Hemi395
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2013
- Posts
- 8,986
- Reaction score
- 15,659
- Location
- Cape Cod MA
- Ram Year
- 2013
- Engine
- 5.7 Hemi
A few weeks ago I noticed my left front wheel bearing was getting noisy. My truck is a 2013 with 75k on it so it's to be expected.
I watched some YouTube videos on how to do it and it looked fairly simple, remove the 3 bolts holding it on and it should come right out. That may be true in some areas, but in an area where they throw salt on the roads when there's 3 flurries in the air coupled with living on the coast means the hubs corrode themselves to the aluminum steering knuckle.
After trying various different sledge hammers, chisels, pry bars, an air hammer with various attachments, and some choice words, neither hub bearing would budge. I literally could have driven around with all 3 bolts removed and they probably wouldn't have come off. At that point I didn't want to make the truck undrivable, so I put everything back together and talked to my mechanic about it the next day.
Originally I was going to surrender and just let him take care of it. Instead he let me borrow a Snap On DHP1 which is specifically designed to utilize the power steering in Rams to help break the hub bearing free. I was skeptical that it could work but my only other options were spending close to $600 on new steering knuckles or paying him to do it.
So how you use it is you back the bolts of of hub bearing out about 1/4", put the indented Hex part of the tool on one of the bolts(I chose one of the bottom 2) and position the other end against something solid like the lower part of the strut mount. This will require another person (big thanks to my father for helping with this) to hold the tool in position while you turn the steering wheel in the direction that will put outward pressure on the bolt. For example, if you're doing the drivers side hub bearing and you choose the lower front bolt, you will need to turn the wheel to the right until the tool comes in contact with the lower strut mount. Then turn the truck on and GENTLY turn the steering wheel further in that direction. Let the power steering do the work and you will hear a clunk. That's the corrosion bond breaking and the hub being pushed out. Then move the tool to the other bottom bolt and turn the wheel in the opposite direction. You may need a larger socket or piece of metal to take up some room between the end of the tool and the strut mount and repeat the process until you hear another clunk which is the other side of the hub flange breaking free of the knuckle. Then use some chisels and pry bars to finish removing the hub.
The corrosion I found on each side inside the knuckle where the hub sits was simply astonishing. It essentially welded itself to the knuckle.
Then you will have to spend some time grinding the corrosion off the knuckle mating surface being careful not to remove too much aluminum. You only want to remove the corrosion. GENEROUSLY apply your antiseize of choice to the mating surfaces and put your new hub bearing in. I took the extra step and applied Fluid Film to the new hub bearing flange to help prevent it from rusting and also making it possible to actually remove the wheel speed sensor if I ever need to.
I wish I had got some pics of the actual process on how to use the tool but I was in a time crunch. Hope this helps someone out there.
I watched some YouTube videos on how to do it and it looked fairly simple, remove the 3 bolts holding it on and it should come right out. That may be true in some areas, but in an area where they throw salt on the roads when there's 3 flurries in the air coupled with living on the coast means the hubs corrode themselves to the aluminum steering knuckle.
After trying various different sledge hammers, chisels, pry bars, an air hammer with various attachments, and some choice words, neither hub bearing would budge. I literally could have driven around with all 3 bolts removed and they probably wouldn't have come off. At that point I didn't want to make the truck undrivable, so I put everything back together and talked to my mechanic about it the next day.
Originally I was going to surrender and just let him take care of it. Instead he let me borrow a Snap On DHP1 which is specifically designed to utilize the power steering in Rams to help break the hub bearing free. I was skeptical that it could work but my only other options were spending close to $600 on new steering knuckles or paying him to do it.
So how you use it is you back the bolts of of hub bearing out about 1/4", put the indented Hex part of the tool on one of the bolts(I chose one of the bottom 2) and position the other end against something solid like the lower part of the strut mount. This will require another person (big thanks to my father for helping with this) to hold the tool in position while you turn the steering wheel in the direction that will put outward pressure on the bolt. For example, if you're doing the drivers side hub bearing and you choose the lower front bolt, you will need to turn the wheel to the right until the tool comes in contact with the lower strut mount. Then turn the truck on and GENTLY turn the steering wheel further in that direction. Let the power steering do the work and you will hear a clunk. That's the corrosion bond breaking and the hub being pushed out. Then move the tool to the other bottom bolt and turn the wheel in the opposite direction. You may need a larger socket or piece of metal to take up some room between the end of the tool and the strut mount and repeat the process until you hear another clunk which is the other side of the hub flange breaking free of the knuckle. Then use some chisels and pry bars to finish removing the hub.
The corrosion I found on each side inside the knuckle where the hub sits was simply astonishing. It essentially welded itself to the knuckle.
Then you will have to spend some time grinding the corrosion off the knuckle mating surface being careful not to remove too much aluminum. You only want to remove the corrosion. GENEROUSLY apply your antiseize of choice to the mating surfaces and put your new hub bearing in. I took the extra step and applied Fluid Film to the new hub bearing flange to help prevent it from rusting and also making it possible to actually remove the wheel speed sensor if I ever need to.
I wish I had got some pics of the actual process on how to use the tool but I was in a time crunch. Hope this helps someone out there.
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