Just in case anyone else needs to do this, the rear hubs are press fit. The can be removed with a slide hammer. Wheel bearings are pressed out and reinstalled with a wheel bearing press tool or a shop press.
There are two options for replacement of brake backing plates:
1) Remove brake rotor and parking brake hardware. Cut the backing plate in the area where the rotor will fit and remove. The new plate can be installed the same way.
2) Remove 36mm spindle nut using an impact gun or big breaker bar and use a slide hammer to pull the hub. You can then dismantle the suspension and remove the wheel bearing knuckle from the axle shaft. You then press out the old wheel bearing. A new wheel bearing can then be pressed in and the hub pressed in to that. This is of course after replacing the backing plate. The old bearing race must be cut through or pressed off the hub.
I opted to cut the backing plates since my wheel bearings were still good and I didn't want to disturb them or dismantle the suspension. I got this idea from a BMW forum and it worked well. Only remove enough material from the backing plate to fit over the hub spindle. Note that this 'might' result in slightly more water and junk being splashed into the parking brake. However, the rotor also protects this area so I am not too concerned. I added some anti-seize to the moving parts of the parking brake as a precautionary measure.
Replacing the parking brake cable, on the other hand, was not nearly as fun. But that's another story.
|