We bought my wifes honda Fit about one year ago with 178k and now has 185k miles and probably the previous owners did very little to non maintenance on this car, so during this past year I've been trying to replace the most needed parts:
-front struts and mountings
-front sway bar endlinks
-alternator
-spark plugs and coils
-oil pressure transmision sensor
-new battery
-clean the intake passages
-etc, etc
... And thank god I'm a little mechanicly inclined/weekend warrior, otherwise paying a shop to do this would had cost alot of money.

So now I'm about to tackle the hub and wheel bearings and this is my first time doing this job, I've watched alot of videos and read some stuff on the internet, but I couldn't find a lot about this specific car... Is there a step by step procedure tread about this?... I bought the only front hub and wheel bearing assembly from rockauto that they have, what special tools do I need to rent?

I've seen videos that require very little to replace the whole assembly, but I also seen people that had a really hard time replacing it, any tips would be really much appreciated... Thanks

 

On 07 you need to change the bearing by pressing it out of the steering knuckle.
to do this you need at least 20 ton hydraulic press and heavy duty bearing 1.5 to 2" range bearing splitter (to remove inner half race that typically sticks to the hub)

If any part of the bearing is rusted to the hub or knuckle the replacement will become a huge exercise. Most aftermarket bearings are reported to fail within 2 years; genuine bearing is expensive.
the best solution in this case is to install used low mileage steering knuckle assembly; the used hub should rotate smoothly (like "a spoon in the heavy motor oil" ) without binding , clicking, etc

 

Doc you are scaring me man

But wait... The slide hammer and the bearing press tool that I can rent at advance auto won't do this job?

 

Don't mess with a wheel bearing until it is actually a problem.

 

+1
the bearing can be tested by lifting offending wheel off the ground (use jack stand for safety!)
set the parking brake and shift to neutral
place a palm of your hand on the fully extended strut spring; keep your hand clear of the tire.
spin the wheel assembly with other hand
if vibration (roughness) is felt on the spring the bearing is damaged and needs attention

 

X2

 

... Really?

Ok maybe is not neccesary at this moment. I will make sure first If they really are bad. So I'm just going to wait... Thanks guys

 

hello I wanted to ask where are the best parts in canada to obtain wheel bearings? My car has 215,000 km and I could hear a front noise while coasting with the engine off. Although DoctorJ's suggestion does sound like a plan although with that kind of milage i'm wondering if i'm better off ordering OEM or aftermarket and if aftermarket anyone has any recommendations?

I guess if the bearing is on the steering knuckle it isn't as easy to disconnect it and bring it to the shop to press it out themselves and then the DIY can install again if they wanted to save on labor. The noise has been noticed since 1000 km ago and the noise hasn't gotten worse yet... but I hope to plan to fix it this week because it makes the highway drive so droney in terms of noise.

 

Ok it's time to do this repair...

I'm going to take the wheel hub assembly out and take it to my local mechanic and have him do the pressing work. I'm guessing he will charge me 1 hour of work.

Also I wanted to post this very informative video that was just released on you tube about 2 weeks ago which is going to come in handy for this work:

 

This video is helpful as well!

 

BTW on video above the impact should be used on the strut to steering knuckle NUT not the bolt's head!

 

Hey doc,
On your video, guy doesn't disconnect the speed sensor like in the video I posted, instead he says that If I want to take the whole thing out and take to the shop to press the bearing out, the speed sensor needs to be unplug from the engine bay, feed it out and bring to the shop also... Is that right?
My plan is to do exacly as the video I posted, he just unscrew the 10mm bolt, pull the sensor out and done, no need to unplug from engine bay and all that removing cable story

Thanks

 

Sometimes the ABS sensor is stuck so bad you'd never get it out without destroying it. It's much easier to unplug the wire from the car.

 

Oh ok I see why, his Honda it's all rusted out underneath and even though my wife's has 185k is pretty damn good underneath, no rust. When I replaced the struts everything came out easily.

I'm planning on doing the job this weekend, Thanks

 

It is also possible for sensor mounting screw to rust at the threads causing it to stick and then to break off flush with knuckle. Therefore if it does not comes out easy, cut the head of it, pull the sensor out , then apply penetrating fluid to the stump and remove it using channel locks or similar tool.
Also, the expanding clips attaching ABS sensor wire to the strut may become fragile (one broke on my car during tire changing when tech moved the wire away for some reason).
I was able to attach it with black zip-tie

 

And its done!!!...

Super easy, no problems at all. Did it with a friend and only took us 45 min to removed both sides knuckle and then head to the shop (it pays to have ready all the right tools needed) took the guy 15-18 min to press out old and new bearings and hub in!..

The guy was so good you could tell he's been doing this for years, it was actually fun to watch him dance around from one side to the other and the best of all was the $20 for each side I paid for the job well done

I called other shops and they wanted $160 to $180 to do the same job I bet it's not even as good and they will make you wait 2 hours to try and justify the labor
If you are in miami and need this done, search for "Delta auto part"

Thanks everyone