Stiff steering?? Erratic handling? Steering not self centering? Your lower swivel bearings could possibly do with changing.
![renault-sport-megane-ii-rs-225-r26-175-supply-fit-hub-pivot-swivel-bearing-[5]-5890-p.webp](https://turborenault.co.uk/data/attachments/7/7447-478de6ab45eb49b86f49b9f424332a87.jpg?hash=NJL5j8aGFu "renault-sport-megane-ii-rs-225-r26-175-supply-fit-hub-pivot-swivel-bearing-[5]-5890-p.webp")
The Mégane Renault Sport uses double-axis strut suspension with independent steering axis at the front which is awesome yet complex. The lower swivel bearings are not particularly well sealed to the elements (ideal for the UK!) so they tend to suffer - grease gets washed away - corrosion off salt in winter. Renault uk knew about this from what i have read but took no action - £250 for a full new hub!? daylight robbery. This is the offending bearing.
First of all lets do some diagnostics to see what/if anything needs replacing. Jack the front end up and undo/remove track rod ends from the hubs. Do the hubs move both directions freely and easily? if so your problem is elsewhere. Are the hubs super stiff to move almost requiring brute force?? bit of play?? then its fair to say the swivel bearings will require replacement.
Ok lets start with the basics (tools) - Good jack, Axle stands, Good half inch drive socket set, Torx and allen key drives for a socket, balljoint splitter, Hammer (obviously lol), decent spanner set are required for this job. Set aside 2 hours per side for somebody who is experienced with a spanner - novice may require more time so maybe set aside a full day. If you can change a wheelbearing this is easier imo.
Get your phone camera and take pics if you have a poor memory so you can look how things go if needs be! As it can all look very confusing when in a million parts (the art of being a good mechanic is a god memory of where the parts go imo)
DISCLAIMER! I take no responsibility if you feck this up. This is a vital part of the cars suspension/steering that needs to be put together correctly!
First of all - Cover trackrod end nuts and anything that needs to come off in penetrating oil (Plusgas is totally the boyo for this, £5 ish a tin) this is important if you haven't had anything off before to save pain as everything will probably have a coating of rust on. Wire brush threads on bolts - Ready? Lets go..
1. Jack front end up and remove wheel.
2. Undo driveshaft (hub) nut - 32mm socket & breaker bar. Get somebody to stand on the brake or carefully wedge a screwdriver in the disc (yeehaa!) - watch that link pipe on the lower edge of the brembo caliper!!
3. Undo 2x allen bolts on caliper & get it out of the way (don't let it hang on the flexi hose! if needs be tie wrap it onto the strut)
4. Undo disc retaining screws (impact driver/drill may be needed here) and remove disc.
5. Undo trackrod end nut (16 or 17mm nut) & pop it off the hub with a balljoint splitter.
6. Undo 3x 13mm bolts from underside of the alloy hub carrier that hold the bottom balljoint to it, or undo balljoint (the choice is yours, the balljoint nut looked rusty so these looked easier imo) use a decent quality 13mm ringspanner as you don't want to be rounding these bolts off.
7. Pull hub outwards carefully whilst pushing the driveshaft back through the hub - be careful to make sure the driveshaft doesn't pop out of the box or you will be mopping up stinky gearbox oil and gear oil ain't cheap! the shaft will sit inside the alloy upright giving enough access to get in once its out of the hub.
8. Undo 2x 24mm bolts (top & bottom of alloy upright). Undo the top bolt a few turns and gently tap the bolt head with a hammer to free off the sleeve/top bearing retainer. The sleeve should release ok and push down into the hub, undo the bolt fully and remove the sleeve.
9. Undo the lower swivel bolt a few turns 6mm or so and hit the head of the bolt with a hammer (fairly hard, it wont break dont worry) This will start driving the lower swivel bearing out of the hub carrier upwards (It can be removed both ways). Once it starts moving undo the bolt then remove the steel hub carrier by pulling towards yourself. Retain the washer/spacer off the top bearing etc.
10. Once hub is off the car, wind the bolt into the lower swivel bearing fully. Hit the head of he bolt with a hammer and drive the swivel bearing out. You will notice the seal stays in the hub, pop it out with a flat ended screwdriver and clean up or renew if needs be.
