My wife's car, about 110k on it. The drivers hub has been groaning for the past two weeks, getting louder, but only above 20-25mph or so. Inspecting the bearings, it feels a little harder to turn than the pass side, but no play side to side.

I ordered replacement hubs for both sides, and also the CV shafts as well. When I was inspecting it, I tried somewhat to remove the hub, and it seems rather tight in the knuckle.

Questions:
Any advice on getting this thing out?
I noticed if I remove a wheel stud, an M12 bolt will fit through the opening, and with a flange nut backed up against the wheel flange, it seems it might work as a press to drive the hub out. I can fit 3 bolts around the flange against the knuckle like this. Has anyone tried this?

I'm asking because it seems that the knuckle is aluminum, and I'm concerned about damaging that part.

Thanks, Tom

 

Just a follow-up for those who might be interested. Using the M12 bolts worked well. I could only fit two against the knuckle. I held the bolt still and turned the flange nut, this kept the bolt from digging into the backing plate. I would tighten the nuts to put some pressure on the hub, then tap around the edges of the wheel flange with a small hammer and it would slip out bit. Rinse & repeat. Once setup, this only took a few easy minutes to remove the hub. This is the drivers side, and as the bolts are slightly offset from the front, I needed to tap that side a bit more to have it come out evenly.

 

I've been following your post and thank-you for taking the time (and photos) to share this very good info.
So, photo 1 is a wrench holding the M12 bolts from turning and photo 2 shows the back side where you alternately tighten the nuts to slowly/evenly force the bolts against the backing plate.
About how long are the M12 bolts? I guess as long as the clear the center drive shaft.

 

Tom,

Your statement is absolutely right. The bolts were from some part of my friends old Grand Am, about three inches long, but they're metric grade 12.9 bolts. The flange nuts I bought at Home Depot, also 12.9.

I did the passenger side yesterday, about an hour total time, including dropping the ball joint to replace the CV shaft as well. That's when I noticed the A/C compressor seems to be leaking oil *sigh*

Originally it was the drivers hub that was very noisy, and while inspecting I noticed the drivers brake rotor was badly grooved, so I replaced both hubs, rotors, brake pads, and CV joints, all for about $320 from Rockauto.