Wheel Bearing Assemblies

Hey all, I have a 2015 TRD Off Road (4WD obviously). Pretty sure I have a bad wheel bearing, but need to diagnose whether it is front or rear. I'm going with a hub/bearing assembly. I've looked through a bunch of threads on wheel bearing replacements and not finding some info I need. A couple quick questions:

1. What brands of hub/bearing assemblies use Koyo, SKF, or other quality bearings? Most companies don't list bearing brand or country of origin. "High quality" or "OEM comparable" doesn't tell me squat.

2. Do I need to get an ABS sensor as well? It appears that they are not part of the assemblies on the Taco assemblies, but I don't want to assume. Some vendors say "ABS sensors are included where necessary", while others don't indicate anything.

Thanks, Jake

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wheel-bearings-hubs-press-service-oe-nsk.537080/

 

1. NAPA BRG assemblies use SKF.
But I’d recommend buying from @05Taco4x4

2. No, you do not need the speed sensors.
I would recommend you remove yours from the knuckle when installing the assemblies.
However, if yours don’t want to come out, leave them alone.
Just be careful when removing the hub to not damage the sensor.

I’d also recommend you use just a tiny bit of dielectric or o-ring lube on the speed sensor o-ring.
Anything to help it go back in and seal up. I’ve even used grease. Be sure not to get it on the sensor tip though.

 

I went with these guys.

https://www.yotabearingsandhubs.com...x4-complete-koyo-front-wheel-bearing-assembly

They also sell a kit of two for a bit cheaper per unit. They also sell two different quality bearings. This kit is the Koyo or NSK bearings vs the cheaper assemblies they offer coming with "Asian wheel bearing (similar to the China made Napa Proformer wheel bearing)"

 

No sensors

the guy from here linked

fronts go before the rear unless it took a hit
If so it would take out the seals and you’d be leaking gear oil

 

A quick follow-up. I just checked all four wheels and can't find any of the telltale signs of a bad bearing. No lateral or vertical play. No grinding sounds. The only thing I can hear from the driver's side front is a faint, slightly metallic tick, tick-tick-tick (a tick followed by three more in quick succession) when rotating the wheel. I haven't had a chance to pull things apart yet as I was hoping the source of noise would be obvious. But I'm confused as to what else it could be.

It is a loud droning hum, so at first I thought it was from partially worn tires, but tread is still good, no cupping, etc. Plus it is louder when I turn to the right at speed (i.e. going around a curve, loading the left side). It isn't the clamshell bearing in the front diff; already made the ECGS bushing swap and the symptoms don't match that issue. Oddly a trucker in traffic honked and told me to check my wheel one night. I don't know what he saw, but visually I can't see anything abnormal. Nothing is dragging or getting got, no sidewall bulges or tread issues, wheels look to be running true. I'm stymied.

 

Sounds like a bad left front wheel bearing.
You will get a hum/drone noise way before you feel any play in the bearing.
It’s just the nature of these trucks. Noise before play.

 

I purchased OEM bearings and hubs from an online Toyota dealer. I pressed them together myself. Also make sure you get the inner and outer seals.

 

CV joints check out ok?

 

Thanks for the input, glad to hear that’s typical as it confirms my thoughts. On the way home I noticed I could feel the vibration in the floorboard so pretty sure it’s the front driver’s side.
I guess I know what I’m buying myself for Christmas.

 

Sounds exactly like mine (and many others). For some reason the driver's side seems to go before the passenger. I replaced my driver's side one about 8 years ago with the one sold on this site (linked above), and had no issues since then.

 

If you have access to a ChassisEAR (wired or wireless), I have found it invaluable in diagnosing the proper side with a bad wheel bearing (or any chassis/suspension noise).

Modern bearings don't always follow the 'noise when banking' rule, in fact, 3 out of 5 times I had to replace bearings on my various vehicles, if I went by sound alone and the 'rule,' I would have changed the wrong bearing. Additionally the vibration/sound tends to travel through the chassis and the cabin acoustics combine to make "it sounds like it's coming from the XXX side." very deceptive.

Edit - I should also add that from my experience, sometimes bearings will ONLY make noises when under load (ie. while traveling on the road) at the beginning stages when the bearings or race is just starting to get damaged. You won't be able to tell by spinning or jerking on the wheel until it's pretty bad.

One trick you can try (but I never tried since I have a ChassisEAR), is to hold the suspension spring while spinning the wheel. The spring exaggerates the vibration caused by the bad bearing so even if you can't feel it directly with the wheel, you may be able to feel it through the spring.

 

I agree with all the advice here, and offer another endorsement of the guy who sells hub assemies on this forum. I even have a press, but I don't know how to source the best quality bearings, or honestly how to press them together correctly. The wheel bearing guy knows both of these things, and it is nice to get new hub assemblies to replace the rusted ones with mangled studs. I would personally replace both, if one is worn out. That way you don't have to figure out which one is bad. You definitely can't tell by jiggling the wheels on jack stands.

One word of caution, from my experience. There are four bolts securing the hub, and there is a torque spec for those bolts. I followed this exactly, bought a little crows foot adapter for my torque wrench and did the math for the various access angles... but my hub bolts backed out and start hitting the back of the studs. So I recommend ignoring the torque spec, and cranking the everloving fuck out of those stupid hub bolts, with extra loctite for good luck.

 

Well, unfortunately the driver's front bearing wasn't the culprit. I changed it and the drone persists; gets loud at 40MPH, reduces, and then really loud at 60MPH. The slight ticking I noticed originally appears to be in the upper bearing of the CV/axle shaft. No typical clacking from a bad CV, but now I need to dive in deeper and figure out if that is the source, or perhaps another bearing.

 

Have you done the ECGS bushing swap? I had a similar groaning/droning type sound right after my suspension lift, and it was obviously the CV axle bearing as it meets the TC. The ECGS bushing took care of the problem.

 

Yes, I meant to note that I had the ECGS bushing installed to correct the needle bearing noise issue.

 

How did these turn out? I'm a little sketched out by the website, but I'm definitely interested in going this route.

 

I bought one from them like 6 years ago when I thought I had a bearing go out. But it ended up I was just an idiot and not used to the noises my truck made when cornering (my stereo went out and i could hear EVERYTHING for the first time). I never installed it. Then, when my wheels bearings finally did get loud, I bought a second one from the same site, and then installed them last year (2023). So far so good. No long term review, but the 6 years between purchase and the website is still up and shipping. I feel good about it.

 

Don't underestimate tire noise... My wife had a RAV 4 that I would have bet a paycheck on a bad bearing, but a new set of tires resolved it

 

Yeah, I just had them balanced and an alignment. I'm pretty sure it is the tires because everything else checks out. It's a little better now, but the Cooper AT3 4S that has little road noise when new apparently are known to howl loudly at the mid-wear point. I just ticked over 32k. Oh well. I have a new bearing assembly and a spare. <sad trombones>