One of Justin's friends bought a rather high milage, but straight, clean, and seemingly well maintained one owner VW Fox a couple of weeks ago. He had a new set of tires put on it at Pep Boy's and the kid that worked there told him he thought he had a bad wheel bearing. This is the same kid that told him the set of alloy wheels I gave him wouldn't work unless he bought special lug studs and nuts, so he had his new tires mounted on his stock steel wheels. Both wheels use the exact same lug bolts. Anyway, he and Justin tried to replace the wheel bearing (I guess Justin thought it would be just like on a Beetle) and they called me and ask how to do it. Well, the only water-cooled manual I own is a first edition copy of "Poor Richard's Rabbit Book" that published in 1980 (the water-cooled version of the "idiot manual"). I read the proceedure and saw that it was probably going to involve removing the strut and using a press, so I told them to bring it to the house and let me look at it and make sure that there wasn't some other problem. So yesterday evening he shows up and I go out to take a look at it. I don't know much about front wheel drive vehicles, but when you can rock the top of the tire back and forth two or three inches, it's a pretty sure bet that the wheel bearing is bad! No, I take that back . . . not bad, almost non-existant! No big deal, he already has the bearing and I have a friend down the road with a hydraulic press. So after I convice him that he won't make it back home to Chattanooga in it, much less to Knoxville the next day, we put it up jack stands, pull the wheel and brake parts and after prying and struggling for an hour or so get the control arm loose. Then we pulled the drive axle out and I told him to open the hood and unbolt the strut mount while I held it up. He's up there for a few minutes fumbling around and finally says "How?" . . . "What do you mean, 'how?', you big dummy! Take those two or three nuts off the studs sticking up through the body around the strut!" . . . "I don't see any nuts. Well except for this one big one on top of the strut" . . . "####, don't take that one loose while I've got my hands on this thing! Let me take a look."
Hummmmm . . . note to self -- Yeah, they both have struts, but a Fox is a just a little different from a Super Beetle. . . . question for self -- Who's the "big dummy" now!
So, I don't have a manual for this car, and I don't want to have to buy one for this one proceedure (especially when it's not my car and this is not a "pay'n gig." He doesn't have one and can't afford one. So, until someone can tell me how to get the strut out of this car, it's sitting in my driveway! Somebody pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaze tell me how this thing comes apart, or better yet, enlighten me on some magical tool that will remove the remains of the old bearing race and press the new bearing in place without removing the whole assembly from the car! Also, does anyone know were I might be able to find a new hub for it? The inboard inner race spun on the hub and machined it down about a quarter inch.
