Front Wheel Bearing
About two weeks ago, I noticed a "howling" coming from the car at speeds of 30km/h and higher. After a few days, I concluded
it was a bad wheel bearing. I jacked up the front end and found some play in the left front, and some noise when I spun the wheel.
The right side was quiet, so I made plans to change out the left front wheel bearing. I came across this site, Paul's Travel Pictures,
which shows detailed instructions on how to change the bearing. Here is how my job went.....
SKF bearing.
The spare tire allows room for the 36mm hub socket. An old roof rack cross bar makes a great breaker bar.
Remove the caliper (2 x 15mm), then the hub (3x 13mm).
A couple of whacks with the hammer and the bearing came right off..
Old on the left, new on the right.
New bearing on the car.
All torqued up and ready for the tire.
At this point I took the car for a short test drive. Imagine my suprise when the "howl" was still there. I ran up to the local parts
store and grabbed another bearing for the right side. I changed it out, and the "howl" was gone. When changing the right bearing,
I didn't use the spare tire, as the breaker bar cracked the axle nut with ease.
April 16, 2014
Have to replace the left front bearing due to growling. Used SKF again.
February 22, 2015
Have to change the right front bearing due to growling. I'm done with the SKF brand, so will try a Delco. It may not be better, but
it does have a 5 year warranty vs 1 year on the SKF.
March 15, 2016
Funny story. A few weeks after installing the Delco bearing last year, the ABS started freaking out minutes after starting the car. I
didn't have time to look at the problem, so I unplugged the right front ABS connector and tied it out of the way. I figured I had
pinched the wire and the sensor was shorting out. I probably shouldn't have done this, because over a year has gone by and the
"ABS" and "TRAC" light are still on.
Today I had the car in the shop to get the right cv shaft replaced, so I had the tech look at the bearing and see what was going on.
Well, I was right, the wire got pinched. I had the parts store zip a new one over to him, and I'll see if I can "warranty" the old one.
Pinched wire.
May 7, 2017
The right front bearing has been growling for almost 6 months now, so it needs to be changed.
Warranty replacement Delco bearing; it lasted one year.
I have always borrowed a 36mm socket for this job, so this time I bought
one. I recently had the cv shafts replaced, and word is that they use a smaller
nut. Turns out the aftermarket axles use a 34mm socket. Good thing I bought
both; will return the 36mm.
May 21, 2017
Within a few days of replacing the right front wheel bearing, I thought I was hearing another faint wheel bearing growl. Sure enough,
as the days passed, the growl got louder and louder, Time to replace the left front wheel bearing, again.....
This should get me 2 years before needed replacement.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or see any errors, please let me know..... cbradley@telus.net
Last updated on May 21/2017
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