wheel bearing install
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 188
Likes: 0
From: richmond, va
wheel bearing install i had a gta trans am and doing wheel bearings was easy. i now have a 1995 formula and i heard it would be hard to do the wheel bearings. is this true? or is it just like any other old car where you just pack em with grease and put em back in???
4th gen F-Bodys have a wheel hub bolted to the spindle with four bolts. It contains the bearings, grease, seals and ABS ring. It's not serviced. If your front wheels need bearings, you replace the hubs as a unit. Best price on rockauto.com is $135.00.
Bump
I'm getting some abnormal noises from the front end of my car I strongly suspect as a bad wheel bearing/hub assembly (noise increases with MPH and can feel a faint rubbing/grinding/vibration when I turn the steering wheel driving) I think it may be on the passenger side.
I've never replaced a wheel bearing myself, but would prefer to learn and do it myself to save some $ and time taking it to the dealership; two questions:
1. How do I diagnose the issue for sure? Would there be obvious play in the wheel hub (do I have to remove the front tires and try moving the hub assembly around or just jack up the front end and see if there's play moving the wheels/tires by hand?
2. Is it recommended to replace both of them at the same time or can I get away with just replacing the trouble maker?
I'm getting some abnormal noises from the front end of my car I strongly suspect as a bad wheel bearing/hub assembly (noise increases with MPH and can feel a faint rubbing/grinding/vibration when I turn the steering wheel driving) I think it may be on the passenger side.
I've never replaced a wheel bearing myself, but would prefer to learn and do it myself to save some $ and time taking it to the dealership; two questions:
1. How do I diagnose the issue for sure? Would there be obvious play in the wheel hub (do I have to remove the front tires and try moving the hub assembly around or just jack up the front end and see if there's play moving the wheels/tires by hand?
2. Is it recommended to replace both of them at the same time or can I get away with just replacing the trouble maker?
Find a parking lot (empty preferred) and start turning in circles.
One way will make more noise than the other if its just one bearing bad.
Otherwise, get each wheel up in teh air, grabbing it should not show side to side or up and down motion.
One way will make more noise than the other if its just one bearing bad.
Otherwise, get each wheel up in teh air, grabbing it should not show side to side or up and down motion.
Trending Topics
Also if you have an infrared thermometer you can check the temp of the hubs. One with bad bearings will be much hotter.
Iirc replacement hubs aren't expensive and if the chassis has a decent amount of miles it's probably a good idea to swap them out
Iirc replacement hubs aren't expensive and if the chassis has a decent amount of miles it's probably a good idea to swap them out
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo Just as I suspected; passenger front bearing is DONE ha ha....it took literally a minute to diagnose thanks to my handy dandy Harbor freight "racing jack" 
I shook the tire/wheel around and it felt like the damn thing was going to fall off 
At least an inch of play back and forth with the wheel banging around making lots of noise. Guess I won't be driving it until this gets fixed; just as well as the caliper from on this side needs rebuilt apparently too, tons of brake dust on just this particular wheel (for over a year now, before the bearing took a dump) ; I suppose I should have had it rebuilt as a precaution as it's unknown mileage from a random LS1 car when I did the LS1 brake conversion.
One more question though....which one of the several brands of replacement hubs form Rockauto aren't a poorly made P.O.S.? I'm not shelling out the $220 for AC delco when the rest are in the $40-100 range:
WJB, OMNI 5, Dura International, Mevotech, Raybestos professional grade, Timkin, MOOG, SKF ?
I shook the tire/wheel around and it felt like the damn thing was going to fall off At least an inch of play back and forth with the wheel banging around making lots of noise. Guess I won't be driving it until this gets fixed; just as well as the caliper from on this side needs rebuilt apparently too, tons of brake dust on just this particular wheel (for over a year now, before the bearing took a dump) ; I suppose I should have had it rebuilt as a precaution as it's unknown mileage from a random LS1 car when I did the LS1 brake conversion.One more question though....which one of the several brands of replacement hubs form Rockauto aren't a poorly made P.O.S.? I'm not shelling out the $220
for AC delco when the rest are in the $40-100 range:WJB, OMNI 5, Dura International, Mevotech, Raybestos professional grade, Timkin, MOOG, SKF ?
Last edited by ahritchie; Apr 17, 2016 at 07:17 PM.
Just as I suspected; passenger front bearing is DONE ha ha....it took literally a minute to diagnose thanks to my handy dandy Harbor freight "racing jack" I shook the tire/wheel around and it felt like the damn thing was going to fall off At least an inch of play back and forth with the wheel banging around making lots of noise. Guess I won't be driving it until this gets fixed; just as well as the caliper from on this side needs rebuilt apparently too, tons of brake dust on just this particular wheel (for over a year now, before the bearing took a dump) ; I suppose I should have had it rebuilt as a precaution as it's unknown mileage from a random LS1 car when I did the LS1 brake conversion.
