How to Replace Rear Bearing Hub Assembly 2003-07 Cadillac CTS
Created on: 2016-09-06
Got a squeaky or groaning rear wheel hub? In this video, our experts will show you how to replace it with a new one
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step 1 :Removing the Wheel
- Loosen the 19mm lug nuts with the vehicle on the ground
- Raise the vehicle with a floor jack
- Secure the vehicle on jack stands
- Remove the lug nuts
- Pull off the wheel
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step 2 :Removing the Hub, Brake Pads, and Rotor
- Hold the hub with a pry bar
- Crack the hub nut loose with a 35mm socket and breaker bar and pipe
- Remove the T30 Torx bolt from the rotors
- Remove the two 18mm bolts holding the caliper bracket
- Remove the brake caliper
- Secure the caliper with a bungee chord
- Remove the rotor
- Place the rotor face down in a dry, flat surface
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step 3 :Disconnecting the ABS Sensor and E-brake Cable
- Remove the electrical connector from the ABS sensor
- Remove the two 15mm bolts securing the E-brake cable bracket to the spindle
- Pull down on the caliper bracket and unhook the e-brake cable from its lever
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step 4 :Removing the Wheel Hub and Backing Plate
- Place a flat punch in the center of the axle shaft
- Tap the punch with a hammer to disengage the splines from the bearing hub
- Loosen the 18mm bolts on the back of the spindle
- Insert the hub puller onto the hub
- Tighten the hub puller lug nuts
- Thread the slide hammer into the hub puller
- Use the slide hammer to tap out the hub until the bolts have bottomed out
- Pry the ABS sensor clip off of the bracket
- Remove the wheel hub and backing plate
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step 5 :Installing the Wheel Hub and Backing Plate
- Clean the bore and mounting surface with a wire brush
- Insert the backing plate into place
- Insert the hub into place with the ABS sensor out at the 12:00 position
- Start the 18mm bolts by hand
- Tighten the 18mm bolts (one closest to the control arm first)
- Reconnect the ABS sensor clip onto the bracket
- Torque the 18mm bolts to 92 foot-pounds
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step 6 :Reconnecting the ABS Sensor and E-brake Cable
- Pull the cable out with vise grips, just far enough that it will hold without damaging the cable coating
- Hook the E-brake over the actuator into place
- Tighten the 15mm bolts to the E-brake bracket
- Reconnect the ABS connector
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step 7 :Installing the Brake Pads and Rotor
- Insert the rotor into place
- Thread the T30 Torx bolt into place
- Hand-tighten the axle nut
- Lower the brake caliper bracket to the rotor
- Tighten the two 18mm bolts to the caliper bracket
- Torque the 18mm bolts to 88 foot-pounds
- Torque the axle nut to 118 foot-pounds
- Tighten the T30 Torx screw
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step 8 :Reattaching the Wheel
- Slide the wheel into place
- Start the 19mm lug nuts by hand
- Tighten the lug nuts preliminarily
- Lower the vehicle to the ground
- Tighten the lug nuts to 100 foot-pounds in a crossing or star pattern
Tools needed
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35mm Socket
Socket Extensions
Torque Wrench
Hammer
15mm Socket
Pry Bar
Jack Stands
18mm Socket
19mm Socket
Pipe Wrench
Flat Blade Screwdriver
Hub Puller
T30 Bit
Center Punch
Ratchet
Floor Jack
1/2 Inch Breaker Bar
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Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks!
In this video, we're going to be working with our 2006 Cadillac CTS 2.8-liter V6. We're going to be removing and replacing the rear wheel bearing and hub assembly. If you like this, please click subscribe. We have a ton more information on this vehicle, as well as many other makes and models. If you want these parts for your vehicle, they're available from 1AAuto.com. You can follow the link down in the description.
Here are the items you'll need for this repair: 15mm, 18mm, 19mm, 33mm, socket, ratchet, socket extension, pry bar, flat blade screwdriver, T30 Torx bit, torque wrench, breaker bar, flat punch and hammer, hub puller, vice grips, jack,, and jack stands.
We're going to start by removing the wheel and tire. You're going to need a 19 millimeter socket and a breaker bar. We'll crack all the lug nuts loose, and then we're going to raise and support our vehicle on a lift. You can do this at home with a jack and jack stands. Once the vehicle's in the air, we'll finish spinning off the lug nuts with the same tool, and remove the tire and wheel from the vehicle.
We're going to use a pry bar to brace the studs on the hub. We're going to use a 35 millimeter socket and breaker bar. Odds are, if you don't have a very big breaker bar, you're going to need to use a cheater pipe to get the leverage to loosen this axle nut. We'll brace it, break it loose, and remove our axle nut the rest of the way.
Remove this T30 Torx screw with a T30 Torx bit and a ratchet. You may need to brace the studs for this as well, but we just did our brakes recently, so ours should come right off. Remove the two 18 millimeter bolts securing the caliper carrier onto the spindle with an 18 millimeter socket and ratchet. Remove the caliper carrier and caliper itself as an assembly from the rotor and spindle, and secure it out of the way with a bungee cord, mechanics wire, or a zip tie. Remove the rotor from the hub. Place it face down on a dry, flat surface.
