Front Wheel Bearings

[hungryeddy]

Hey guys

I'm getting a sound coming from the front suspension (driver side) when about 30mph. It is only there when I turn the wheel left and its tied with the speed i'm going. its like a woosh woosh (lol) with every rotation of the tire. kinda like mt's on the road.

it looks like i'll be doing my front wheel bearings soon and a few questions came up after doing a bit of research.

according to ARKRWLR in this thread:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...nner-tie-rods-ball-joints-wheel-bearings.html

the wheel bearing part number is 90369-54002... around $65 for an oem part from camelback... i thought i would save a few bucks and go with a vatozone brand, but when i looked it up the timken version was $150 and the duralast brand was $93... REALLY??

why are the autoparts store versions so much more expensive? am i missing something here?

Also, what parts can i skip out on? i know the snap ring is often reused, along with the seals. i'm trying to budget here and knock out both sides at once.

 

[Singtoe]

No need to do both sides. Just do the bad one. The other side might last another 50k miles.

You should be able to reuse the dust seals but you might need to get the outer seal because it might get destroyed while removing the hub.

 

[Nelsonmd]

I was able to reuse all parts, but I replaced the c-clips as well because they get pretty heavily stressed when you press out the hub and they are cheap.

Don't bother with anything but OEM, they aren't badly prices from the right dealer. The bearing PN was recently superseded, so consider using a trusted dealer like toyota of Dallas that allows you to enter the VIN to make sure you get the right part.

You can reuse all the seals if you remove them carefully. They are surprisingly expensive.

 

[hungryeddy]

thanks

I don't have a press, and i really don't want to wrestle with the knuckle anyway if i were to buy a press. so i'm going to have to take it to a machinist. the feces part about THAT is that you don't know how careful they're going to be with your stuff. its not their rig what do they care. i think i'm just going to fork up the cash and buy both seals and clips.

what is this for and will i need it? 43524-35010 SPACER, FR WHEEL INN

i'm looking at about $150 in parts if i order online. does that sound right?

 

[Nelsonmd]

thanks

I don't have a press, and i really don't want to wrestle with the knuckle anyway if i were to buy a press. so i'm going to have to take it to a machinist. the feces part about THAT is that you don't know how careful they're going to be with your stuff. its not their rig what do they care. i think i'm just going to fork up the cash and buy both seals and clips.

what is this for and will i need it? 43524-35010 SPACER, FR WHEEL INN

i'm looking at about $150 in parts if i order online. does that sound right?

Well, there are advantages and disadvantages to both ways. I don't know how much a machine shop will charge you for this, but a press is only about $120, so if the shop charges that much, then you could get a press essentially for free. Shop may be able to do a better job, though that isn't guaranteed and I feel like I did a very good job on mine.

That spacer is absolutely needed (assuming you have 4WD and ABS) That spacer holds the ABS ring in place and once the axle bolt is tightened, that ring hugs the ABS ring in place. I found that both the spacer and ABS ring will spin when installed but the knuckle off the rig (they are held in by a cam, not by a press fit) and they are secured in place when the axle nut is tightened

Check out my build thread for by bearing replacement saga. Also here is my other thread about the ABS ring and spacer spinning. I never got an answer in that thread, but [MENTION=59542]Singtoe[/MENTION] confirmed for me that I had it on the right way.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/110466-front-abs-ring-spinning-freely.html

 

[Singtoe]

That spacer is absolutely needed (assuming you have 4WD and ABS) That spacer holds the ABS ring in place and once the axle bolt is tightened, that ring hugs the ABS ring in place. I found that both the spacer and ABS ring will spin when installed but the knuckle off the rig (they are held in by a cam, not by a press fit) and they are secured in place when the axle nut is tightened

The spacer is needed but not needed to replace. You can reuse the original.

 

[Nelsonmd]

The spacer is needed but not needed to replace. You can reuse the original.

Right, I suppose that is an important distinction.

 

[BrianSD_42]

My bearings are still going strong @ 217k miles!

 

[Nelsonmd]

My bearings are still going strong @ 217k miles!

You get much salt on the roads down there in sunny San Diego?

Drive through the ocean on your way to work every day for half the year and they might go on you :boom:

I am surprised my seals weren't trashed after 140k in New England. You can't really re-grease them or anything, so they just rub constantly.

 

[BrianSD_42]

That is a good point. No salt on the roads here in California. Even in the mountains they use sand.

 

[hungryeddy]

thanks for the help singtoe and nelsonmd

after going through your thread, now i'm even more torn as to take it to someone or do it myself. I really like the idea of picking up a used knuckle to do this on and then just replace the whole knuckle.

will any knuckle with abs work? i think i remember reading on here that the abs sensor ports were changed through the years, but i can't find that thread.

the problem is i don't have a welder... so making jigs would be hard for me. i'd have to get REALLY creative with the things i have laying around. or go to the junkyard and find something that will work for this... maybe a steel wheel or something. ideas welcome

also, if my press breaks, i won't be able to fix it... the 20 ton one should be stronger (tho with hf you never know). they're pretty good about replacing the stuff that breaks within the first 30 days tho.

i'm going to go ahead and order the parts for one side. where were you able to pick up knuckles so cheap? did they come with the hub and bearings? we don't have many self serve yards, and the ones we do have never have 3rd gens.

edit: it looks like its the same knuckle for tacos, sequoia and tundras, is that right?

there's two toyota yards, yotajims and yotayard, but they trade you your body parts for their parts. too expensive going through them.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Here is the results of PN search on the knuckle:

11/1995-07/2002 TOYOTA 4RUNNER RZN18*,VZN18* 48-02: FRONT AXLE ARM & STEERING KNUCKLE
01/1995-08/2004 TOYOTA TACOMA RZN161,171,VZN160,170 48-02: FRONT AXLE ARM & STEERING KNUCKLE
01/1995-08/2004 TOYOTA TACOMA RZN140,150,19*,VZN150,195 48-02: FRONT AXLE ARM & STEERING KNUCKLE
02/1999-09/2006 TOYOTA TUNDRA GSK30,UCK3*,4*,VCK30,40 48-02: FRONT AXLE ARM & STEERING KNUCKLE
09/2000-10/2007 TOYOTA SEQUOIA UCK35,45 48-02: FRONT AXLE ARM & STEERING KNUCKLE

It looks like the Tacoma, Tundra, and Sequoia use it. I am a little surprised about the late model tundra and sequoia. They changed the LBJ design for the 4th gen 4runner, I wouldn't think they'd still want the 3rd gen's flawed design around anymore.


As far as the jigs and what-not go, I know I'm getting ambitious here, but HF has a 90A welder that works off a 120V outlet for about $90-120. You could both that and the press for still probably less than taking it to a dealer. At this point, the machine shop is probably cheaper, but then you wouldn't have a press AND a welder afterwards. And in all honesty, with a press, a welder, and an angle grinder, there's no maintenance you can't do at home.

 

[hungryeddy]

Pissed

I think I may have miss diagnosed my front end noise :redbrick:

I was in the garage tinkering today and took off the wheel and checked everything out. I noticed it was actually the brake dust shield that was making the noise. I bended it towards the truck and it stopped the noise. I've only tested driven it around the neighborhood but I did do things that would have made the noise.

This crap part about this is that i've already ordered all the OEM parts for the wheel bearing replacement, along with a salvage yard knuckle I was going to do the work on to minimize down time! This SUCKS. :mad2:

Anyone need to replace their front driver side bearing? I'll go 10% less than what i'm into it. :hiding: