I also cleaned the rust and corrosion of the hub hole to provide a smooth mating surface for the new bearing.

Feel free to quote anything I say, if you were going to even further organize this DIY.

 

i put a disclaimer at the beginning to read the entire thread before starting. too much work to re-organize.

thanks again for your input.

time to go buy myself a point-and-shoot camera with the $250+ I saved by doing this myself

 

First off, I would like to thank you for such a detailed post on how to perform this work.

I have had this clicking for months and it was beginning to drive me crazy. I called the dealer yesterday and they quoted me 300 bucks for the job. I went and purchased 45 dollars worth of parts and what not that I did not already have, rolled up my sleeve, printed this post along with owners manual on the axle and got to it.

I was skeptical about this fixing my problem, but after greasing up the axle and putting everything back together, I went for a brisk drive to hear only the sounds of my Rev-Up Engine and Injen intake sucking in the cool evening air. It was music to my ears. No more clicking. All the conditions that previously generated the problem have gone. So I will keep a listen out for it over the next few weeks\months and see how it goes.

You saved me 250 bucks and MAN It is satisfying to know that I did it and have had success.

Sorry for the ramble, but I am pumped. Thanks again.

 

great DIY, drsifu...

One thing that I would like to add, if not already mentioned, is to use a new cotter pin when you remove the old one.

 

Lelzie - glad to hear that this post was helpful to you.

i was probably more afraid than you were taking on this project, so I am glad it helped someone else.

hopefully it solves your problem.

it is a good idea to replace the cotter pin with a new one. I overlooked that part, so we'll see if the old one will do. To be honest, I have not put back the cotter pin. I removed it on both sides of the rear to tighten the axle nut and chose to not put it back. i want to be sure the axle nut does not come loose again, but if it does, it will be easier to tighten without the cotter pin installed.

i used nail polish (belongs to my girlfriend) to paint the nut and threads, this way I know if the nut has backed out. if everything checks out in the next thousand miles or so, I will be re-installing the cotter pin.

you can see the red nail polish in one of the pics

 

I know this is kinda old and too late for the original poster but I came across this article http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticl...ike-I-Did.aspx I know its for a Silvia but Id bet that the 350z bearings are pretty similar. It should help the bearings last longer for those that put a lot of heat into them. The rest of the website is pretty good also. If you liked SCC then you will like it since a lot of the writers are from there.

 

slightly off topic - one of the studs on my hub assembly sheered in half - I've gotten to the point of removing the axle nut and really wondering if I need to go through all this to just have a stud replaced....I don't see any other way to get this task accomplished, but I did not expect it to be this large of an ordeal.

 

That's a great question, I've heard about wheel stud replacement. You should not need the whole assembly if you can bang out the stud and reinsert from the back. It's tricky so hit the back with a chisel to eat away at the rust. Hit the front to put pressure on the front and knock it out once it looks loose, might take a little while, but keep working on it.



Or the a new wheel bearing with new studs which are all healthy. New wheel bearing? How many miles do you have? It's going to be pressed in and will be costly.

 

I hope that wasn't confusing, the dealer will CHARGE for a bearing press.

 

Since i had a little misshap with a curb and bent both of my control arms in the right rear, i can hear this weird humming noise (just as someone staded before almost a wind tunnel noise) comming from the right rear wheel. Is it possible that bearing is failing or has failed?

 

Yea, mostly likely it is your bearing causing the noise. I have the same noise too. I replaced the rear right wheel bearing several months ago, now I have to replace the rear left.

 

Well i guess when i will be fixing the axel clicking problem i might as well change the bearings.

 

I just changed the right rear bearing. The axle drive shaft is surprisingly easy to remove and even after 6 years of midwest salt, it wasn't a corroded nightmare. Access to the bearing bolts is pretty easy then. I paid a local shop $40 to press out and replace the bearing from the hub.

It wasn't necessary to remove any parts of the suspension -- using a jack, I was able to move the lower support up and down as necessary to finesse the shaft out.

I can't hardly believe that the manual says to basically disconnect the entire suspension. If a shop were to follow that, I have to think it would double the labor charge. In fairness though, if you have a lift and big air (serious air tools fed by a 1 inch air line), I suppose someone might be able to be pretty fast about disconnecting the rear suspension--I still would think the book time would be pretty high.

All told, this cost me $92.

Thanks for the photos and the great advise!

 

Quick question. Did anyone have a problem getting the wheel bearing off after taking out the four bolts that hold the bearing on? Could the whole assembly be seized in there? I am going to get the bearing puller today to pull off the hub.

 

Yea, I did. You can rent a bearing puller from AutoZone that bolts to the lugs.