Am I being ripped off for wheel bearing replacement

I just found out yesterday that my two front wheel bearings need to be replaced and I called the mechanic shop near my house to get an estimated price and the guy wanted $1300 to replace both. I've looked online and the wheel bearings cost around $160-$200 and i also searched the average cost of this and it was on average around $500, am I being ripped off or does it actually cost this much?

 

Well have you called other shops in your area for quotes?

 

Are you able to do them yourself? There’s a member here who sells preassembled bearings and hubs. He has a great reputation.

 

Toyota did my drivers side a few years back it cost 550

 

That sounds way too high. If I remember, book rate is 2hrs/side. Add $300 for parts gets you to 800 tops.

 

Found him; https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wheel-bearings-hubs-press-service-4x4-prerunner-nsk-koyo.537080/

 

I had one side done for $240 in labor. They found while doing the rear seal. Had them do both.
* Private shop, not a dealer repair shop.

 

I have a 1st gen but I was on a road trip once and had a front wheel bearing go out (was my own stupid mistake but that's another story for another time). I was pretty much screwed as far as being able to do the work myself and had to take it to the first shop I could find before it completely failed. Luckily I found a good place but they were pricey, didn't help that I was up near the Bay Area of CA (most expensive area in the US). Ended up costing me just north of a grand for a new wheel bearing, front brake rotor and CV axle + labor.

$1300 for both sounds on the steep end but still not as bad as it would probably be out here

 

As much as this board loves individual mechanics, mom and pop shops etc, they are just as bad as the dealer when it comes to bending over a customer.

That price is off, way off.

 

Wheels Hub assembly on Prerunner is extremely easy to replace.

 

A word of caution on any wheel bearing replacement. There is a huge difference in quality between the lowest price (Dorman, cough, cough) and the highest price name brand or OEM bearings. Don't be fooled by a low price. As my dad always used to say; "When you buy a cheap tool, all you get is a cheap tool."

PS: Isn't anybody going to ask the OP what model truck he has? That's kind of important here.

 

@silvertaco.69 People here have been very helpful in both of the threads you started. You could at least show some appreciation for the information that people have given you.

 

You're right, my apologies, thank you all so much for the helpful comments. I'll probably have another place do it or just do it myself.

 

Its a 2007 4 door 4wd SB base model

 

I just looked up the hub/bearing assembly for my '08, $203 for the better one @ Napa. I've done the job before, though not on a Taco. Not bad if you've got the tools & time. Save yourself at least $400-ish in labor...

 

I think I’ll probably end up just doing it myself, it doesn’t seem too difficult. Plus I’ll save myself money for some future mods I guess.

 

Thanks for your apology. It just gets frustrating when someone starts a new account, asks a question and then never ever responds again. Sometimes they don't even stick around long enough to read the replies that people have spent time typing out.

Since you have a 4WD, this is not a 1st time with a socket set type of job. There's no way we can know your mechanical abilities. With 1 being changing your oil and 10 being rebuilding a small block Chevy, this job is about a 4. There is also 2 levels of completeness to the job. Just replacing the bearing and hub assembly will work, but for a 100% quality job, further disassembly is required to replace the inner seals. (2 on each side of the truck. 1 on each outer CV and 1 in each knuckle.) If you pay someone to do it, ask them if they're going to replace all 4 inner seals. If you pay someone ~$1,000 and you only got a set of cheap bearing assemblies, you got hosed. If you pay someone ~$900 and they installed 2 quality bearing assemblies, 2 new O rings, and 4 inner seals, you didn't do so bad.

Just for information, there are also outer seals, but if you buy a complete hub and bearing assembly, it comes with new outer seals installed.

Let us know how things turn out. If you decide to do it yourself, we're here to help if you have questions.

As mentioned above, if you do it yourself, buy the bearing assemblies from

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wheel-bearings-hubs-press-service-4x4-prerunner-nsk-koyo.537080/

He puts together a quality product at a very reasonable price and his packaging quality is the best anyone has ever seen.

 

Thanks for the helpful information, and I’ll let you guys know how things turn out, either way I can’t wait to get rid of that Loud obnoxious sound.

 

Start simple, is your wife always in the car when you hear the loud obnoxious sound?

 

More interested in DIY information