Got the front wheel bearing finished up today on my 2010

Just a few notes for the next person that searches for wheel bearings.

The knuckle / spindle will need to come off. I was hoping to finagle a way around it but the bearing can't be pulled with the axle shaft in place, even if the hub is removed.

I used a 1 1/4" socket for the axle nut; not sure what that is in mm.

The strut to spindle bolt heads and nuts are 17mm.

The Tie Rod nut, Ball Joint nut, and Caliper mounting bolt heads are all 19mm.

I would strongly recommend against using the "pickle fork" type ball joint separator. The fork tends to damage the grease boots. The press types are a much better option IMO.

The snap ring that holds the bearing in the spindle is very stiff. I measured the pin hole at .135" and had to buy new snap ring pliers as nothing I had was sturdy enough. I bought Channel Lock 929 pliers from Amazon and it worked great with the .120" tips.

I think the harbor freight 66829 bearing adapter kit will work for the Aveo; I will probably know for sure pretty soon. I ordered the kit but I got the job done with my shop press and various sockets and the harbor freight kit still isn't here yet.

that must suck, i have 3 harbor freights with 20 minutes from my house..

a 2010 needing new wheel bearings and not under warranty? what is your mileage? 56K @

I'm surprised that its not under warranty. Even my wifes 07 Aveo5 had to have a bearing replaced and the dealership warrantied it because they consider it to be under the 5yr/60K drivetrain warranty. it was no charge.

My closest Harbor Freight store is a 3 hour drive...I mail order.

I have 41k miles. The wheel bearing started making a little noise somewhere around 35-38K. I had attributed the noise to uneven tire wear until I changed the tires and the noise stayed. I didn't go to the dealer because GM specifically and explicitly states that wheel bearings are excluded from the 100k power train warranty. I may have been able to get a good will 36k warranty extension, but I wasn't willing to roll the dice on it. I expect if the warranty was denied, I would've paid an hours worth of labor for diagnosing the wheel bearing as bad.

Now that I have the tools, it really isn't a bad job. I was not looking forward to paying for an alignment after removing the spindle, but the FSM says that the caster and camber angles are non-adjustable. Given that, I will just keep an eye on the tires. The alignment 'should' be okay.

Makes sense, i guess i should plan on doing mine soon, with my ride height.. and just behind you in the mileage..

Hello folks,

I'm going to do this job in a couple of days. I do not have a shop press, and I plan to just take the whole steering knuckle into a local place and have them swap the bearings and hand it back to me ready to install. Will cost $50, but to me it's worth it versus the price of buying bearing adapters and my time trying to do this without a press...

I'm new working on front suspensions, but I took the thing part-way apart last weekend and I have see what has to be done. I wonder if anyone knows the answer to these questions:

1) Is there any grease required on the outside of the axle, on the splines where it mates with the hub? Or any other considerations besides, pop it out and pop it back in?
2) Is there any danger pushing the axle half-shaft too far or too hard into the transmission? I understand I can really complicate things if I pull it out too far...
3) Are torque specs important on any of these suspension components? Tie rod end, lower ball joint, caliper bolts, anything? I sure can't find any numbers. Just wrench-tight/snug plus maybe a half-turn of muscle power on these 17-19 mm bolts/nuts?
4) If I have trouble getting the lower ball joint apart, I see that the bottom of half of it comes out of the lower control arm with just two 17 mm bolts. Is this an equally acceptable alternative?
5) Any care required to make sure the outside boot on the axle shaft seals/seats well?

1.) I didn't use any grease
2.) Bearing or seal damage maybe????
3.) I always torque by the book. (and I no longer have the book) Years ago I did a lot more wrenching and was comfortable going by feel but I just don't do it enough anymore.
4.) I can't remember just what it looks like, but if you can get it off and it won't be in the way of the press, I wouldn't expect a problem.
5.) The CV joint boot seal doesn't need to be touched.