£90 hydraulic press for DIY wheel bearings.

[aclwalker 3]

I'm a very DIY kind of person and prefer doing everything on my own car really. I'm still investigating doing my own front wheel bearings and was revisiting this because my wheel bearing noise is getting worryingly loud. I came across this thread on another forum, about doing this job on MkII Golf:

 

http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97954

 

I was amazed to read that hydraulic presses were available for as cheap as £75 on Ebay. I thought they would be hundreds/thousands of £s and maybe require some sort of industrial electricity or air supply. I didn't realise that they are essentially an upside-down bottle jack attached to a metal frame. :oops:

 

The guy mentioned on the post is still on Ebay and is currently selling a 20 ton version (rather than 12 ton as in the post) for almost £150 including postage:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20-TON-HYDRAULIC-WORKSHOP-GARAGE-SHOP-PRESS-100040_W0QQitemZ370160523971QQihZ024QQcategoryZ30928QQcmdZViewItem

 

However, I've found other 12 ton presses for much cheaper:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12-Ton-Industrial-Hydraulic-Workshop-Garage-Shop-Press_W0QQitemZ120374455751QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item120374455751&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

 

This one can be bought cheaper direct from their own website as, unless I'm mistaken, the direct price includes postage:

 

https://www.kmsdirect.co.uk/index.php?m ... cfe937ad23

 

I really fancy getting one of these now, as it would allow other jobs to be done, like pressing in bushes and destroying baked bean cans.

 

The other things you'd need to get are arbours (you can use suitably sized sockets) and a 3 leg puller to get the inner race off the hub (unless you have a new hub, in which case it doesn't matter).

 

Also, Sealey seem to be having a sale right now and the following bench version of a press is now [strike:34tvx2ck]£200[/strike:34tvx2ck] (£184.53 at http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Hydraulic-Press-10ton-Bench-Type-Sealey-YK10B), which includes delivery I think:

 

http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuilder.asp?gotonode=ViewProduct&method=mViewProduct&PromotionID=52071&productid=8982

 

Am I mad, or should I just go for it and buy one and be able to do my wheel bearings when I like?

 

EDIT: I was originally considering one of these tool sets that allow you to do it without removing the bearing housing from the car but I think a press might be better because:

 

1 It seems it's cheaper that these 'in-situ' tools.

2 These 'in-situ' tools still require you to remove the balljoint connection or else you can't get the outer CV joint out of the hub, so you'd be as well just going that bit further and removing it from the strut and the tie-rod and doing it properly.

[Yandards 0]

Not completely barking mad no, its all comes down to the quality of the work you want really, you will always spend more time on a job than a garage will and will take more care too.

 

As for use, well you should only really be looking to fit one or two sets of bearings but you can always offer your services to other people to get more use from it.

[aclwalker 3]

Not completely barking mad no, its all comes down to the quality of the work you want really, you will always spend more time on a job than a garage will and will take more care too.

 

As for use, well you should only really be looking to fit one or two sets of bearings but you can always offer your services to other people to get more use from it.

Well, there's my dad's car too that we work on, plus I always expect to have (old) cars!

 

The quality of work is important to me, also the cost. I remember when I owned a MkII Golf I got the dealer to do a wheel bearing at the front but they had to do 2 because the first one made no difference. It was about £100 each side. I wish I'd done it myself then!

 

My dad reckons he's needing new suspension bushes too, so it should get some use with that.

[Yandards 0]

Sounds like a good plan to me then! :D

[davidwort 0]

I've no doubt a press like that would come in handy if you've got space for it but in nearly 20 years I've only had to have 3 front wheel bearings done and if you take the hub off the car then it usually only costs 15-20 quid to get someone to press a bearing in for you.

rear VW disk bearing races don't need a press and I've done axle bushes with a home made puller (a few nuts and washers on a big-arse bolt,.

So I don't really think at 100 quid or so, a big press is really going to pay for itself,

just my 2p

[Purple Tom 0]

I've just done the wheel bearings on my C using my hydraulic press. Its a very easy job using the right tools, making the mandrels is probably the most tricky job, but now I've got the ones I need, handily they're also going to be useful when pressing the wheel bearing inner races into the hubs on my Mini :)

 

Not at all a difficult job, and once you've got the bearing carriers off it probably takes around 15 minutes to do each side. I don't use a three legged puller to pull the inner race from the hub either, I've got a special puller which clamps across the shoulder of the race, but a three legged puller would achieve the same thing.

 

In fact, if anyone in the Midlands area ever wants some wheel bearings replacing far cheaper than the price a garage would charge then I'm happy to do it for you :)

 

Tom

[aclwalker 3]

My dad just ordered the Sealey YK10B, which is on offer at about half price just now until the end of February. We've ordered it from justoffbase.co.uk and it's £184.xx, delivered.

 

Perhaps a bit extravagant, but I like tools and don't like waiting around for mechanics to be bothered fitting you in, then probably not bothering to clean up the old housing and contaminating the new bearing etc.

 

We went for the Sealey for a few reasons. While it was twice the price of the other one, it was also half its normal price (a genuine reduction), is smaller (bench press rather than floor press), has a pressure gauge which will allow you to see if you're approaching a pressure which might damage it, has a removable ram which can be used for other purposes, and has repair kits available from Sealey.

 

I'll let you all know how I get on. :norty: