[Lucky]

Replacing rear wheel bearings on the Boxster is a straightforward process, but it is a fairly large job for the home mechanic. Here's an overview of the process as performed on a 2000 Boxster S.

First you need to decide if you will do the bearings while the hub carriers are still on the car or of you will instead remove the hub carrier and perform the bearing replacement on your workbench. A wheel bearing tool, such as the SIR kit, is needed if you will perform the work with the hub carriers on the car. By the way, a HUGE Thank You to Track Ratt for loaning me the SIR kit -- it is an awesome tool!

I am in the process of replacing the clutch and since I would have the axels and tranny out for that job, I decided to do the bearings with the hub carriers still on the car. You cannot remove the axels without also removing the underbody supports and the secondary cats, so unless you have those parts off for another project it will be less work to remove the hub carriers and do the bearing work off the car.


Step 1 - remove the stub axel nut -- requires a 32mm socket and big breaker bar.




Step 2 - after jacking up the car and removing the axel, you can begin disassembly of the brakes. Take of the caliper with the 2 10mm Allen bolts and remove the 10mm bolt holding the brake line to the back of the hub carrier. Hang the caliper to prevent damage to the brake line.




Step 3 - remove the brake rotor.




Step 4 - remove the parking brake shoes.




Step 5 - Now use the SIR kit to pull the hub out of the bearing -- note the outer race will come out with the hub.







Step 6 - Remove the 4 13mm bolts holding the bearing retainer to the hub carrier.




Step 7 - Use the SIR kit again (with the proper size "puck") to pull the bearing out of the hub carrier.




Step 8 - Using just the threaded rod and properly sized pucks from the SIR kit, push the new bearing into the carrier. One puck goes on the inner side of the hub carrier while the other sits flush on the outer race of the new bearing. Install the new bearing with markings facing out.







Step 9 - reinstall the bearing retainer and parking brake shoes.




Next up is removal of the outer race from the hub and then use of the SIR tool to push the hub into the new bearing.

I was able to remove the race from the hub by heating the race with a propane torch and using a hammer and drift to get about 1/4" of clearance. Once I had enough clearance I used a three arm puller and a slide hammer to yank the race the rest of the way off the hub.

Next installment (hopefully next weekend) will cover reinstallation of the hubs into the new bearings.