# Rear bearing replacement and suspension tear down



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

For anyone wanting to see what is involved in changing a rear bearing or taking apart the rear suspension here is a great video I found.





Its in Russian but its easy to follow nonetheless.


----------



## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

Nice find quad.
Huge shower of releasing oil everywhere.
Looks like he did a couple of dry runs before making the video.
Hammering the center to release that part wasn't a good idea.Use bench to work on.
My mechanic used a sliding weight bolted to the hub and disassembled the center before taking the hub out.

The hard part is the bearing mount,it must be perfect fit.


envoyé du throne en grimaçant kclmop


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

I think he loosened a few bolts ahead of time as well, and could have done a few things differently, but I give him thumbs up for making the video. I wonder what the odds will be for me to remove the rear trailing long bolt, rather than cut it when I do the rear suspension replacement. I know most dealers do cut it, but both times I had rear bearings changed the mechanic was able to disassemble and then reuse everything.

While on the video subject, also found this cool one of the X trail rear suspension at work.


----------



## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

Maybe renting one of those i could do it myself.http://youtu.be/NgxHZvgckuc
At work we have a press so i could do the bearing install

envoyé du throne en grimaçant kclmop


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

or this





Come to think of it, I am pretty sure the mechanic replaced the rear bearings without dismantling the suspension. Must have used one of these kits. Sure makes it seem a much easier job. Wonder where you could rent one?


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Here is what you need, and even comes with a sexy computerized voice over


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Its what I needed lol. Just had to have the rear passenger side bearing replaced, and it turned into a saga. Got it done at Speedy in Hull who did the same one almost 4 years ago, and the other side 2 1/2 years ago. Both times no drama. This time they were having a heck of a time loosening the arm bolts to dismount everything. Kind of surprised because I am 90% sure the mechanic who used to work there did it without dismantling the suspension as per vid above. Anyhow this time heat was required and the guy was concerned about harming the rubber bushings to get them undone and apart as per the Russian video. So I brought him the arms for that side that I had previously bought from Febest. What makes no sense is that a 4 wheel alignment was done a year ago at Nissan dealer, and supposedly to do so they loosen and then re tighten everything. How an impact was struggling to get them off anew seems kind of weird seeing they are only torqued to 80 ft lbs.
First time ever a garage had to keep the x trail overnight as they couldn<t finish by closing. Long story short 511 tx included , and close to another 250 if I want to replace the arms on the other side and have a 4 wheel alignment done. Shocker was the Skf bearing price at $196 with their markup. It can be had for 100 less online, but then none of the work would have been guaranteed. This way I have a 3 year warranty on it valid anywhere in Canada.
Still I kind of regret not spending the 150 or so for one those kits and trying to do it myself. Depending upon the weather I may try and do the other side arms myself now, as I have all new rear buushings on one side and the old ones on the other.
By the way in the mystery parts department the retaining clip for the rear bearings, is in fact the same part as for the front ones. For some reason parts databases never show their being also for the rear.


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Well I found out a little more about the difficulties. Seems the cam bolt snapped, other bolts were seized to the metal sleeves inside the old bushings, and the long bolt connecting the parallel links was a killer. They had to cut it and replace it. They didn't charge me for the bolts they had to replace, so that was a 20$ saving or so. They do good work, so I will have them do the other side this week. Have decided its too much for me to do on jackstands. However, I can already tell its going to improve handling. You can feel that the new side is tighter. And it will accomplish my goal to renew the rear bushings after 10 years.
So finally, not including the bearing, the cost to do this will have been 240 for all 6 arms (that incl tx and delivery) + 254 labour plus tax + a 4 wheel alignment.
Not so bad compared to 1040 tx included for just the arms at a Nissan dealership. Which makes me understand why I have not read about anyone replacing all their rear arms to date.


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Well I was off by about $100. Rechecking visa bill arms cost be 282 cdn and Speedy just charged me for 2 hrs to do the left side, so it was about 330 for labour to replace the rear arms on both sides. Sure enough once again 3 of the bolts were fused to the metal sleeves in the bushings, creating a true pain in the butt job. Anyhow its now done, and the Febest arms are all a perfect fit. End result is my rear suspension has been renewed with new bushings, and should be fine for years to come.


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Been driving it for the past 40 minutes and I am a happy man. I wasn't getting any clunks before, but I now realize I was getting little thunks from the rear going over cracks on the road that have simply gone away. Back end is really quiet and its now more limber.


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Its official, after taking it out yesterday, my wife came back and had just one word to say--- smooth!


----------



## molly (Oct 31, 2014)

In case the mechanic decides that it is a wheel bearing causing the noise (see my recent thread), can he actually replace it when he doesn't have a hoist? He only has jack stands and a hydraulic lifty thing for the rear that I saw him use once...this thread makes me think it could potentially be a miserable job, and I don't want to end up paying extra because he doesn't have the right equipment, or things go sideways.


----------



## X-hale (Apr 17, 2017)

It can be done without a hoist but there is huge potential for things going wrong and collateral damage during disassembly. My mechanic actually made a tool in his shop for doing the bearings without having to do all the disassembling. He said everything was seized and rusted and he could see having to replace other parts if he didn't get creative. I love country garages. They fix stuff instead of just throwing new parts at it.


----------



## molly (Oct 31, 2014)

Looks like it is the right rear wheel bearing. He has a press to press it in with, and wasn't worried about only having jacks. I can get it at Rock Auto, shipped by Friday for about $68.00. I'd like to see the tool your mechanic made to do it....all I can do is hope for the best, I guess. He suggested a couple hours at most.


----------



## X-hale (Apr 17, 2017)

molly said:


> Looks like it is the right rear wheel bearing. He has a press to press it in with, and wasn't worried about only having jacks. I can get it at Rock Auto, shipped by Friday for about $68.00. I'd like to see the tool your mechanic made to do it....all I can do is hope for the best, I guess. He suggested a couple hours at most.


He keeps it in a locked drawer and only brings it out when he's alone in the garage. Just kidding. I've never seen it myself but he uses it on other vehicles besides the X-Trail. 
Your guy sounds like he knows what he's doing. I'm sure it will be fine. 2 hours is about right.


----------

