It's not like waiting hurt the bearings. Once they are bad they are bad. Consider yourself lucky to have a few more free miles from them. You can be angry about the safety issue, but there isn't much recourse for that. Tom
Thank you both! I learned from both posts. Cars, ah, even prius-good luck bad luck, but yes, I am grateful to get a few more miles AND not to have the wheel fall off!
Has anyone changed a front wheel bearing and still have the old hub to hand. If so could you look and see if you can read the bearing number etched on the end of the bearing, not the Toyota hub part number. Alternatively does anyone know if the bearing is the same as the GEN1 Prius. I can buy hub bearings for around £20 and have hydraulic press to remove and fit them so do not see the point in paying around £250 to buy a casting I do not need.
If you do this procedure plz plz plz take pictures of the process, thanks. after all, HOW HARD CAN IT BE? (I love to tease you don't I?)
There is nothing magical about bearing being pressed into hubs and since I have access to a full engineering workshop including bearing freezing and hub casting induction heater if required I see no logical reason why this cannot be done. At the moment "touch wood" the bearings on my car are fine but at 80,000miles feel it prudent to do some research to find bearing type in advance as once I remove the hub I have no transport.
Will the Timken pic help? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000IYGFWA/ref=dp_image_text_0?ie=UTF8&n=15684181&s=automotive http://images.whisystems.com/smartpages/partinfo_resize/TIM/HA590064-A.jpg http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/TMK-HA590064_SN.jpg
I used a cutoff wheel on my Dremel, and first ground the wheel down on a brick to make it a little smaller to fit in there. Grind tiny slots on either side of the dent, then use a few inventive little tools to tap it up and bend/break it off. Threads on the axle were untouched, and the nut came right off. New axle nut about 5 or 6 bucks at the dealer, or reuse the old one and just assume it will hold.
I have an 05 that needs a left front bearing replacement. Wondering if I should try tackling this job. The local shop wants $690 to do it which seems high to me although I may be being naive. Many of the steps seem as though they should be fairly simple. Obviously what I want to avoid would be getting partway done and being unable to finish it. I'm generally handy with this sort of thing but as I've gotten older, I've stopped doing much beyond a basic oil and filter change. Appreciate any comments or suggestions on the pitfalls of trying this as well as the quoted price.
Just got done 2007 front hubs. Replaced with Moog buy boy did they take forever to bang out of the wheel knuckle.