Replacing the front races
 

Has anyone done this? I'm curious as to the results, procedure impressions, etc.

I just read the Mazdatrix walk through and it seems fairly easy. I priced out the parts from Mazdatrix to around $100 and I'm just not sure if it's worth it over getting a used hub for $25 (or whatever they go for).

Here's Mazdatrix's write up for anyone interested. http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/frontbrg.htm

you can get the bearings and seals at napa or whatever for much cheaper. i looked at the races tho.. and i didnt even wanna try. what i did was just pull the hubs and inspect the races. if theyre spotless, might as well reuse them. if not i guess you could try getting the old ones out. if you ruin the hubs in the process.. well you were just gonna buy used hubs anyway.

On my old 91 NA, I had a front bearing go out and trash the races and hub (thank god for warranties!!)

The local Mazda dealer had to order the whole hub from Japan, at a cost of $892.00.

I'll take a $25 used hub any day.

The races are simple to remove.

Weld a bolt across the race, flip the hub over and give it a smack. Repeat for outer race, repeat for other side.

thats thinking! ^
now where do i find a tig welder :-(

Great idea. Sure beats the dremel notch method.

If your hub was rumbling, then you have to replace the bearings and the race. If it wasn't rumbling, then you just need to re-tighten it.

+1 on getting the parts from NAPA. mazdatrix is way overpriced on those.