When I purchased my 2019 Micra used with 8000km on it, I noticed that the dust caps were siliconed because whoever removed them previously damaged them.
Over the course of the past few weeks I’ve been noticing the typical wheel bearing howl in the rear (I’m at 42,000km).
So today I replaced both sides. I ordered Timken (made in USA) bearings from Rock Auto ($100 shipped). Oddly enough, both bearings were made by NTN in India, not Timken (even though the box was Timken). I plan on following up with Rock Auto and Timken to figure out why this happened. I will report back.
The install was straightforward. Jack up the car, remove the wheel, gently remove the dust cap, remove the axle nut, remove the drum, remove the ABS rotor sensor, remove the bearing retention clip (c clip) and then press out the old bearing. Installation is in the reverse order.
I purchased a cheap bearing press kit from Amazon that worked well. All said and done I completed the job in just over two hours and it’s good as new. I was able to reuse the ABS rotor sensor on the drum but I did replace the axle nuts which were $11/each at the dealer. I torqued them to 209nm/154ft lbs.
If you’re doing this yourself you will want to have the following tools:
-bearing press kit ($89 on Amazon)
-30mm socket ($10 at Princess Auto)
-breaker bar or a chunk of strong pipe
-bench vice