Rear wheel bearing questions

[ScottyDsntKno]

Hi, I have a few questions about a possible bad wheel bearing.

First, what is the best way to tell if the bearing is actually bad? I've heard that pulling on the hub and seeing if there is any give is one way but I'm not sure exactly what a foolproof way of doing it is. I think I might have a bad bearing since I hear a humming sound like a loud tire that goes away when I go faster but when I go slow I hear it and it goes up and down in pitch. I think its the left rear but I'm not sure. It doesn't really get any better or worse when I turn which is kind of odd for a bad bearing.

Also, how hard would it be to replace a bad bearing? I guess just pull the spindle off and take it to a shop with a press?

Oh, do we have sealed or tapered units in the back? A shop around here charges $100 to replace tapered units and $300 to replace sealed units. No way in **** am I paying $300 for a bearing but if we have tapered units I might just have that shop do it.

Thanks in advance, sorry for the newb questions. I did a search but either my search skills are weak or the threads aren't there.

 

[Ishodu]

Kind of sounds like you have a bad bearing, jack up the rear of the car and pull back and forth on the wheel you might have play in it. The wheels bearings come as a whole hub assembly. Very easy to change. All you need to do is take off the wheel then the caliper and bracket then rotor, remove the big nut holding the hub on then pull the hub off. Removal is the opposite just need to TQ the big nut to 180ft lbs IIRC.

 

[93rev2sev]

Rotate your tires to see if the sound goes away or changes. If not, likely wheel bearing.

 

[ScottyDsntKno]

Kind of sounds like you have a bad bearing, jack up the rear of the car and pull back and forth on the wheel you might have play in it. The wheels bearings come as a whole hub assembly. Very easy to change. All you need to do is take off the wheel then the caliper and bracket then rotor, remove the big nut holding the hub on then pull the hub off. Removal is the opposite just need to TQ the big nut to 180ft lbs IIRC.

Do you know where a good is place to buy the hub assembly and how much is it gonna cost? I can't just redo the bearings themselves then? I'm going to get the tires rotated and balanced anyways but I think its the right rear hub since it actually did get louder when I turned left yesterday trying to pinpoint the sound.

edit: If I just buy this I can just replace the old hub with it and not have to worry about pressing in new bearings?

 

[93rev2sev]

I don't think that has the bearings. I think it fits inside the bearing...

 

[ScottyDsntKno]

I don't think that has the bearings. I think it fits inside the bearing...

Wait what? No that's a whole hub assy the bearing goes in there and I'm pretty sure that it comes pressed in already. I just wanted to be sure thats actually what it is... I'm gonna have my local shop rotate/balance the tires next wednesday and check out the bearings for me. If they wind up being cheap to replace and its only 1 bearing I'm just gonna have the shop do it. Otherwise I'll do it myself.

 

[Ishodu]

Do you know where a good is place to buy the hub assembly and how much is it gonna cost? I can't just redo the bearings themselves then? I'm going to get the tires rotated and balanced anyways but I think its the right rear hub since it actually did get louder when I turned left yesterday trying to pinpoint the sound.

edit: If I just buy this I can just replace the old hub with it and not have to worry about pressing in new bearings?

THats the part you want, its got the bearings installed in it. Thats a pretty good price you found there too. And there will be no pressing involved just like I explained.

 

[sdpatt]

You can get the rear hub and bearing assembly locally for less.

AutoZone: Timken 512107 $52.99
O'Reilly: Master Pro 512107 $49.99

 

[ScottyDsntKno]

I already got the one from advance. Also picked up a set of TRW HD endlinks since I snapped one a few months ago and haven't got around to replacing it yet. Figured I might as well do both at once. I'll do it all tomorrow and hopefully that fixes my hum and helps the vibration.

I'll get the tires balanced on wednesday.

 

[ScottyDsntKno]

Turns out I needed 2 new tires and the bearings all seemed good to the shop. However when I replaced both rear hubs the car got even smoother so I'm guessing that they didn't give a flying ***k about checking since they knew I was gonna install new hubs myself(never telling a shop that i'm gonna do the work myself again).

I still have a bit of a wheel bearingish sounding noise but I think that's just the one bf goodrich tire that had alot of tread left but is just a noisy tread.

Or it might be one of the front bearings but until it gets louder I'm not gonna worry about it. Its very faint sounding.

Also got the endlinks installed and what a difference that made. I ALSO fixed my overhead console, cleaned the car out, fixed my leaky/noisy weatherstripping, got all my headlamp bulbs changed and working, changed the oil etc...

Feels better driving than it ever did(only bought it 20k ago) and hopefully it'll last me another few years as a driver until I get my feet under me to afford a nice DD and maybe turn the SHO into a sleeper project.