sitting in a San Luis Obispo driveway for "oh, about five years" according to the previous owner.  I knew little about cars before I got Goldie and with the help of this forum I did my own head gasket replacement last September.  She's been running great until about two weeks ago when I noticed a low growl coming from the front end.  I'm fairly certain it's a front wheel bearing.  If I'm doing a bearing I want to do some other front end work while I'm in there.

I have the Bentley and I've read the DIY guides on here, the dieselparts.com forum, and on the Vortex.  My problems: A) lack of 2-ton press, B) lack of time.

A) Can I do wheel bearings without a press?  I'm looking at the Parts Place remanufactured spindle assemblies and they claim it's an easy job.  http://www.partsplaceinc.com/products/product-detail.aspx?s=346&sku=33918
Do I need a press to fit the hub into the inner race of the bearing?  Does anyone have first-hand experience with the Parts Place spindle assemblies?


B) Can I finish the passenger side in one day and do the driver side some days later?  My plan is to do tie rods, control arms with ball joints, spindle assemblies with new hubs, strut mounts (if not strut assemblies), and possibly axles.  I need the car to be off jackstands at night because I use a shared garage.  I could spread the job out over multiple days as long as the car looks like its in working order when I'm not in the garage. 

I have all the necessary tools aside from a press.

Thanks in advance!

[GEE-BEE]

Iam doing a 16v Spindle swap to 100 mm outers cv (later spindles ) later cabby MK1

Iam taking my over to a shop, powdercoat and then press in new bearing, seals and new hub

complete bearings and new hub are 36.00 from azautohaus

Iam sure any shop can do that for you , you cant do it buy hand

Check around

GB

[mystery3]

You should be able to pull the spindles and take them to a shop have the bearings pressed and put it back together in a day? It'd be a long day for me but I'm slow with suspension amongst other things.

[theman53]

If you had a really long bolt of a good grade fully threaded and some big washers you might be able to do it without a press. I haven't ever tried, but I would think if you had a vice, hammer, and said bolt with the right stuff to push and pull the bearings it "should" be possible. Most places only charge me about 10 dollars if they press it and usually free if I ask if I can borrow their press.

[mtnbob]

I did the front end spindle swap using Part's Place spindles. It is a straightforward job. You might as well replace you tie rod ends while you are there and look at the other rubber parts. I replaced all suspension parts while I was there. Make sure you get info on how long you have to return the spindle cores. I got some grief from one guy because it took me a few months due to weather. After talking to someone else there they ok'd the return. They are working great!

[GEE-BEE]

core charge can be 30/50 each depending on model mk1 or mk1 16 v

GB

[rabbitman]

Just a little hint that I learned the hard way, DON'T REPLACE ANYTHING UNLESS IT'S WORN OUT.

If your tie rods, ends and ball joints are original then keep them. New steering/suspension parts are junk compared to the original quality.

http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=27897.0

[Dakotakid]

As for part of your original question....yes, you can install bearings into the spindle using a well-anchored vise. The job requires a bit of creativity and some other tools and the use of the old bearing races. The vise needs to be fairly stout. I have done it many times without fail.

What's more, I done several of them without a vise. And, this takes EVEN MORE creativity. But, I usually get about 175K miles out of them on a Mk. II. Be very careful NOT to damage the seals. There is always the risk that you can oval the bore in the spindle.

Because it is a Mk. I, you will need a front-end alignment when the work is completed.

Please spend the extra loot and install high-quality bearings: FAG or Timken or other reputable. Installing red china specials will make you repeat the job much sooner. The price of bearings has escalated in the last few years rather dramatically. I usualy buy quality bearings from guys on "the Samba" for pennies on the dollar well ahead of time (before I need them).

[745 turbogreasel]

Goldie, my beloved 1981 Jetta special edition, is sick again.     I've had her for 1.75 years and 16,000 miles, but before that she was sitting in a San Luis Obispo driveway for "oh, about five years" according to the previous owner.  I knew little about cars before I got Goldie and with the help of this forum I did my own head gasket replacement last September.  She's been running great until about two weeks ago when I noticed a low growl coming from the front end.  I'm fairly certain it's a front wheel bearing.  If I'm doing a bearing I want to do some other front end work while I'm in there.

I have the Bentley and I've read the DIY guides on here, the dieselparts.com forum, and on the Vortex.  My problems: A) lack of 2-ton press, B) lack of time.

A) Can I do wheel bearings without a press?  I'm looking at the Parts Place remanufactured spindle assemblies and they claim it's an easy job.  http://www.partsplaceinc.com/products/product-detail.aspx?s=346&sku=33918
Do I need a press to fit the hub into the inner race of the bearing? 

B) Can I finish the passenger side in one day and do the driver side some days later?  My plan is to do tie rods, control arms with ball joints, spindle assemblies with new hubs, strut mounts (if not strut assemblies), and possibly axles.  I need the car to be off jackstands at night because I use a shared garage.  I could spread the job out over multiple days as long as the car looks like its in working order when I'm not in the garage. 

I have all the necessary tools aside from a press.

Thanks in advance!

My experience with front end work is you will always feel the next weakest link, so if you can afford it, a full rebuild is often the way to go.
Bearing can be done without a press, in fact, last time I thought I'd save some effort, and take the parts to a shop to get pressed
-It took just as long, and I had to pay $40/hr to wait while they taught some kid how to do a not very good job with the press.
Old bearing shells, pluming parts, and threaded rod are my friends...threaded rod couplers are like a nut 2" deep, and work a lot harder than a bolt and nut for puling things together.

Can you do it in a day?- That depends on you, but is doable.  You could also get some beat assemblies at the JY, service them with new parts at your leisure, and swap them on your car in under 2 hours without power tools. 

[Rabbit79]

I did all that stuff to mine a couple years ago. My memory is a bit fuzzy on some of it but I'm pretty sure you do have to press the hub in and out. I also had a lot of trouble with one of the ball joint studs. As I recall I was able to pop the passenger side off with a pickle fork but the driver's side I had to do with a gear puller, so you might want to have a puller handy. I got my bearings from Parts Place but I kept the old steering knuckles so I can't speak to the quality of their knuckles (sorry, but to me that part is a steering knuckle lol). The bearings were FAG so they didn't sell me cheap chinese junk at least. All the stuff I've got from them so far has been fine, but they are a bit pricey in my opinion.

[dangerous_D]

Thank you all for your input!

I've decided to tackle the job myself with Parts Place spindle assemblies.  I'm going to spend more than I'd like, but after the front end job there will be nothing left to replace/repair on this car.  (I probably just jinxed myself with that statement...)

[Rabbit79]

Yeah you should probably go back and delete that "nothing left to replace/repair" part of that post before the Volkswagen gods see it.