Right at 150K, I started getting some noise that sounded like tire noise. I suspected that it was a wheel bearing since I hadn't changed the tires. I jacked up the 4Runner and the left front wheel moved. Felt like the lugs were loose but they were tight.
So I started searching for the best way for a shade tree mechanic to replace the wheel bearings. Lots of good stuff out there including on this forum.
I thought I would try to put everything in one thread to make it easier for the next guy. It is not a difficult job if you buy the complete hub and can be done with hand tools.
Here are a couple of videos that show you the process. I'll refer to them in the rest of the post.
Video 1,
Video 2
I bought the hub from
@
nj636
. He has a
classified here. There is another member that sells them as well if you search the classifed.
@
nj636
was closer and I liked the customer service that was evidence in his posts. I wasn't let down. I needed (wanted) to get the hub by the weekend and he made it happen.
So what did I learn that I wanted to pass on -
Get the inner axle shaft seal (National Oil Seal - Part No 710573) when you order the hub. It looked like it would be a pain to replace so I was hoping it would be fine. Note this is the seal in the knuckle where the CV shaft connects. Mine was toast. It also wasn't too hard to replace (see below).
I had no real problem getting the hub separated from the shaft as shown in video one - sort of. I got the hub separated from the knuckle but I don't think it was moving along the shaft. I was afraid I was going to hurt the CV joint so I ended up using a three arm puller and it popped right off. That was after messing with it for about an hour. I think if I would have whacked it with a hammer like in video two (I personally would have used a piece of wood to protect the axle but I guess the guy was replacing it anyway), it would have popped right off once I had the hub and the knuckle separated.
Once I had it off, I saw that my seal was toast (may be why the bearing failed in the first place). I knocked the old one out with a large dowel (bigger than a broom handle).
I dropped the two bolts that separate the front suspension arm sub assembly from the steering knuckle like in video 2 - Note that I did not pull the tie rod connecting bolt. No need to, there is plenty of play to remove the CV shaft from the knuckle. It was also under pressure so I used a jack to support it while I removed the bolts. Once I removed the shaft, I cleaned up the inside of the steering knuckle. I bought a new seal and used a piece of wood and a couple of c-clamps to press it into place. It seats pretty easily and you can look at it and see a gap anywhere it isn't fully seated. It would be impossible to press in too far. As I was getting this post ready, I found this entry in the middle of the CV shaft replacement thread. The
first post mentions using wood, the second one notes that the dust cover is the exact right size to use to seat the seals. It wasn't hard with the C-clamps but it would have been a piece of cake if I would have use the dust cover.
The install was just the reverse of the removal and went fast. Might be good to have a second pair of hands to hold the dust cover in place as you tighten the hub up initially. All-in-all, it was really easy using the complete hub.
Set me back about $200. The local mechanic wanted $750 to do it.
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