10. Remove the inner part of the original swivel bearing (the bit the bolt threads in to Race??) as you will need this for the new one. Mine simply came out with a few blows of the hammer and it was corroded to feck (Use force if necessary). Clean it up as you will need this for the new bearing.
11. Now its the fun part! remove your shiny new swivel bearing from the packet. place it on the outside of the hub and drift it in with a mandrel (socket, old swivel bearing race etc) or use a vice and wind it in carefully until its in exactly the same place as the original was (2-3mm below the surface so you can refit the seal). It drives in easily, make sure it goes in square and true don't bash it in on an angle. Pic below of bearing fitted into hub, you can see the race with the bolt fitted.
12. Refit the inner threaded part of the original swivel bearing to the new one with copious amounts of lithium grease - twist it and it will pop in - do not force it or you may damage the new bearing. Check that it rotates freely and smoothly.
13. Now your hub is ready for action time to fit it back to the carrier. There is a metal sleeve in the lower part of the carrier that locates the lower bearing. this needs tapping down carefully so its flush with the alloy face (use an old bolt etc dont burr the metal over or your in trouble) one of mine was seized so needed a bit of plusgas, one was loose i guess its luck of the draw.
14. Refit hub. Put loads of grease over all surfaces the bearings sit on (top and bottom) take the top sleeve and push it back in the bearing and bolt back in (the sleeve has a hex head on the lower part that you can use to stop it from spinning when tightening top bolt up) tighten both top & bottom 24mm bolts FT (f'ing tight) Check the hub turns freely and smoothly (should take no effort, if its tight for whatever reason then something must be a miss!?)
15. Refit everything you have removed! Be careful refitting the 13mm balljoint to alloy hub carrier bolts as they could be very easy to crossthread. Make sure everything is tight. Also this is the ideal time to check your brake pads move freely in the caliper as they love to seize to the alloy body. FT (f'ing tight) for the driveshaft nut with a breaker bar. Last thing check/torque the wheel bolts!! nobody wants a wheel coming off and i have seen so many people leave them loose over the years! even experienced mechanics.
All back together?? Sit back and admire your massive savings to the wallet and awesome handling once again! This totally transformed the handling on the mrs megane so enjoy!
Brigsy
The Mégane Renault Sport uses double-axis strut suspension with independent steering axis at the front which is awesome yet complex. The lower swivel bearings are not particularly well sealed to the elements (ideal for the UK!) so they tend to suffer - grease gets washed away - corrosion off salt in winter. Renault uk knew about this from what i have read but took no action - £250 for a full new hub!? daylight robbery. This is the offending bearing.
First of all lets do some diagnostics to see what/if anything needs replacing. Jack the front end up and undo/remove track rod ends from the hubs. Do the hubs move both directions freely and easily? if so your problem is elsewhere. Are the hubs super stiff to move almost requiring brute force?? bit of play?? then its fair to say the swivel bearings will require replacement.
Ok lets start with the basics (tools) - Good jack, Axle stands, Good half inch drive socket set, Torx and allen key drives for a socket, balljoint splitter, Hammer (obviously lol), decent spanner set are required for this job. Set aside 2 hours per side for somebody who is experienced with a spanner - novice may require more time so maybe set aside a full day. If you can change a wheelbearing this is easier imo.
Get your phone camera and take pics if you have a poor memory so you can look how things go if needs be! As it can all look very confusing when in a million parts (the art of being a good mechanic is a god memory of where the parts go imo)
DISCLAIMER! I take no responsibility if you feck this up. This is a vital part of the cars suspension/steering that needs to be put together correctly!
First of all - Cover trackrod end nuts and anything that needs to come off in penetrating oil (Plusgas is totally the boyo for this, £5 ish a tin) this is important if you haven't had anything off before to save pain as everything will probably have a coating of rust on. Wire brush threads on bolts - Ready? Lets go..
1. Jack front end up and remove wheel.
2. Undo driveshaft (hub) nut - 32mm socket & breaker bar. Get somebody to stand on the brake or carefully wedge a screwdriver in the disc (yeehaa!) - watch that link pipe on the lower edge of the brembo caliper!!
