Two must-have tools when replacing the rear wheel bearing

Replacing the rear wheel bearing is a pretty straight forward job. To get access to one of the screws to the bearing hub you have to disconnect the shock absorber. Even then you are not able to remove the screw completely - only loosen it so you can remove the hub. The hub itself is pressed in place by the hub bolts, and rust makes it even more stuck. So a slide hammer makes the removal pretty easy.

Of course, you can take a sledge hammer and just hammer away on the hub itself. But I like the feeling of hammering things in the right direction, not to put any extra stress on the other components.

If you have disconnected the shock absorber for a job like this, or for some other reason, you will discover the difficulty in reconnecting the shock absorber. The spring has a lot of tension and is pressing in the opposite direction of the wheel hub.

There is one technique that allows you to reconnect the shock absorber without asking for help from an assistant. This technique is actually mentioned in VIDA. That is by connecting the control arms together with a tension strap, and pull the control arms toward each other. You do it like this:

I suggest you get the strongest tension strap you can find. I used a large 9 metric ton strap, and I had to use some effort to get it to the last "click" where I could reconnect the shock absorber.

If you don't want to have your head between the control arms while doing this, you can use your foot to push the strap handle, and later you can use a long crowbar on the locking mechanism to release it.