Remove the electrical connector to the ABS sensor, just pull up on this white tab and pull back. Remove the two 15 millimeter bolts, securing the E-brake cable bracket to the back of the spindle. We're going to use a 15 millimeter socket and an extension to try to get in there. Now we'll pull down on the caliper bracket, unhook the E-brake cable from this lever, and move that out of the way. Flat punch in the center of the axle shaft to tap it out and disengage it from the splines of the bearing hub. Loosen these 18 millimeter bolts on the back of the spindle, and the bolt through to the wheel bearing hub.
We're going to use a combination of an 18 millimeter socket, ratchet, and some extensions. We may have to use a wrench at some point when it gets tight. We've loosened up all three of our bolts to the best of our ability.
Now we're going to install a hub puller on here. Use the lug nuts, make sure we bring it down so that it's nice and centered. Tighten down the lug nuts with a 19 millimeter socket and a breaker bar. Thread the slide hammer into the hub puller. Now we're going to use the slide hammer to start tapping out our hub until we bottom out the bolts, at which point we'll loosen them up some more.
Our CV axle hasn't fully dislodged from the splines and the wheel bearings so we'll have to remove our hub puller and tap it in a little bit farther now that we have the hub part of the way out. Pry the ABS sensor clip off of the bracket, and allow it to hang down so it'll come out with our hub. Remove the wheel hub. You may have to manipulate the CV axle a little to be able to sneak that ABS wire by it. Remove the wheel hub and the vacuum plate.
Here we have our new part. You can see it's exactly the same as our old part that we removed from the vehicle. We have the same lug pattern with new studs in it, same hub-centric center here, same splines for the CV axle, same three bolt flange. When we remove this little plastic shipping retainer here, we even have a new clip on the connector for our ABS tone ring, which is a part of this assembly as well.
What can happen with these wheel bearings is over time the bearing can go bad and create a little bit of a vibration or a grinding, maybe a humming kind of sound in the rear of the vehicle where the ABS sensor is internal to this part as well. It's possible that you could have an ABS fault related to the sensor that is a part of this assembly, and you'll have to remove the entire thing and change it out in order to get a good reading from that sensor and restore operation to your ABS.
If any of your symptoms sound like they could be this wheel bearing, this new part from 1A Auto is going to go in, direct-fit just like your original equipment and fix you up right. Using a wire brush, clean the bore as well as the mounting surface for the flange. Be sure to wear safety glasses and a dust mask whenever you're creating airborne debris from cleaning a metal surface like this. It doesn't have to be perfect as long as it is clear of all large debris and build-ups.
Reinstall the backing plate, just let that hang on the bolts for now. Send the ABS sensor wire back through. Rotate the sensor ring so that the ABS sensor comes out at the 12:00 position, at which point we'll line up our hub to the splines, start it in. Line it up to the bolts, start those in by hand. We'll tighten up this bolt behind the control arm first, because if we tighten down the others, this bolt will get hung up against the stud, and we won't be able to tighten it down later.
This one we need to use an 18 millimeter open end wrench for. The rest can be done with an 18 millimeter socket and ratchet. Reconnect the connector for the ABS sensor onto its bracket. Torque the bolts to 92 foot-pounds. The easiest way I've found to reinstall these E-brake cables is to pull them out as far as you can. You need to carefully install a pair of vice grips onto the end of the cable, careful to get it just tight enough that it'll hold without crushing or damaging that coating on the cable.
Now we can move our spring up and out of the way. Hook it over the actuator. You may need a small flat blade screwdriver to help get it up and on there. Once the cable is hooked on release your vice grips, line up the E-brake cable bracket, and start your two 15 millimeter bolts. Tighten up these bolts with a 15 millimeter socket and ratchet. Reconnect the ABS connector.
Install the rotor with the beveled hole lined up to the threads for the rotor screw. Start the rotor screw in with your T30 Torx bit. We'll finish tightening this down after we've reinstalled the brakes.
Reinstall the axle nut. Remove the bungee cord, mechanics wire, or other means of securing the caliper that you used earlier. Reinstall the caliper and caliper bracket onto the rotor. Install the larger of the two screws into the top hole, the smaller in the bottom. Using an 18 millimeter socket and ratchet bring down the bolts for the caliper carrier. Torque these bolts to 88 foot-pounds.
Counter brace the studs on your hub with a pry bar. Torque to 118 foot-pounds. Finish tightening your T30 Torx screw with a T30 Torx bit and a ratchet.
Reinstall the wheel and tire onto the hub. Using a 19 millimeter socket to get a better grip, start all of your lug nuts. Put your vehicle back on the ground. Tighten your lug nuts down with a breaker bar or a torque wrench if you have one available to 100 foot-pounds in a cross pattern.
Thanks for tuning in. We hope this video helped you out. Next time you need parts for your car, please visit 1AAuto.com. Also check out our other helpful how-to and diagnosis videos.
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