3. Undo 2x allen bolts on caliper & get it out of the way (don't let it hang on the flexi hose! if needs be tie wrap it onto the strut)
4. Undo disc retaining screws (impact driver/drill may be needed here) and remove disc.
5. Undo trackrod end nut (16 or 17mm nut) & pop it off the hub with a balljoint splitter.
6. Undo 3x 13mm bolts from underside of the alloy hub carrier that hold the bottom balljoint to it, or undo balljoint (the choice is yours, the balljoint nut looked rusty so these looked easier imo) use a decent quality 13mm ringspanner as you don't want to be rounding these bolts off.
7. Pull hub outwards carefully whilst pushing the driveshaft back through the hub - be careful to make sure the driveshaft doesn't pop out of the box or you will be mopping up stinky gearbox oil and gear oil ain't cheap! the shaft will sit inside the alloy upright giving enough access to get in once its out of the hub.
8. Undo 2x 24mm bolts (top & bottom of alloy upright). Undo the top bolt a few turns and gently tap the bolt head with a hammer to free off the sleeve/top bearing retainer. The sleeve should release ok and push down into the hub, undo the bolt fully and remove the sleeve.
9. Undo the lower swivel bolt a few turns 6mm or so and hit the head of the bolt with a hammer (fairly hard, it wont break dont worry) This will start driving the lower swivel bearing out of the hub carrier upwards (It can be removed both ways). Once it starts moving undo the bolt then remove the steel hub carrier by pulling towards yourself. Retain the washer/spacer off the top bearing etc.
10. Once hub is off the car, wind the bolt into the lower swivel bearing fully. Hit the head of he bolt with a hammer and drive the swivel bearing out. You will notice the seal stays in the hub, pop it out with a flat ended screwdriver and clean up or renew if needs be.
10. Remove the inner part of the original swivel bearing (the bit the bolt threads in to Race??) as you will need this for the new one. Mine simply came out with a few blows of the hammer and it was corroded to feck (Use force if necessary). Clean it up as you will need this for the new bearing.
11. Now its the fun part! remove your shiny new swivel bearing from the packet. place it on the outside of the hub and drift it in with a mandrel (socket, old swivel bearing race etc) or use a vice and wind it in carefully until its in exactly the same place as the original was (2-3mm below the surface so you can refit the seal). It drives in easily, make sure it goes in square and true don't bash it in on an angle. Pic below of bearing fitted into hub, you can see the race with the bolt fitted.
12. Refit the inner threaded part of the original swivel bearing to the new one with copious amounts of lithium grease - twist it and it will pop in - do not force it or you may damage the new bearing. Check that it rotates freely and smoothly.
13. Now your hub is ready for action time to fit it back to the carrier. There is a metal sleeve in the lower part of the carrier that locates the lower bearing. this needs tapping down carefully so its flush with the alloy face (use an old bolt etc dont burr the metal over or your in trouble) one of mine was seized so needed a bit of plusgas, one was loose i guess its luck of the draw.
14. Refit hub. Put loads of grease over all surfaces the bearings sit on (top and bottom) take the top sleeve and push it back in the bearing and bolt back in (the sleeve has a hex head on the lower part that you can use to stop it from spinning when tightening top bolt up) tighten both top & bottom 24mm bolts FT (f'ing tight) Check the hub turns freely and smoothly (should take no effort, if its tight for whatever reason then something must be a miss!?)
15. Refit everything you have removed! Be careful refitting the 13mm balljoint to alloy hub carrier bolts as they could be very easy to crossthread. Make sure everything is tight. Also this is the ideal time to check your brake pads move freely in the caliper as they love to seize to the alloy body. FT (f'ing tight) for the driveshaft nut with a breaker bar. Last thing check/torque the wheel bolts!! nobody wants a wheel coming off and i have seen so many people leave them loose over the years! even experienced mechanics.
All back together?? Sit back and admire your massive savings to the wallet and awesome handling once again! This totally transformed the handling on the mrs megane so enjoy!
Brigsy
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