Yes, always support the work so that the force goes through the races and not through your new ball bearings. Just pause to think about that as you do the job. For instance…when the hub is being put through the bearing, and the bearing's outer race is retained in the upright…if you hammer it in the force goes into the inner race…then the ball bearings…and finally the outer race and upright. It would be best to support the inner race on the other side. That way the ***** see no force. So the ***** and the actual bearing surface don't get abused and possibly harmed. For getting the old bearings out…wail away on the bearing that will be discarded. Keep the hub and housing safe.

Make sure the water/dirt seal on the back side is perfect. Lots of rear bearings seem to go due to contaminants killing the inboard side of the bearing. At least the rear bearings don't see much brake heat compared to the fronts. If you are thinking about deleting the rear splash shields (cuts temps) now is the time to do that.

Looks very easy. Excellent presentation. Now I am ready to try it. Hope it works.

+1 it is a great write up and very helpful. The only thing I would add is like JR4WDTRBO says. After cleaning all mating surfaces, heat the bearing housing either with a torch or in the oven, the bearing will drop in there like magic. Then take the hub which you kept in the freezer for 10 minutes or so and it will also drop or easily slide into the inner race. Heat and cool parts to mate and use lubricants. The assembly will be very easy and safe.

My mechanic actually used this technique without reading this write up. Great minds must think alike!

Nice write up, will try this way next time.

Thanks for the write up. I had my next door neighbor weld up an adaptor for the 5LBs slide hammer and it works just fine.
I used a Posi Lock 104 Gear Puller 3 Jaw 4 Inch 5 Ton for the bearing race and it worked well too.
I ended up buying a HF 20T press so no hammering.

I'll need to do this soon, this will make for a lot less thinking thanks!

If you spend a lot of time on the track, you should check the back faces of the hubs for cracking as there have been cases of hubs failing inside of the lugs.

About 7 years ago I was able to get a Hub Tamer Kit off ebay for $150 and have used it on FWD, AWD and Miata rear bearings. No hammering! its like having a portable press.

Thought i might update this ****. Just got done doing a rear bearing on my NB1... the front nut size is 29mm, the rear is 32mm.

Got it all done had to order a few more parts :(

nevermind about stupid question im used to other sealed bearings where there race cant come off then once i got the bearing i realized my question whats dumb lol

The inner race stays attached to the hub when you pull it from the upright/bearing assembly. The C-clip holds the rest of the bearing in the upright, but there's nothing to hold the inner race so it just stays put.

When you replace the bearing, you replace that inner race as well, so if you left it on the hub you wouldn't be able to get it back together. I guess you could pull the matching inner race out of the new bearing and leave the old inner race on the hub, but that'd defeat the purpose.

Just do it. Assuming your axle isn't fused to your hub, it's a super easy process and everything will make sense once you have it in your hands.

i realized it after i got the bearing stupid questions but ended up getting them in just fine lower control arm nut needed some atttention so i ordered i new oem from mazda and bolt hopefully be here tomorrow so i can get her back on the road.

Just finished it off on my 2001. I used the heat the knuckle in the oven and chill the bearing and the hub method as well, the bearing dropped right in. I got parts at Auto Zone and used the loaner tools. The front wheel drive hub puller along with their slide hammer loaner tools worked to pop the rear apart. I used the pulled off portion of the race to support under the new bearing while tapping in the hub so the force would not transfer to the bearings. I also used the old bearing on top of the hub with an old ball hitch as suggested to ensure the force always transferred evenly. I also discovered that i could catch the tip of the cold chisel in the small grove of the race to knock it off of the hub thereby not nicking the hub. I would suggest loosing the hub nut while the tire is still on and weight is on it so the axle does not turn.

Hey great thread, but I can't remove my axle nut that easily. I sprayed the crap out of it with pb blaster and still nothing...

Mine have always come off pretty easy with an impact. maybe you can find a local tire place nearby to hit it with an impact, then just snug it back up for the trip home?

If your axle nut is seized, though, that may spell trouble for the hub. That's where I had trouble on mine...20 tons couldn't separate the axle and hub so I ended up with a new set.

Awesome! I need to do this.

Did this yesterday and everything was a breeze, except getting the hub back in. Electric impact made short work of the axle nut, hub wasn't seized to spline, and upright wasn't seized to LCA or the bolt. Free slide hammer/hub puller rental at Autozone worked well. Gave up on getting the inner race off the original hub and just got a new one for ~$40. Bearing dropped right in to a cleaned and heated housing. Then...pretty sure I ruined the bearing getting the hub in (left it in the freezer for a while, no joy) and I forgot the snap ring like a total dumbass. So had to pull the hub and put it back in. The play I had at the bearing is worse with the new one, despite it being nice and quiet. Fun and much easier project than I expected, I'm just too much of a dingus to get the hub in without frakking it up, apparently. Used a large socket behind the bearing while driving the hub in, but seems like it took too much force to get the job done. Never worked with bearings before so have no basis for that. If I can figure out hub install then all is well, but I'll probably have the next one pressed in and test with the spare.

That snap ring is a turd. Don't use the HF tool with changeable tips.

You have to support the inner race when you press the hub in. Support the outer race and you'll destroy the bearing.

Found Diff, drive shaft, and axles from a 1999 to put on our 1993. It took 2 solid minutes of air hammering to drive that CV axle out of the hub. Then another solid minute of air hammer to drive the bearing race off the hub.

In short. I'm jealous of anyone that can do it without serious tools.