Wheel bearing replaced still play?

jman11788

jman11788

Member
So I've been trying to diagnose this humming sound for a month since i installed 2 new front wheel bearings. I never even thought to check the front bearings because I thought they would be good since they were just replaced. I let a shop to do the work by me bringing my hub assembly to them. They did it pretty fast for $120.

Finally discovered there is a bunch of play at 12:6 and 3:9 on both sides. It's scary. Could they have installed something wrong? My ABS light came on after the replacement. Could a bad bearing over time cause a hub to go bad? This sound is driving me nuts!!!!
 
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jman11788 said:
Bump.....
Click to expand...

Just my experience here, on my 5th Gen I replaced a hub assembly with a brand-new one. I had the same play you're describing- apparently the hub assembly was pressed together incorrectly. After a brief hassle with the vendor I was shipped a new unit to install and all was good.
 
jman11788 said:
So I've been trying to diagnose this humming sound for a month since i installed 2 new front wheel bearings. I never even thought to check the front bearings because I thought they would be good since they were just replaced. I let a shop to do the work by me bringing my hub assembly to them. They did it pretty fast for $120.

Finally discovered there is a bunch of play at 12:6 and 3:9 on both sides. It's scary. Could they have installed something wrong? My ABS light came on after the replacement. Could a bad bearing over time cause a hub to go bad? This sound is driving me nuts!!!!
Click to expand...

Should not be any play at all. I did this job myself and there are several precautions you must take so you don't destroy the new bearing. It is NOT a quick job at all. And just to be clear, the new bearing is pressed into the spindle which has a "hub" but unlike the other poster's newer generation 4Runner it is not an assembly. When I did my bearings, I think they were fine at 170K. They seem to be extremely durable bearings. Only replaced them when I replaced my rusty backing plates.
 
No play allowed.

Unlike Antman's 5th gen (works for the 4th gen too) we can't get just a separate hub assembly. That would be nice but to sell such would be $$$.
 
I will be honest I did not replace with OEM. Got them off Amazon for pretty cheap, they seem to have good reviews though. I do have a lift, wheel spacers and larger tires, could be too much stress for these bearings?
 
Wheel bearing are not something I would cheap out on. OEM are typically Koyo or NSK and those are the only brands I trust. It sounds like you took the spindle off and had the shop press the old bearing out and press the new one in for you and you reassembled everything right? My first question would be did you torque the axle nut to the proper spec (174ft-lbs.)? If you didn't torque it properly that's the easiest way to kill brand new wheel bearings, and this would be accelerated by the fact that you are running wheel spacers.
 
Brad_solo said:
Wheel bearing are not something I would cheap out on. OEM are typically Koyo or NSK and those are the only brands I trust. It sounds like you took the spindle off and had the shop press the old bearing out and press the new one in for you and you reassembled everything right? My first question would be did you torque the axle nut to the proper spec (174ft-lbs.)? If you didn't torque it properly that's the easiest way to kill brand new wheel bearings, and this would be accelerated by the fact that you are running wheel spacers.
Click to expand...

I usually do a pretty good job torquing everything down correctly. I will double check everything.

LittleCaesar said:
If they are Koyo they should be Ok, though the one replacement I used was OEM.
Click to expand...

Its not a koyo. Precision or something like that
 
jman11788 said:
I will be honest I did not replace with OEM. Got them off Amazon for pretty cheap, they seem to have good reviews though. I do have a lift, wheel spacers and larger tires, could be too much stress for these bearings?
Click to expand...

Ive always had good luck with National Bearings. Installing various wheel bearings and hubs on different honda and hubs on Chevrolet
 
jman11788 said:
Do you think if I get these bearings it'll fix the play?
Click to expand...

I would think so. As stated above go with OEM or Koyo. Torque the axle nut to 174ft-lbs. and you should be good to go. The best way to do it is put it all together, don't impact the axle nut on, start it by hand. Have someone inside the truck hold the brakes for you and torque it using your torque wrench.
 
Brad_solo said:
I would think so. As stated above go with OEM or Koyo. Torque the axle nut to 174ft-lbs. and you should be good to go. The best way to do it is put it all together, don't impact the axle nut on, start it by hand. Have someone inside the truck hold the brakes for you and torque it using your torque wrench.
Click to expand...

You're a genius! I torqued the cv shaft to 90ft-lbs the first time. There's the answer for one side.. Haha thanks
 
Brad_solo said:
Glad I could help you out, Did torquing it down correctly help solve your problem? Or is it already too late?
Click to expand...

Right now I've only looked at one side and there is zero play now. I'm sure I torqued the other cv the same. Haven't test drove it yet to hear for that hum. I'll update you
 
I don't think the CV axle nut has anything to do with the bearing play.

Wheel bearings, OEM ONLY. I won't even go with Nachi or Koyo aftermarket.

Be careful, too much play can cause the wheel to hit the caliper.
 
nissanh said:
I don't think the CV axle nut has anything to do with the bearing play.

Wheel bearings, OEM ONLY. I won't even go with Nachi or Koyo aftermarket.

Be careful, too much play can cause the wheel to hit the caliper.
Click to expand...

It 100% has to do with play. The axle is the only thing that holds the hub tight against the outer race on the wheel bearing. They have such a high torque value for a reason. If the hub is not seated tightly to the bering race it will have a small amount of movement that can be felt by holding the tire at 12 and 6 oclock position and wiggling back and forth which causes vibration and humming noises while driving.
 
Update: other shaft was torqued properly. On the test drive the sound diminished and I'm 100% sure it's the drivers side wheel bearing. I'm relieved now, thanks for the help!
 
nissanh said:
I don't think the CV axle nut has anything to do with the bearing play.

Wheel bearings, OEM ONLY. I won't even go with Nachi or Koyo aftermarket.

Be careful, too much play can cause the wheel to hit the caliper.
Click to expand...

But that is OEM. Just not in the same
Box. I'm running koyo on one side and OEM on the other side. OEM is identical to koyo bearing from koyo box. Just saying
 
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