Wheel hub stuck to knuckle
 

Hello all!

Replacing my wheel hub assemblies as my front wheel bearings both were in need of swapping. Got the drivers side one done with minimal hiccups. Passenger side is really giving me a run for my money. Will post pics in a little when I get off work, but I cant seem to get the base of the hub separated from the spindle/knuckle. Ive got the bolts holding it in all the way out, cv is loose, and now the bearing appears to have separated. Ive soaked it in pb blaster over the last two days, tried hitting it from all sorts of angles and different hammers, tried heat. Cant get a gap to appear between it and the dust shield. Close to pulling the knuckle out and bringing it to a shop, but wanted to see if anyone had any advice before then. Thanks!

Try putting the tire back on to get some leverage, or slowly lower the jack with the tires on to let the vehicle weight push it off. I haven't actually had to do this but it might help.

Thread in the 4 retaining bolts for the hub assembly back into the spindle about 3-4 threads or enough that you can spin the hub without hitting them and still have about an 1/8" gap between the back of the stud on the hub and the bolt. Get a large pry bar and wedge it between the stud and bolt and use that to pry the hub out of the spindle assembly (pushing into the bolt which is your spindle fulcrum point). Do this in a cross pattern slowly and carefully to "wigggle" the hub out of the spindle. Was a trick a coworker showed be and works way better than a hammer or slide hammer most of the time.

I used a chissel to create a gap between the two parts and hammered around the perimeter until it was free. Lifting with the floor jack under the hub helps. Keep soaking it with pb blaster

I created this short video on how I removed mine. Pretty simple.

Gen 4 Toyota 4runner front bearing replacement tips - YouTube

That is brilliant. I feel really stupid now. Filed for next time.

For posterity, here's a picture of what a couple of us were talking about (was doing a PreRunner wheel bearing yesterday that was a bit crusty and remembered this thread.)

Forgot to update but ended up taking the knuckle off. Used a slide hammer and the bearing separated? Inner section holding the little cylinder bearings was stuck in the knuckle and no amount of heat/beating I could do would get it unstuck. Machine shop pressed it out without too much problem. New hubs helped a lot, will need to diagnose brake accumulator soon though.