hardhat

I have a 99 rx300 with 170k that has a bad bearing. Stopped a gas station and the wheel was so hot you could feel the heat. Rotor boiling hot. Anyhow. Limped home and car is basically not driveable now. I have removed the rotor. Speed sensor melted and came apart upon removal with most of it still in the wheel. One of the caliper bolts wrung off during removal as did the bolt that holds the speed sensor. I have removed the 4 nuts that hold the hub assembly on. Cannot get the hub and bearing assembly out. I tried a puller that pushed on the driveshaft and it pushed the driveshaft back some, but I don't want to damage the driveshaft so I quit. How do I get the part with the lug studs off so I can get the parking brake stuff out... or can you get the parking brake stuff off without doing this and then just take the whole assembly off by removing suspension rods and shocks, etc and take it to a mechanic to have the hub and bearing replaced.. Also any thoughts on a new speed sensor....the one that was on there is now toast. Caliper is shot too. I think my wife was driving it for some time like this as the average mpg dropped from 20 to 18 and everything on that rear wheel is rusted and seized like you would not believe. Anyone have any advice?

Thanks,

Larry

salimshah

retracted.

Salim

Nad1370

The 4 bolts you took out only hold the backing plate to the knuckle.

Sorry to say but the whole knuckle has to come off. (Red circled need to take out and green arrows are for the strut bolts)
Hopefully they will come out with no hitch.
The hub is pressed on the bearing and the bearing is pressed on the knuckle.
So you need to take it to a shop and have it pressed out then pressed together.

To get the lug studs out just screw in a lug nut and hammer it or just pound the studs in. Youll be replacing the hub anyway. Hard part is putting it together.

If it were 2wd, it'd be a different story.

hardhat

Thank you for the very helpful post. I can get the whole knuckle off. I guess the parking brake assembly and cable come off without too much trouble... The abs speed sensor is for sure messed up. Any idea where this thing connects..... I don't see a connector in the wheel area, but the wire goes into the vehicle it looks like... but I can figure this out.

Thank you kindly,

Larry

Nad1370

Your welcome.

You can get to the abs connector from inside. You have to take out some panels. But no biggie.
I also would'n worry about fixing that broken abs bolt since it's probably rusted in there(abs sensor) and will not come loose.

hardhat

Well I killed the abs sensor trying to get it out as I thought it had to come out. Plastic was partly melted too from the heat. That thing got really really hot. Have considered just getting a whole used knuckle off a wrecked car to replace the whole shebang....

g2only

I know really old thread, but find myself needing to do this on a ‘03 RX300…how did this turn out? Did you end up buying a used hub?

thanks

George

MattRX

For my 2002 Highlander, I got fed up with the crap design and just replaced the entire rear suspension from that of an 04-09 RX. Rear knuckle, toe adjustment bolts, control arms, dust shields, bearing, CV axles, ABS sensors, parking brake, CV axles, etc. The entire thing, plus brakes from a 2008-2013 Highlander. MUCH better and now I have bolt-in wheel bearings. Big job, but I don't feel as guilty as I was doing a whole refresh of the car anyway. Kind of wished I could have kept the stock CV axles though, but they didn't fit the newer knuckles.

MattRX

The most cost effective + easy method labour-wise would be to get an AWD rear knuckle from an 01-03 HL or 99-03 RX and get the bearing pressed out, new pressed in (get NSK it's OEM) and installed by means of DIY or shop. That means the car doesn't need to stay out of commission, and you can just slap the new knuckle in.