I finally got my truck running good enough to take the CX-5 out of service to replace the front wheel bearings. Removed the wheel and rotor and when I grabbed the bearing, lots of slop. Okay, no surprise there as the noise had been getting worse. I tried a couple of things I'd seen on U of Y (Youtube) but they didn't work. I didn't think they would. Went and rented a sliding hammer puller set which is what I would normally use.

About 4 or 5 good slams and off it came. Well, not really. The rotor part came off but the race is still in the knuckle. So I have half a bearing stuck in the steering knuckle. I was a little afraid of that as while I'm just south of the rust belt, the car was originally used in upstate New York.

Unless someone has an easier suggestion, it looks like the knuckle will be coming off and I'll either press it out or the DBH come out. If anybody has a better suggestion, let me know.

 

It might be possible for you to use this tool, with the knuckle still attached to the vehicle. I've used it successfully a number of times, however I'll add a disclaimer that my use has only been on knuckles which had been removed from the vehicle. I have seen youtube vids of people using this (or a similar) tool for bearing removal and installation, with the knuckle still attached. However, I can't give you any first-hand information about how well it would work on yours, because I've so far not had to use it on my own CX-5. In general, these tools work very well as long as the bolt threads are kept well-greased.

OTOH, removing the knuckle might not much more extra work since you already have the majority of it disassembled.

 

The flange was getting in the way when I tried to use the puller you noted. I attached the sliding hammer to the rotor flange and whacked the snot out of it. The flange came off but the inner race is still stuck. I've been hesitant to remove the knuckle as I don't really want to get an FEA 4000 miles after the last one. However, the CX-5 gets 28-32 mpg and the truck, on a good day, on the highway, downhill, with a tailwind, gets 15.

I'll probably be pulling the knuckle and use a DBH. I have a 2 pound and a 20 pound DBH. If that doesn't work, a small grinder or I might use a smoke wrench. It WILL be coming out.

 

Yes, I agree that the bearing tool type I posted can't be used to remove the hub (which you're referring to as rotor) from the knuckle. However, you've already taken care of that part of the job, and there should be no reason why that bearing adapter tool set cannot be used to press out the race that's still remaining in the knuckle, and then also press in the new bearing and the hub back into the knuckle. All you need to do is select the adapter plate that matches (actually just a tad bit smaller than) the race, and the tool will pull the race out into the cup.

Well, in any case good luck and I hope it works out well for you.

 

The ears on the bearing where the bolts hold it in place keep the puller from working. However, this was a good reason to buy some new tools. I got some new bits for my air chisel. One of which was a hammer fitting. I put the bolts part way in and used one of the press plates from the puller that just covered the inner bearing. Between using the air hammer on the bolt heads and wailing away with a 32 ounce DBH, the bearing popped out. I got some other parts that are worn on hand and tomorrow, once the rain quits, will be putting the car back together. It seems those rough roads are rougher on it than I thought.

After all the fussing, the DBH was quite therapeutic.