Hi, first time on this forum...I appreciate any help. 2010 Camry 2.5 LE replaced front passenger wheel bearing. Pressed out old hub, then the bearing, Pressed in new bearing until it seated, installed retaining ring, then pressed in hub. Pressing the original bearings out made my 12 ton press make some noise so I put a serious load on it. Reassembled on the vehicle and now the disc/rotor contacts the 'inboard' brake pad holder...not the pad...the holder. If I tighten the caliper to knuckle bolts the disc prevents the wheel from turning at all. I am speculating that I bent the 'ears' on the knuckle where the caliper bolts on when I was pressing out the old bearing.
At first I thought that I had pressed the hub into the center bearing too far (even though guides say press it in until it stops), so I pressed out the bearing (again), bought another bearing, pressed that in, pressed the hub in, but left the hub out around 1/8"..same thing.
There is another poster, Rob Pohlman, who had this same issue a few years back...the title of that post was "2007 Camry brake problem after bearing replacement"...verbatim what I'm seeing.
Any help is appreciated.

 

This is just a guess, but you might be hearing the rub of the flexible metal brake shield right behind the rotor on the rotor itself. It's easy to bend the flexible metal shield when you're working in that area. All it takes is a look and you can just bend it back with your hand (it extends a little past the rotor most of the way around) if you need to.

 

happy, I appreciate your response. Keep in mind that it's not just a sound, but when I tighten the caliper to steering knuckle mounting bolts, the caliper bracket contats the disc which prevents the wheel from turning, so it's not just a noise. I am familiar with the metal brake shield and what I"m seeing isn't that. I checked around locally for used knuckle assemblies, but found a new Moog one for around $250 delivered and that will arrive tomorrow. It should allow me to set the new one beside the one off the car to see if I did, in fact, bend the steering knuckle 'ears' in the press. I know that a casting will generally break and not bend, but I have seen cases where parts do bend, so it will be interesting to see.

I also saw another post where a Camry owner took their vehicle to the Toyota dealership and the dealer noted they couldn't press out/replace the bearing so they had to replace the assembly. I'm speculating that's where I am, except that with a little extra 'umph' I was able to get my bearing out but bent the knuckle in the process. I'll update the posting when the new parts arrive, but I do appreciate your advice.

 

Need more info on where the actual metal contact is The holder should slide in and out (float). Are you stating there is not enough float and without pads installed the rotor contacts the holder?

Bending the ears would take some force. Need to also support the knuckle inboard of the ears when pressing in bearing..

Suggest using a digital slide caliper to compare offset distances at select points between the new bearing side and the side that was not worked on. Select points being those which you think could have been effected by bent ears or bearing not seated, etc.

Measure the width of the new and original bearing.

Check the bearing seating area. But assume if the snap ring installs the bearing is pressed in enough.

 

Mystery solved guys. I ordered a new steering knuckle assembly (knuckle, bearing, dust shield, hub installed for around $250 from RockAuto delivered). It arrived today and I put the old one and the new one side by side on a table and sure enough, one of the 'ears' to which the brake caliper mounts was about 1/8" lower than the other one on the old part. Both were in the same plane on the new part. I used the hub face as my 'datum'. Certainly not a scientific measurement, but it told me what I needed to know, and matched exactly what I was seeing on the vehicle. If the 'ears' aren't in the same plane, the inboard caliper bracket is at an angle to the disc, and when you try to torque the caliper mounting bolts the disc gets pressed against the inboard bracket.

Installed it in about an hour, took the Camry for a test ride and wow...like a new car.

Would I do it again?? Yes, but I would break out the welder and fab up a fixture to support the knuckle under the 'beefy' parts of the knuckle instead of on the ears...heck..I think I'll go peruse a metal scrap yard this weekend for a block of steel that I can use as a press base plate for things like this in the future.

Thanks to those who provided input...I was skeptical, but the answer is 'yes...you can in fact bend a cast part with a 12 ton press'.

 

Thanks for getting back with the fix.