how much is a shop gonna charge me to replace my wheel bearings?

 

front rear or all 4?

fronts are easy..rears are hard...

 

rear on a gsl. could i do the fronts myself?

 

depending on the shop but probably at least $100/hr labor + parts markup. with a minimum of 2hrs. they're too easy not to do urself, depending on ur mechanical ability.

edit: oh rear. yes u can do fronts urself, that's what i was originally thinking. the rear axles will need to be taken to a shop cause they need pressing off and on.

 

how much for rears? same as fronts 2 hours labor + parts?

 

also any difference in gsl rotors through the years or are they all the same?

 

1984/1985 had big bearing axles compared to earlier years. 1984/1985 GSL and GSL-SE had the same size axles with different bolt pattens.

 

nobody knows about how much its gonna cost? i've got 500 but i have to buy a few other things too. im changing out the rear calipers and pads but if the noise and subtle vibration persists im just gonna go ahead and assume its the wheel bearings. what are the symptoms of a bad wheel bearing? could it be anything else? also how do i check my dif fluid?

 

no we don't know what it's going to cost cause we do our own work. look thru the phone book and call a few places up and ask them.

 

I GOT MINE DONE FOR FREE ALL I DID WAS TOOK OUT THE AXLES AND SWEET TALKED A SHOP TO PRESS THE BEARINGS ON TOOK DUDE 10 MINS PER AXEL AND TO CHECK THE DIFF FLUIN LOOK ON THE BACK OF THE DIFF AND THERES A 14 MM SQUARE PLUG ...UNSCREW THAT AND SEE IF FLUID COMES OUT AND MAKE SURE YOUR ON LEVEL GROUND

 

Sweet i can do that. thanks

 

k so the rears are different but how about the fronts?

 

84-85 are big bearing fronts too...

 

Tip number one... find any post by Trochoid and click on the link in his signature and go download the Field Service Manual for your year. Changing bearings is really a VERY simple job... even the rears. You need to read the procedures outlined in the FSM and take it step by step. My kid brother just bought his first RX-7 about a month ago and I'm going through the same lessons with him. You should understand that these cars are considered "exotic" by most shops and as such they will charge you "exotic" prices. Either that or they'll claim to know what they're doing and end up doing more harm than good, and if you haven't found out already some parts for these cars are IRREPLACEABLE! You should also realize that you shouldn't be shopping at Autozone or PepBoys or whatever big name auto parts store is in your area, they never will have parts in stock and if they do they'll be horribly overpriced.

Long story short, sounds like from your previous posts that you're not made of money, kinda like the rest of us. So you should know that if you don't start learning to do 99% of the work on your car yourself, you will likely not be able to afford your car for long. Sorry if this sounds condescending, just trying to help you not make the mistakes my kid brother has made, changing a water pump on his 88 just cost him a little under $1000.... no bueno!

 

Once you read through the FSM you'll see how easy it is to change bearings, front or rear. The rears present a problem in that the bearing are held in place by a collar that needs to be pressed on. I've ground/cut a groove in the collar in order to remove it myself. Then took the axles, new bearings and collars to a shop that charged me 10 bucks per axle to press them back on.

Parts will run you near 100 from Black Dragon.

 

I have the haynes manual will that work? I'm pretty sure they cover wheel bearings in it. I'm kinda scared to do it myself cuz this is my daily driver and i'm not very experienced. what all parts do i need? autozone.com had the bearings themselves for pretty cheap. maybe i'll request a few days off and take it out to my dads and have him help me.

 

Sorry to jump your thread, but I think my question may help you decide if you can do the work yourself.

I've got a GSL SE and I need to replace the rear wheel bearings. I'm looking at the RX7 Shop Manual. To remove the rear axl, it states a specific Mazda axl puller and rear axle shart puller attachment are needed. Is there a method to remove the axl without these specific tools?

I'm looking at the manual and other than these tools, everything seems straightforward. I notice some are posting this is a difficult job. Am I missing something?

Many thanks,
Duane

 

it's only difficult for those that have very little to no mechanical ability. an axle puller is similar to a dent puller but with a piece that uses the lug bolts to attach it to the axle flange. shouldn't have any problem getting one from places that loan out tools. they charge u that cost of the tool but u get it back when u return the tool. i made on once. all u need is a piece of threaded rod, couple of flat washers, couple nuts that fit the rod, and a heavy(maybe 5lbs) piece of metal with a hole in it so it will slide easily on the threaded rod. put one nut and washer on one end of the rod for the metal to stop against. the other end of the rod goes thru the hole in the axle flange with the other nut and washer. worked great and didn't cost me a dime.

 

I've pulled axles by simply putting 2 lug bolts in loosely and jerking on the wheel. Make sure the bolts are in far enough so the threads don't strip out. Or,if you have a spare junk rim, bolt that on and use a hand sledge on the back side of the wheel. When you order parts you will need bearings, collars and axle seals.

The job is relatively simple providing you can get the axles out and have some place lined up to press the collars on and off. When reinstalling the axles you'll need to hammer the axles in until they are firmly seated. If you try to draw the axles in with the bolts in the retaining flange, the flange will distort and the axle will not fully seat.

 

I have to ask, what are the symptoms or reason such that you need the wheel bearings replaced?

 

i'm guessing noise?

mine are noisy, so i'll replace them with respeed parts

 

I would think handling would be the main issue. At least that's my case. My 7 isn't firm on the road. When I hit a bump or crack in the road, I can feel the car move a little. The higher the speed, the more the movement. It's definitely not as firm as other 7s I have owned.

At first I thought it was bushings, but I took an automotive course in the fall and got to take the care up on a hoist. The instructor took a look at the rear and did the test shown in the shop manual -- he grabbed the wheel and checked for play. The tires on both side move slightly. He suggested replacing the rear bearings.

Cheers,
Duane

 

Yeah... So... I guess my bearings are fine cuz I realized one of my tires had a bad belt and now there's no vibration.

 

wheel bearing replacement is super easy, front or rear, i replaced all 4 on my 84 gs and i did it in a day, no press or puller, just a good old screw driver, a mallet, a block of wood and some good old Cuban engineering.

 

Yeah I'll probably give it a go eventualy. I can aquire all those tools except the Cuban engineering lol. Hopefully I can manage without it. Do you by chance have a write up and or pics?