Alright, 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8, rear wheel bearing hubs. So the tire guy told you the bearings are shot, eh? Yeah, that'll happen. And he gave you a big quote to replace them?? I know that feeling....
My usual disclaimer, do not attempt anything I show here. This is for entertainment purposes only. I cannot & will not be responsible for anything you do.
Difficulty level. I have done front wheel bearing hubs on GM full size 4wd pickups a few times. Silverado, Tahoe-Yukon-Escalade type stuff.... This is harder. So, do an honest assessment of your mechanical ability, and go from there....
Now then, let's begin.
A word about parts, first. Prices are literally all over the map for these bearings. $59 for the pair, all the way to $249 each. I would try to go with something good. SKF or Timken. I got these at NAPA obviously. I am not sponsored by NAPA, nor am I endorsing NAPA. This happens to be what I got. I think they were around $140 each.
Also, the lug nuts, on this car, have like a "wrapper" of metal, over them. Which can get loose. So I had a problem with one, and, I was advised to replace them all. NAPA sells a solid metal replacement lug nut for like $6 apiece. Which sounds like a lot, but I see while I wasn't looking, the tire place ruined one too, and there it was on the bill, $15 for a replacement.... Anyways, if your car is older, plan on 10 of those too. As long as you're gonna have the wheels off, you may as well replace them. You would hate to have a flat, in the middle of nowhere, and have a lug nut problem.... But that's up to you.
Alright, let's assume you can jack up the car, remove the lug nuts, and get the wheel off. If you can't, I guess you have to look somewhere else for that info, but that info should be very readily available.... So the picture above is, wheel off, car lifted, ready to begin.
Step one is to get the brake caliper off. Those 2 bolts are on the back... 18mm I think, if I remember. Crank those off, remove the brake caliper. Don't let it just hang from the brake line. Tie it up to something... Or I just put it on a little supporting box next to the brake rotor.
Now you should be able to pull the brake rotor off....
Now we're removing the center hub nut. This will be on real tight. 32mm.
You can blast it off with one of these, or use air tools, or get a big 1/2 inch breaker bar, and crank it off....
Now things start to get tricky.... These trailing arm (or A-arm) deals, the bolts have to come off. You need the hub to wiggle around and move a little, to give enough room to get the 4 bolts out of the back....
Those 2 there, have to come out. I'm looking from the top down. It's all 18mm. You will have to cranks them out with back to back wrenches....
Like so. Now, that stuff is under pressure. It will jump & move when you finally get the bolt out. And, take plenty of pictures as you disassemble, so you get how the bolt was, how the arms come together... Everything. By the time you are ready to reassemble, your will to live may be gone, and, you may be slightly unclear in your mind how this goes back together, so, pictures....
We need the hub to have some wiggle room, because we have to get BEHIND the CV axle half shaft, and remove 4 bolts.... The whole point of this is so we can wiggle the axle out of the way, and get the bolts out of the backside of the hub....
This bolt here, picture above, is on the rear of the hub. LOOSEN this one, but do not remove it. It's real hard to get these back in, and if you remove THIS one, the whole hub will move so much, that it just is super hard to reassemble the whole thing.... So, just loosen. Then you can just re-tighten later....
With that stuff off, now it's time to go after the 4 bolts on the back of the hub. Yeah. This is not going to be fun.
As seen above, what I did was, PUSH the CV axle IN. Towards the center of the car. You need the bulbous end of the CV Axle to move AWAY from those bolts, and give you some room, to get the bolts out....
The photography is not great here, I apologize, but here it is, as seen above, with the axle pushed it, you can see the head of the bolt. Yes, that is some kind of weird reverse torx. 6 pointed star thing. Classic Mercedes trick. Some of you may recall, it was Daimler Chrysler back then, so some of this stuff is from the MB playbook....
Uhh, also, see below, with the hub removed, the pictures are much clearer, of WHERE these bolts are, relative to the hub, and what you're looking at, and where you should be looking....
You will need an E14 socket, as seen above, to remove those. You probably don't have it, so order that before you do this.
