How do you replace a rear wheel bearing on a 2004 Toyota corolla?

Answer 1

I went to check the rear bearings on my daughter's 04 Corolla this past weekend, the car has 66K miles so I thought they could use repacking, right? So I removed the

drums and unbolted the bearing carrier and axle flange from the rear suspension arm

(easy enough to do, just 4 bolts hold it on) and there's a metal dust cap on the back

side that can be pryed off to reveal the bearings, but when you remove the cap you

find out there is no way to take the unit apart, no circlip, nut, whatever you can remove and press the axle flange out to access the bearings! So you can't really service the bearing except for maybe work a little grease into the inner ball bearing,

no way to get to the outer bearing at all! So the whole unit has to be replaced as a single piece! Typical of the ripoff car industry, you can't lube the bearings so they're built to fail and even then you can't buy just the bearings, you have to buy the whole assembly! I haven't priced these yet but I'm sure they're not cheap! I'm thinking of trying to install a grease fitting in the dust cap and force grease under pressure thru the whole unit, this might work if the pressure doesn't push the cap off! ( it's pressed on pretty tight.) I'll try anything to beat the ripoffs at their own game! Good luck! Fred