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I replace my front hub assembly Friday night! All is good again!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Hokie-Dave, Jun 9, 2014.

  1. Hokie-Dave

    Hokie-Dave Member

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    Manassas, VA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    I’d like to thank everybody that has added insight into replacing the front wheel hub assembly on other posts. I had a horrible howling sound coming from my right front wheel bearing for around a month or so and finally had time to replace it.

    I completed this job on my 2007 Prius with 133,000 miles Friday night. From start to finish, raising it up on lift to lowering it for the final time took just slightly over 2 hours. After that was done, we spent an hour chaging the transmission fluid and the ICE oil and filter (and knocking back a couple cold ones). I think this is something anybody can definitely do with a little patience and willingness to save some money on parts and labor. I purchased a Moog front hub assembly from the local autoparts store using a 30% off online coupon, and bought a new axle nut from the local Toyota Dealership along with 4 qts of Toyota WS trans fluid (they must think this stuff is gold. Lol). I lucked out and the guy at the parts desk told me there was a $25 off online coupon which he applied to my order knocking the trans fluid down from $16 to about $10/qt.


    Here is a quick writeup on the steps I used to replace the front hub assembly.


    1) Raised car off ground

    2) Removed front right wheel

    3) Used a smallish punch to relieve the crimp in the axle nut

    4) Removed axle nut with impact wrench

    5) Removed front brake caliper and hung it up out of the way using some safety wire attached to the front strut spring.

    6) Removed brake caliper mounting bracket and brake rotor

    7) Removed the 2 nuts and 1 bolt holding the steering knuckle to the front control arm.

    8) Remove the cotter pin and remove castle nut holding tie rod onto steering knuckle. Use Tie Rod splitter to remove tie rod from front knuckle

    9) Removed the abs sensor from steering knuckle.

    10) Used a ¾” wide brass drift to knock the axle loose from inside the hub assembly.

    11) Rotated the knuckle and hub assembly to the side and pulled the axle the rest of the way out of the hub and carefully laid it to the side (don’t want to damage the threads or splines.) Axle will just hang out of the way (not actually come off the car)

    12) Removed the two bolts hold steering knuckle to strut

    13) Removed Steering knuckle from car.

    14) Gently pry off the shield on the back without bending it.

    15) Remove the 4 bolts holding the hub assembly in place. Placed it laying down in a vice and used a ¾” brass drift and large hammer to loosen hub assembly from steering knuckle.

    16) Clean hole in steering knuckle with wire wheel and/or some emery cloth. Oxidation occurs with the steel bearing sitting in the aluminum steering knuckle.

    17) Press in new hub assembly as far as it will go. Carefully tighten the 4 bolts, alternating from side to side to pull hub assembly into place. I used a regular 3/8” rachet for this. I did not want to strip the holes or get bearing cock-eyed. Torque the 4 bolts to spec.

    18) Press the shield back on making sure you line up the hold with the whole in the steering knuckle that the abs sensor fits through.

    19) Attach Steering knucle assembly to strut with the two bolts removed in step 12 above

    20) Slide axle through the hub assembly and make sure it is seated all of the way (you should not be able to see exiter ring in back; it should be fully covered by the little shield.

    21) Screw on new axle nut

    22) Replace the 1 bolt and 2 screws that were removed in step 7 above

    23) Replace the tie rod and screw on the castle nut you removed in step 8 above.

    24) Torque the 2 strut bolts, the 2 nuts and 1 bolt attaching the lower control arm and the tie rod nut to spec. Replace the cotter pin on the tie rod end.

    25) Replace the abs sensor and torque bolt to proper spec.

    26) Replace brake rotor

    27) Replace brake caliper mounting bracket and torque bolts to spec

    28) Replace brake caliper and torque bolts to spec

    29) Spray brake rotor on both sides with brake cleaner (make sure to rotate brake rotor to get all of it.)

    30) Remove Center Cap in wheel. Replace wheel and 5 lug nuts.

    31) Lower car to ground

    32) Torque the axle nut to proper spec

    33) Raise car again, remove wheel and put a crimp in the axle nut so it won’t come loose.

    34) Replace wheel, 5 lug nuts and center cap

    35) Lower car to ground

    36) Torque the lug nuts to spec

    The car is nice and quiet again! I can't believe I drove with the howling for as long as I did.

    Thanks,
    dave
     
    Prius_Cub and ftl like this.
  2. Massageguy

    Massageguy Junior Member

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    2007 Prius
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    ----USA----
    Apparently, I must have the same problem because the Toyota dealership in Ann Arbor, Michigan wants to charge me $1250 to replace the front hub and bearing for both sides of the front. $500 for the two sides for parts, and at least $700 in labor. I can't really do it myself, so I'm hoping to look around at independent mechanics for a cheaper price. My 2007 Prius has 193,000 miles. It's really frustrating.
     
  3. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    My dealer said 250euro for the hub and 250 for the work.
    I bought one for 68€ (same bearing as the original one) and did the work myself. So even with a local mechanic to do the work, you should be able to get it done for about half the Toyota quoted price.
     
  4. Hokie-Dave

    Hokie-Dave Member

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    Plug-in Base
    If you don't or can't do it yourself, it will definitely save you money by finding a local mechanic that will let you purchase the parts and have him install them. Look for on-line coupons to your local auto parts stores for more savings.
     
  5. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Many mechanics will not install customer supplied parts.
    But you may be able to ask the local mechanic to purchase the part for you and then install it.
    It'll be slightly more than you purchasing it yourself, but still less than the dealer.
     
  6. Hokie-Dave

    Hokie-Dave Member

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    Very true. Depending on where you are, there may be some small shops willing to do it for just the labor. I found a shop willing to install a used steering rack on my old 2002 Prius that I picked up from a salvage yard.
     
  7. Massageguy

    Massageguy Junior Member

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    Thank you for your responses. I took the car to three independent mechanics. Two of the three mechanics took a test drive with me, and gave me the impression that while there was a small amount of noise indicating a worn left front bearing, raising the car up and using a stethoscope was a more definitive test. Moreover, the price to replace one side might be as low as a little below $400 (Timken or SKF brand), saving over 1/3 from the price the dealership quoted. Also, this was not a repair that had to be done yesterday, I have a little time to carefully review my options.
    A couple of months ago I did run over a very deep pot hole that damaged both tires on the driver side of my car. Car was towed, tires replaced with new ones, a front alignment done. This could be the reason for there to be a worn bearing on the left.
     
    #7 Massageguy, Jun 20, 2014
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2014
  8. 08GRAYtour

    08GRAYtour Junior Member

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    Do you need a new axle nut or you can reuse the old one?
     
  9. Hokie-Dave

    Hokie-Dave Member

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    It is always recommended to use a new axle nut. I did. Cheap unsurance.