My 02 car needs two new front hubs before its MOT in December (the bearings in both are seemingly on the way out). The local garage has quoted £200-250 in labour for this (plus the cost of hubs - thankfully they're one of those decent places that lets you bring parts yourself so I can keep that reasonable).

This is somewhat annoying as I'm planning to sell it in the spring and was hoping to avoid any big expense before then. But of course without new hubs it won't get its MOT, and without its MOT it'll be worth a lot less to sell. So here we are. One way or another this needs doing. It's had a full service recently without anything else coming up so this should at least be the only thing (except I need to get some dash bulbs...)

To keep the expense down, I'm tempted to have a go at the hubs myself. I'm relatively comfortable working on cars, I've replaced bits and pieces of various cars in the past, and usually happy to give things a go and see, but I know hubs can be tricky to dislodge. I've seen people use hub busters (this kind of thing) to seemingly great effect and this seems like a potentially useful thing to have here.

With plenty of plus gas, a hub buster tool, and a hefty sledgehammer with which to thwack said hub buster enthusiastically, should I be able to do this myself?

Incidentally if anyone is interested in a 2002 pfl in silver with about 94k miles on the clock, a recent full service, and decent history back to 2005, and isn't bothered about the hubs or its imminently expiring MOT, then please feel free to make me an offer and save me the hassle of sorting these hubs

(hopefully not breaking any rules with this)

Heres the thread with my experiences...

https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=72991.msg877351#msg877351

The front hubs aren't that difficult to remove. They come apart without too much hammering and bashing.

They unbolt from the uprights with four bolts,

Quote from: Carolyn on November 15, 2022, 14:02The front hubs aren't that difficult to remove. They come apart without too much hammering and bashing.

They unbolt from the uprights with four bolts,

Okay, that sounds potentially doable

I might decide it's easier to just get the garage to do it, but I've ordered the hubs in any case and will see how I feel about tackling it myself once they arrive

Quote from: Carolyn on November 15, 2022, 14:02The front hubs aren't that difficult to remove. They come apart without too much hammering and bashing.

They unbolt from the uprights with four bolts,

Yup, was my experience. One of the bolts was particularly awkward if I remember correctly but I did it with just a socket set, Irwins and a blowtorch.

I did make a massive blood blister on my palm via a hammer mis-hit though!

Quote from: Bossworld on May 14, 2019, 18:28

Remove the hubs from the car...makes it much easier to work on and you can use the impact to undo the bolts.
I have a set in very decent condition if anyone is interested - newish hubs and back plates on carriers - £180.00 plus postage.