Front Wheel Bearing/Hub Assembly

[gavinsky23]

There is a bit of play on the nearside front wheel on my '97 1.8t which I think is the wheel bearing. I have read that this is fairly difficult to remove however I have seen a replacement which comes in a housing with 4 bolts to hold it on.

I was wondering if this means that a bearing puller is not required as the old one can just be unbolted and replaced?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[aragorn]

only cars with alloy uprights have bolt on hubs, IE late S4's and RS4's

Are you SURE its the bearing? Our front bearings were howling at 170k, but there was no detectable play in them at all

My money would be on the balljoints on the top arms. You can check, by getting someone to apply the brakes while you wiggle the wheel, if the play goes away, then it is the bearing, if it remains, its something else.

 

[gavinsky23]

I'll give that a try. There has been a sort of whining noise which seems to change depending on speed which has been there for a while. I jacked it up and there is a bit of play I'll get someone to try applying the brake but I think it is likely that it's the bearing.

This is what I was taking about:

It looks like the bearing comes fitted into a housing.

 

[gavinsky23]

Should've maybe said the car has done just over 140k