Note! I am told, some RT's, or some V6's, might have E12 bolts??? I do not know, I don't have 3 other cars here to stare & compare with.... So do your research on that, if your car is not an SRT8. I was also told that RT's and V6's had smaller "ends" on the CV axles, which makes this job easier.... I have no way of knowing.
I got a set of those sockets for 20- some odd American dollars on Amazon, so... Not the end of the world.
Setups like you see above, is how I got the bolts out. You're gonna have to do what you have to do to get them out. There is NOT a lot of room.... You gotta push on the axle while you do this... Obviously a hoist would be easier, but I'm sitting on a garage floor....
Something like this might get a couple of them....
Uhhh, also, I was warned that the reverse torx, that E14, LOVES to strip, so make DARN SURE that your socket is DOWN hard and tight and flat over that bolt head.... DO NOT STRIP THAT! I am told that Dodge Dealers don't stock them, so, you'll be waiting, for replacements... And, I have no clue how you'd get it out, once you strip it... I was very careful, and had no problems or scary moments.... Just be aware, don't strip those....
There's another one we're trying to get.... So much fun. You're going to be using the braille method on these for the most part.... Just getting the pictures was no picnic....
Hey! We got 2 out. 2 more to go....
If you stick with it, and keep working... You will get to this point. All bolts out, hub removed.... Hahah! Success....
Uhhh, now we need to install the new one....
Now, this is important. This will only fit ONE WAY. Those bolt holes, they are a little narrower on one end, than on the other end. Also, when you're trying to remove those bolts, these pictures might help visualize where they are.... But do a real good stare & compare here, and make sure your bolt pattern is going on the right way....
As you re-install, try to START all 4 bolts.... After all 4 are in and hand threaded on somewhat, THEN tighten them all down....
Amazing. The 4 bolts are in & tight. You may have lost your will to live by this point, but, pull yourself together, we have some more work to do.... That is a nice sight though.... Progress! We're getting there!!!
Now we gotta get these suspension components bolted back together.... Yeah, I know, the fun never ends....
If you bring in a second jack, and jack up the hub, it will help A LOT to do this.... I'm not sure it's even possible, without jacking up the hub, so, have a second jack handy for this....
So, with the hub jacked up, I got the "lower" one on, the one at an angle. Don't tighten that! Get all the bolts IN, and THEN go back and tighten everything....
This next one, here's my process for getting these on... Not sure if it's according to hoyle, but...
Get the bolt through the hole, sticking out some. Like you see below.
With some grunting, swearing, and sweating, move that arm down, and try to get it over the end of that bolt.... Like you see in the picture below...
Use a ratchet to crank the bolt through (it will be under pressure, so you can't spin it)... Crank that in until the bolt is exposed on the far end, and spin a nut on it....
Once they are all in, now go back and tighten all the suspension arm bolts you loosened... Don't forget that rear one we loosened, but didn't take off....
Wow.... Will you look at that.... Never thought we'd get to this point, did you.... Hahaha! Yeah, me neither.... Okay, seriously, the worst is over. A few more things, we'll wrap this up.....
Remember that axle nut??? Yeah, don't forget that. Spin that on and hammer it down...
DON'T rely on your tool to get final tightness. Get the big torque wrench out. This nut is supposed to be 165-170 ft pounds, something like that... Again, do your due diligence on that for your car, there may be differences.... Make sure that nut is cranked on though. You don't wanna be having those kind of doubts while you're flying down the freeway....
Get your brake rotor back on, and install your brake caliper back on there....
Yes, and finally, get your wheel and tire back on. Lug nuts on this are 110 ft pounds. I am told RT's and V6's are 100 ft pounds, so, do your research on that.
And you are done!
This is not easy. I can easily do both fronts on a GM truck in 4 or 5 hours?? Guessing? Took me 8 hours to do the first one... These pictures are from the second one, probably 6 hours. This job is no joke. So, assess your abilities honestly, before you take this on.
I feel that bearings should be done in pairs, but again, that is my opinion....
Also, this is a summer car for me, so, there is minimal rust, practically no rust. If you are daily driving yours through the snow, rust could greatly enhance the difficulty.
If you attempt this, good luck to you.
