Wheel Bearing victim #143,678

[skippie]

yup, front passenger side is shot. I don't ever want to begin to tear it apart, after reading all the horror stories while searching for some help on the subject. So, I thought I would ask if anyone on here has taken their SHO to a shop to have it done, and how much they charged, and who even does it? Any info would be great, thanks!

ps. If I do it (and im sure I will) I will most likely end up buying the whole hub assembly and doing it that way, instead of a new wheel bearing and pressing it in and out.

 

[MilTownSHO]

So, I thought I would ask if anyone on here has taken their SHO to a shop to have it done, and how much they charged, and who even does it?

Had to take the car you fried the clutch on in a few week ago because the front left bearing was grinding. If I recall correctly I paid $190 with a discount through a friend!

The whole time I'm thinking, damn I wish I had RWD agian (did the bearings on my Crown Vic with NO problem.)

 

[Chuckblvd]

Buying the whole hub assy. will be much much easyer Ican tell you that much

 

[sdpatt]

You can buy the hub and bearing assembly from AutoZone for $65. That includes the hub, bearing, lock ring and hub nut. I paid $30 for a shop to press out the old parts and press in the new parts. Total cost: about $100. The link to my experience with this job is provided below.

http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=18260&highlight=wheel+bearing

 

[skippie]

Had to take the car you fried the clutch on in a few week ago because the front left bearing was grinding. If I recall correctly I paid $190 with a discount through a friend!

The whole time I'm thinking, damn I wish I had RWD agian (did the bearings on my Crown Vic with NO problem.)

Hey now, that wasn't my fault! I've drove manuals before, and never broken any of them. Something was up with that car when I test drove it, it might have broke while I was driving it, but it wasn't caused by me.

 

[skippie]

You can buy the hub and bearing assembly from AutoZone for $65. That includes the hub, bearing, lock ring and hub nut. I paid $30 for a shop to press out the old parts and press in the new parts. Total cost: about $100. The link to my experience with this job is provided below.

http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=18260&highlight=wheel+bearing

I see Scott. Well I called Autozone and they had the hub assembly for about $64.99, so I called Murray's and they had it for $51.99, but didnt have it in stock, so I went to Autozone and they price matched it But anyway, I got the parts, and I had the tire off looking around today, and tried to get it apart, but the bolt that holds the strut to the spindle isn't moving one bit. Any suggestions? I PB Blasted it, and had an impact on it. I guess thats what I get for living in wonderful Michigan.

 

[rangerj]

Skippie,

The bolt that holds the steering knuckle to the strut is often difficult to remove, especially in the "rust belt". Do you have a propane torch? Home Depot sells them with the attachments for about $20, IIR. Its the kind used for home plumbing jobs, like for soldering copper pipes.

If you have one, or have access to one, use it to heat the steering knuckle where the bolt goes through. The propane will not get it hot enough to "glow" red but, if you heat it for about five minutes it will get hot enough.
Please be careful where you direct the heat so as not to start a fire or melt something (like a brake hose).

The bolt should come loose. Apply PB Blaster or some other penetrating oil to the visible threads as you are removing the bolt. Be careful to keep the socket squarly on the bolt head. You do not want to round off the head.

The ball joint pinch bolt and nut should be replaced, and so should the tie rod end cotter pin.

I use a small bottle jack to push down on the lower control arm (LCA) to get the ball joint stud out of the knuckle. I place the upper end of the jack against the inner fender well lip and the lower end on the lower control arm at the junction of the stabilizer bar. Use snall pieces of wood to protect the edge of the fender well and the LCA.

With the old axel nut on the end of the axel, to protect the threads, tap on the end of the axel with a hammer to drive it out of the hub. It gets stuck in the hub (rust). I would get it loose before removing the strut bolt or the ball joint from the steering knuckle.

Make sure that whoever presses in your new bearing knows that the bearing gets presses into the knuckle, then the knucke and bearing gets pressed ONTO the hub. If you press the hub INTO the bearing, it will distort the bearing. See the Auto Zone web page and search for the proceedure regarding the changing of the bearing and hub. It has pictures.

Also inform them that the new snap ring may not fit and the old snap ring may have to be used. SDPatt had this experience. rangerj

 

[NJSHO]

I wouldnt spray PB blaster on the parts when they are hot. Im not sure if you ment this or not, but just wanted to make sure.

 

[rangerj]

Once you get the bolt to move about one full turn you can let it cool down, then apply penetraiting oil while you crank it out. good catch! We do not want any fires, do we? rangerj

 

[n8rsk8r]

yeah, just watch it, I did all the above and the head came off my rear pinch bolt, I have to drill it out now, not fun! But if it is going to do that, then it will; nothing you can do to stop it. Try to tighten it then loosen it, keep doing this when you get stuck back off, or tighten it spray wd-40, or your pb, and then go at it again. that's my $0.2

 

[MilTownSHO]

Hey now, that wasn't my fault! I've drove manuals before, and never broken any of them. Something was up with that car when I test drove it, it might have broke while I was driving it, but it wasn't caused by me.

Well I semi believe you since once it was replaced the same shop never resurfaced the flywheel and it started slipping agian. Ending up in clutch replacement with only 7 thousand miles on the new stuff!

But generally when trying to go into fourth and you hit second at the top of third gear, it cause's problems.

 

[SHOguy 92]

Buying the whole hub assy. will be much much easyer Ican tell you that much

Nice rolling reverse burnout to 1st Hows the diff pin treating you?

 

[DHMag]

i can swap knuckles in 30 minutes man..no sweat. of course, within 3 days, i had to put 3 knuckles on because of 3 bad wheel bearings. other damage involved: seriously chewed front tire, wheel with a gouge, and a flat spotted brake caliper.

 

[skippie]

I found a shop to do it fairly cheap, only $65. So to save me the hassle Im going to just take it there. The wheel bearing itself was only $51.99/lifetime warr. I can deal with that.

 

[Brian Smith]

You should ba able to save thirty bucks off of that. I jsut did my passenger side this Tuesday. I did everything in an afternoon. took about forty five minutes to remove the knuckle, then i dropped it off to get the bearing pressed (30$) which took an hour (perfect amount of time to eat lunch ) , then another hour to reassemble. At thirty dollars saved for two hours of my time, it was worth it to me. Removing the knuckle is pretty easy after you have done it once, so when you go to do the other bearing it would be even easier.