Front wheel bearing replacement

I have an '05 Tacoma 4 wheel drive, and for the past few weeks, I have noticed a humming sound and a high frequency vibration from front end. So I took it into the dealer today since it is still under warranty.

They checked it out and I have to get the left front wheel bearing replaced.

I'm standing there while the guy calls it into the warranty people. Well, he tells the guy to hold on and calls the mechanic to the front. He tells the mechanic the warranty people want to know why he wants to replace the hub also...

The mechanic shrugs and says, well that's how we do it. Then the guy asks the mechanic if it can be fixed by just replacing the front wheel bearing and not the hub, and mechanic says sure I guess...

So I look at mechanic and just made the comment that it seems like somebody in a cubicle in warranty could just listen to whatever the mechanic wants to do, and clear it...he smiles and rolls his eyes, and says yeah, like he has the same thoughts as me.

So now I'm wondering if the bearing replacement itself will do the trick or if I'm going to be driving it around in a day or two, pissed off because I have to take it back in...I mean, why doesn't the warranty people just listen to what the mechanic says? Why do things half-assed and take shortcuts?

 

because thats how the cookie crumbles

 

its more laborious to do only the bearing, most shops will do the entire hub because the parts cost is less than the labor difference.

at the end of the day the end result ought to be the same so I wouldnt be too stressed if i was you

 

I've worked for years in Corporate America and the way business is conducted and decisions get made makes less and less sense every day.

 

A hub has to be pressed into the new bearing regardless by the dealership as it isn't available from Toyota as an assembled piece. Whether its the old hub or the new hub, the end result is still the same. The correct way to do it is by replacing just the bearing. Replacing both just costs the warranty department double in parts, because the mechanic don't want to press out the old hub.

I'm wondering how many people paid double for the hub and bearing when it isn't necessary. The dealership is the negative here - not the warranty dept.

 

Mechanics don't want to spend any more time then they have to for warranty repairs cuz they get paid a flat rate and don't want to spend extra time pressing out a rusty bearing

 

Just a follow up...

They took a day and a half to get the work done, which I can understand because I'm patient like that and plus they provided a set of wheels for me to drive in the mean time.

They ended up replacing the hub. Told me that the hub was so bad that they went ahead and replaced it. Can't get over how much quieter it is now when driving. I guess I got used to the sound over time.

 

x2^^^^^^^

 

I've replaced my bearing on the pass side, now I need to do the driver side, but its pretty easy, only have to take it to get the pressed in at the metal shop. I'll do a write up when i get to it.

 

So what makes the wheel bearings go bad?

 

Usage. Eventually, all mechanical parts wear out. Getting contaminants into the bearing or poor maintenance can accelerate the process. Bearings on some vehicles can be regularly serviced (essentially greasing), others are a captive design that just gets replaced when worn out.

I'm not entirely sure which variety the Tacoma has.

Usually a bad bearing will result in a whine, screech, buzz, vibration, or some other odd sensation/noise from the affected wheel.

A good way to check bearings is jack the wheel off the ground and try to wiggle it around. There should be little or no movement. If there's considerable slop, the bearing's probably bad.

 

How many miles are on your truck fireftrjef?

 

73-something miles.

 

Wow, my left front wheel bearing just went out a few days ago too at 73k miles.

 

And in other odd news, my '03 Matrix with 173k on it is on the original wheel bearings and is still A-OK at all four corners. Go figure.

Could use new shocks though. Think I'm gonna do that soon.

 

I will be taking on this task tomorrow. I plan to do the job myself. Other than the pressing, is this an easy do-it-youself job?

 

Went to Firestone to get tires re ballanced cause I felt a vib in there on the interestate....the mechanic showed me and had me listen for the bad right side ( left was not as bad) wheel bearing grinding noise....

BTW I'm @ about 73 k now too !!! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Gonna try to get the stealershp to replace them under extended warranty

Firestone wanted 1200.00 to do it ( they said it was 6 .6 hrs labor)

Is that true ??

 

Most of the places I've heard quote a bearing replacement say it's about 5 hours labor.

As I understand it, it's actually cheaper to just replace the whole hub...the part costs more, but the labor is much less.

 

Did the hum change when you turned vs driving in a straight line?

 

They had my truck for 2 days, but I believe it's because they had to go ahead and replace the hub (get the parts) once they got everything apart.

As an additional note here, I took it to a certified Toyota repair shop 3 days later for a routine brake job that I had been putting off. After taking the wheel off, the manager came in and asked me to come out to my truck, so when I did, he showed me the bearing was loose (shaking the wheel and demonstrating so) and said he could tell it was recent work. Then asked me how long ago the work was done. He said he wanted to bring it to my attention. Anyway, I don't know why it was loose, but they fixed it back up without charge, and showed me afterwards.

A friend suggested I should call the dealership and raise hell about it, but I figured what's the use.