Wheel bearings

happyclown · Post by **happyclown** » February 19th, 2006, 8:11 pm

I think I need to replace one of my wheel bearings... but Im not to sure...

Are there any ways to pin point a bad wheel bearing? What are some signs of a bad bearing?

Are they easy to replace?

thanks

JWMX3 · Post by **JWMX3** » February 19th, 2006, 9:43 pm

the rear ones are easy, you buy the new hub with a bearing in it and just swap them, the fronts you can remove the hubs and take them to a machine shop to press the bearings out and install new ones

usually with a bad bearing you can hear a whirring or humming noise when driving, i replaces some escort wheel bearings and thats what the symptoms were which made it obvious

Urbanconcept · Post by **Urbanconcept** » February 20th, 2006, 12:37 am

I've had to replace wheel bearings in my car. It almost sounds like a clickedy clickedy clickedy sound at first when making turns, and then as they get worse a sort of spoiling sound (like when the motor revs up) as you speed up or slower as you slow down. Not sure if that makes any sense lol. Oh and I have only had to do the front wheel bearings.

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » February 20th, 2006, 1:14 am

You have to have a press to do the front or the rear bearings. But like the guy above said, buy the whole rear spindle, it is cheaper and easier.
You can check them by jacking the car up and putting jack stands under it. Then grab the top and bottom of the wheel and try to push and pull the wheel. If it moves top to bottom the bearing is bad.
New bearings are about 50 bucks for the front and a bit more for the whole rear spindle.

lakersfan1 · Post by **lakersfan1** » February 20th, 2006, 7:39 am

I bought my front wheel bearings for $30 each.

ccreech · Post by **ccreech** » February 20th, 2006, 9:27 am

You must have bought those remaufactured bearings

No, that is about right. Rock Auto sells them for $33.79/ each:

BECK/ARNLEY Part # 0514065
2 Per Car {Front Wheel Bearing} More Info
$33.79 $0.00 $33.79

lakersfan1 · Post by **lakersfan1** » February 20th, 2006, 9:46 am

ccreech wrote: You must have bought those remaufactured bearings

No, that is about right. Rock Auto sells them for $33.79/ each:
BECK/ARNLEY Part # 0514065
2 Per Car {Front Wheel Bearing} More Info
$33.79 $0.00 $33.79

Nope. $29.59 for an SKF brand wheel bearing. Same brand as alot of the OEM bearings from the Mazda factory.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » February 20th, 2006, 12:26 pm

damb thats cheep. i looked all over and 40 USD is the cheepest i found. iv had to replace both front ones. and i have to replace another front one again. damb my agressive cornering

on the MX-West Kelowna trip last year my wheel berring started sounding real bad about half way up on the 8 hour drive to Kelowna. i was going to replace it when we got there cause you could flop the wheel back and forth like almost a 1/4", but i decided to just do it when i got home. i just made sure i tightened the axel nut up and called it good untill i got home. but i called around to find one and found one in Kelowna and found one for 30 CAN. cheep cheep compaired to the 40 or 50 USD i had been spending. if i were to go to my local tire shop to buy the same berring it would cost 70 USD for the exact same manufactor brand that i can buy for 40 at the parts store. they wont press any other part into the hub thats not their own, in other words only things they sell off their shelf. because they cant warentee anything they dont sell. but i wasent asking for a warentee. what is one to do.

ccreech · Post by **ccreech** » February 20th, 2006, 3:01 pm

lakersfan1 wrote:Nope. $29.59 for an SKF brand wheel bearing. Same brand as alot of the OEM bearings from the Mazda factory.

Where do you find SKF bearings?

lakersfan1 · Post by **lakersfan1** » February 21st, 2006, 7:19 am

http://www.stopshopanddrive.com

JWMX3 · Post by **JWMX3** » February 21st, 2006, 10:30 am

I also used SKF ,in canada you can get them at partsourse, a little more expensive then lakersfans price m 45cdn i think

happyclown · Post by **happyclown** » February 21st, 2006, 10:46 pm

Ok, so i got a new bearing and wheel seal... so I should be able to take apart the assembly and have a shop press my new bearing in... right?

My friend was telling me that i will not be able to do it because of the axles. He said Im gonna need to have that pressed out too.

Is that true... Is that not something I could do? what kinda tool would I need for that?

lakersfan1 · Post by **lakersfan1** » February 22nd, 2006, 9:27 am

You'll want to take the whole hub off and take the whole thing in to the machine shop and plop it on thier table with the bearing and seal. They'll know what to do.

happyclown · Post by **happyclown** » February 22nd, 2006, 10:12 am

So does the hub include the axel?

I suppose i'll find out as I go. I'll be jacken 'er up in just a few mins...

lakersfan1 · Post by **lakersfan1** » February 22nd, 2006, 10:18 am

happyclown wrote:So does the hub include the axel?

No. The axle runs through the hub, but they disconnect. You'll need a 32mm socket for the hub nut.