Wheel Bearings Changed (Pictures)

So after ranting about my front bearings for a while now I finally had the chance to finish the passenger side today. I decided to take a few pictures to show the procedure as well as the procedure for changing the inner seal.

So here goes:

First the is the inital picture with just the tire removed:



Next I removed the caliper by removing the two bolts you see in the center of the picture:



Before moving the caliper I disconnected the brake line from the steering knuckle so I could move it all out of the way (the center bolt):



So with the caliper moved and tied out of the way:



To remove the rotor I had to use a threaded bolt to assist in pushing it away from the hub:



Rotor removed, the next step was to remove the hub grease cap (I found this difficult to do without damaging the cap a little) :



Once the cap was removed, it was time to remove the cotter pin, lock cap and axle hub nut, I used a 36mm impact socket to remove the nut:



Pin, lock cap, and hub nut removed:



The next step was to loosen the four bolts that keep the bearing assembly attached to the spindle. I didn't take pictures of this step as it's pretty straight forward. You have to tap the hub/bearing assembly loose once the bolts are loosened. Tap it on each side, and on top and bottom. I used a rubber mallot for this part. Once the assembly is partially out you'll have to unscrew the 4 bolts the rest of the way out as there isn't enough room between the bolt heads and the hub to initally take em out all the way out. Once the hub/bearing assembly is removed the dust shield just falls away, don't forget to reinstall the dust shield when putting back together. Also at this step I disconnected the speed sensor and put it out of the way.

Hub/bearing assembly removed:



I wanted to change out the inner seals as well but in order to do that I needed to swing the whole steering knuckle section that the axle sticks out of in order to have access to the inner seal. I needed to remove the stabilizer link from the steering knuckle, I used a wrench and a 6mm hex wrench to hold the stud because the ball joint was turning with the nut:



Next I removed the two bolts and separated the front suspension lower arm from the front axle:



I should mention that when I was doing this I had a hydraulic jack supporting the front axle, not sure if needed but I wanted to be sure:



Once the 2 bolts were removed I could swing the steering knuckle:



Removed the old inner seal, it was in rough shape:



New inner seal installed, tight fit, careful not to damage it:



The steering knuckle back together, seal greased up and axle cleaned and ready for the new bearing/hub assembly:



New hub/bearing assembly, I had a shop remove the old bearing, install the outer oil seal and press on the new bearing (note that the o ring is not installed on the bearing in this picture, I forgot to install it so I had to take the whole thing apart again, DO NOT FORGET THE O RING) :



Bearing/Hub assembly, speed sensor, dust shield, hub nut, lock cap and cotter pin installed:



Everything back together:



The truck now rides like a dream again, I was optimistic that the hum would still be present but no, changing these bearings solved it.

I want to thank tacomaworld.com for helping me do this. If it wasn't for all your help, I would have never even attempted this. Thank you

 

You fucking rock. Rep sent.

 

Nice write-up, but is all that rust on your suspension and frame normal for a 5 year old truck?

 

I didn't even stick around to watch them do the bearing. They had it for over an hour so I just went home and picked it up later. They charged 40 bucks per side to remove and reinstall the bearing.

 

No it's not normal, thats what the salted roads and the canadian winters give ya.

 

OH TACO!!!!

You rock brother! Thanks for posting these pics along with the write up. Rep sent. My mileage is just barely 35xxxx but I will print your write up for reference.

Any pics of the old bearings? You should send a pic to corporate.

Well done!

 

Hey Thanks, No I didn't get any pictures of the old bearings. I did ask the shop to let me see them, the insides where pretty rusty and the shop did one hell of a job getting them off, he had the whole bearing assembly sliced through and it looked pretty mangled...but lets hope these last a while.

 

Great write up
Only thing I would do differently is use a jack stand to support the axle as I don't think the lifting jack is very safe (its got wheels).
Thanks for the great pics.

 

Thanks for the info, I had the wheels chocked, jack stands under the frame, a 3 ton hydraulic jack to raise the truck and I used the smaller lifting jack to just support the axle. I thought it was safe, but in the future I'll probably take your advice. Thanks

 

STICKY

Great write up, great photos!

 

How much were all the parts?

 

badass!! you are awesome.

(how do i send rep?)

 

In Atlantic Canada it is, salt on roads, close to the Atlantic Ocean...thats normal for these parts. hell I got a 07 and you can`t even see black on mine... we will undercoat on a yearly basis

 

Nice write up! This will probably come in handy in the future. Rep sent.

 

(how do i send rep?) Left side bottom under his TW name there is a white thing a blue thing and a triangle thing - it's the white thing.

 

40 bucks per bearing on ebay + shipping 107$

2 x inner and 2 x outer oil seals from part source 70$

machine shop to press in 2 bearings 80$

O ring from Toyota 9$

Total 266$

Midas quoted me 800 for 2 bearing changes

 

Nicely dont man! I just hit 55k so ill keep this link handy. Is it just a noise that signifies it is going bad?

 

Nice write up! Im saving this one to do the same soon

 

Yeah, I was hearing a whirring noise that got louder as I sped up, plus I had Midas do a free inspection. They confirmed that it was in fact the bearings that were gone bad!