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So here's a short intro: a few days back while driving normally I started hearing weird cracking noises and feeling vibrations coming from the front left weel (driver's side), stopped right away to check the lug nuts, they were tight. So got home carefully, figured it could either be CV shaft or wheel bearing, however I ruled out the bearing since it wasn't a constant whirr. Anyways got the axle replaced yesterday, yet the noise and vibrations were still there, and in fact as I was going around the corner to my house I heard a rattling/clunking noise as if some piece of metal came loose and fell somewhere. I pulled over right away and turned on my emergencies, got out and traced back and found this piece of metal:



I was like wtf. So anyways I was looking through the manual to see if I could spot anything that looks like this and I think I found it: http://mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php?fil ... _M-007.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - item #3 the retaining ring, or at least what's left of it, can anyone confirm? If it is I guess I need to get a new bearing.

Looks like you're spot on there.

Dayum ! did you look at the back of your hub yet to see if the retaining ring is gone, that will confirm..edit by looking at the diagram i guess you cant do that....

Id suggest taking the hub off yourself and buying the bearing, take them both in to get it installed, cheaper that way

you will need a new bearing, retaining ring and seal. I'd prolly do both wheels...their likely both not very good.

Where am I supposed to get a new retaining ring? I don't think they come with a new bearing...
What if I exchanged the hubs+bearings from my parts car? If I brought 2 knuckle assemblies to a shop and told them to take it out of one and put it in the other would that cost more?

Also is there any way that this can be done without using a press?

The retaining rings are about $8ea at Mazda. It’s a common part on new vehicles so they will have them in stock. Seals too I think.

There is no way to do it without a press. Your best off to just get the parts as cheaply as possible and take the knuckles to a shop and have them installed there. I would suggest having a Mazda shop do it for the simple fact that they will be familiar with the parts as they have been essentially the same for 15 years.

AHH why did my post get deleted? You can just buy the knuckle at a scrap yard with good bearings. If your knucles are REALLY OLD like mine where (200k miles) then yeah do that, if they are not that old you can take it to a shop to have it pressed. I bought a knucke for 25 dllrs. cheaper than getting a bearing and getting it pressed.

hgallegos915 wrote:AHH why did my post get deleted? You can just buy the knuckle at a scrap yard with good bearings. If your knucles are REALLY OLD like mine where (200k miles) then yeah do that, if they are not that old you can take it to a shop to have it pressed. I bought a knucke for 25 dllrs. cheaper than getting a bearing and getting it pressed.

I'd love to do that with my parts car but the problem is it's a 92 so it's got the smaller ball joints. And I'll probably be looking for a long time for a 94+ GS at a junk yard.

Take the parts car’s ball joints as well. They still bolt up to the LCA, they just don’t fit in the knuckle...so leave them in the knuckle and bolt them to the good car’s LCA. Problem solved.

So I ended up using the whole knuckle and LBJ assembly from my 92. Only thing that sucks now is that I have different balljoints on each side lol. When I pulled off the one off my 94 the hub basically fell apart in my hand! The inner race was cracked and broken off in places. Good thing I stopped driving her when I did, I'm lucky the wheel didn't fall off!

Wow, I'm so luck that didn't happen to me. My rear bearing didn't fall apart, but they sounded like they were filled with sand when I spun just the hub.

night shade has been doing too many smoke shows out front of his school... that folks is the result of K8 WHP