Replaced Bearings now Brakes are Soft

Three weeks ago took my 06 Tacoma to the dealership forroutine MAINT. Dealer told me that myleft c/v joint was bad and would probably need to be replaced, the rep added “…it’llcost just under a grand.” I asked theservice rep how long before I needed to get the work done and he in essencesaid the sooner the better.

I took the vehicle to a job required commitment 500 milesaway and as I was driving back to my home town (about 350 miles out) I beganhearing a “whoop, whoop, whoop…….” soundcoming from my left front. About 200miles later my ABS light came on. About25 miles from my house I noticed my brakes were very, very soft. I took the truck to a mechanic and I had thebearings replaced on both sides. Mechanictold me I heated the shit out of the left bearings. I watched the mechanic spend over an hourattempting to separate the bearing assembly from the hub; but the mechaniccompleted the repair. After the repair Ithought the brakes would work 100% but they are still soft after 40 miles.

Any ideas on trouble shooting going forward?

What is a fair amount of time a mechanic needs to diagnosethe problem?

If I have to replace the master cylinder what is acompetitive after market price for a midrange model?

How much should it cost to install?

 

When the bearing develops enough play, the sensor loses it's signal from the tone ring. That's how you know the bearing is really bad.


Brakes should be golden now OP. For some reason if they removed the front brakes (not required for front wheel bearing R&R, they may need to be bled.

 

2006 Tacoma Extended Cab 4wd. 4cyl. manual trans.

 

What spoonman said, bleed your brakes. The extreme temp from your hub boiled and broke down your brake fluid in your calipers.

 

First off, I wouldn't simply bleed the brakes a little. When the fluid gets hot, as mentioned, it does loose a lot of it's chemical properties. You should do a complete brake fluid flush, replacement. you can do it on your own in the driveway, with some basic hand tools.

Second, I know this is going to sound like a sales attempt considering I build these, But if your left front bearing was as bad as you indicated, and got as hot as indicated, I would recommend having the entire unit replaced. The reason is that with that much excessive heat, I am willing to bet that the wheel hub itself is not at 100%. When metal gets heated beyond it's expected temperature, it will lose a lot of it's "hardness" when it cools. Think about how they temper steel. When a bearing gets THAT hot, then you are removing the "tempering" of the steel wheel hub. This weakens the metal.

Now you may be fine since I have no idea of exactly how hot that bearing got, but I want you to be informed just in case you start to notice any noise or issues from that bad side.