One more question though....which one of the several brands of replacement hubs form Rockauto aren't a poorly made P.O.S.? I'm not shelling out the $220 for AC delco when the rest are in the $40-100 range:
WJB, OMNI 5, Dura International, Mevotech, Raybestos professional grade, Timkin, MOOG, SKF ?
I shook the tire/wheel around and it felt like the damn thing was going to fall off At least an inch of play back and forth with the wheel banging around making lots of noise. Guess I won't be driving it until this gets fixed; just as well as the caliper from on this side needs rebuilt apparently too, tons of brake dust on just this particular wheel (for over a year now, before the bearing took a dump) ; I suppose I should have had it rebuilt as a precaution as it's unknown mileage from a random LS1 car when I did the LS1 brake conversion.One more question though....which one of the several brands of replacement hubs form Rockauto aren't a poorly made P.O.S.? I'm not shelling out the $220
for AC delco when the rest are in the $40-100 range:WJB, OMNI 5, Dura International, Mevotech, Raybestos professional grade, Timkin, MOOG, SKF ?
TECH Addict
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,610
Likes: 4
From: Maricopa, AZ
Just as I suspected; passenger front bearing is DONE ha ha....it took literally a minute to diagnose thanks to my handy dandy Harbor freight "racing jack" I shook the tire/wheel around and it felt like the damn thing was going to fall off At least an inch of play back and forth with the wheel banging around making lots of noise. Guess I won't be driving it until this gets fixed; just as well as the caliper from on this side needs rebuilt apparently too, tons of brake dust on just this particular wheel (for over a year now, before the bearing took a dump) ; I suppose I should have had it rebuilt as a precaution as it's unknown mileage from a random LS1 car when I did the LS1 brake conversion.
One more question though....which one of the several brands of replacement hubs form Rockauto aren't a poorly made P.O.S.? I'm not shelling out the $220 for AC delco when the rest are in the $40-100 range:
WJB, OMNI 5, Dura International, Mevotech, Raybestos professional grade, Timkin, MOOG, SKF ?
I shook the tire/wheel around and it felt like the damn thing was going to fall off At least an inch of play back and forth with the wheel banging around making lots of noise. Guess I won't be driving it until this gets fixed; just as well as the caliper from on this side needs rebuilt apparently too, tons of brake dust on just this particular wheel (for over a year now, before the bearing took a dump) ; I suppose I should have had it rebuilt as a precaution as it's unknown mileage from a random LS1 car when I did the LS1 brake conversion.One more question though....which one of the several brands of replacement hubs form Rockauto aren't a poorly made P.O.S.? I'm not shelling out the $220
for AC delco when the rest are in the $40-100 range:WJB, OMNI 5, Dura International, Mevotech, Raybestos professional grade, Timkin, MOOG, SKF ?
Last edited by hrcslam; Apr 17, 2016 at 11:01 PM.
Moog is one of the top suspension component manufacturers and timken is one of the top bearing manufacturers. Either one is an excellent choice and likely near oem quality if not the same.
Teching In
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
Timken Just as I suspected; passenger front bearing is DONE ha ha....it took literally a minute to diagnose thanks to my handy dandy Harbor freight "racing jack" I shook the tire/wheel around and it felt like the damn thing was going to fall off At least an inch of play back and forth with the wheel banging around making lots of noise. Guess I won't be driving it until this gets fixed; just as well as the caliper from on this side needs rebuilt apparently too, tons of brake dust on just this particular wheel (for over a year now, before the bearing took a dump) ; I suppose I should have had it rebuilt as a precaution as it's unknown mileage from a random LS1 car when I did the LS1 brake conversion.
One more question though....which one of the several brands of replacement hubs form Rockauto aren't a poorly made P.O.S.? I'm not shelling out the $220 for AC delco when the rest are in the $40-100 range:
WJB, OMNI 5, Dura International, Mevotech, Raybestos professional grade, Timkin, MOOG, SKF ?
I shook the tire/wheel around and it felt like the damn thing was going to fall off At least an inch of play back and forth with the wheel banging around making lots of noise. Guess I won't be driving it until this gets fixed; just as well as the caliper from on this side needs rebuilt apparently too, tons of brake dust on just this particular wheel (for over a year now, before the bearing took a dump) ; I suppose I should have had it rebuilt as a precaution as it's unknown mileage from a random LS1 car when I did the LS1 brake conversion.One more question though....which one of the several brands of replacement hubs form Rockauto aren't a poorly made P.O.S.? I'm not shelling out the $220
for AC delco when the rest are in the $40-100 range:WJB, OMNI 5, Dura International, Mevotech, Raybestos professional grade, Timkin, MOOG, SKF ?
I just put a new Timken hub on today (autozone was actually cheaper than rockauto); it was actually much easier than I thought, only took 30 mins with hand tools, just 6 bolts total counting removing the caliper (did need a breaker bar) and me fumbling around with trying to get the loaded caliper back on the rotor....for a real mechanic with air tools it's a 15min easy job. The bad bearing was making grinding noises even turning it by hand. I might just replace the other one for the fun of it next time I do brake pads! 
