Front Brakes or Wheel bearings...??

Hi 'tyj,

The metal-on-metal sound during a turn is usually wheel bearings. But, when they have it all apart, might as well have them do brakes too. Or at least deglaze the rotors.

Try the down hill neutral braking to try to clean up any rust on the rotors. That might be the whoosh-whoosh sound. Make it a small hill, just in case the metal on metal is pad backing plate on rotor.

 

that's a bearing alright.

 

could also be cv joints

 

Get it to a dealer before a wheel falls off. No joke.

 

My SWAG is bearings. Shouldn't be a huge job to replace them. While you're in there, go ahead and throw on some new brake pads. Maybe even flush the brake system and put in some new stop-juice.

If it's the CV joints, they're probably not difficult to replace, but they will probably not be too cheap.

 

Bearings. You have to replace the whole Hub assembly. Probably $250+ each side just for parts at Toyota.

 

PartsTrain.com - Hard to Find Auto Parts and Truck Parts has them for $119 a side plus~$10 shipping. Autozone has them for $169 a side.

 

Did you actually check the wheel bearings and check for foreign objects between the rotor and backing plate? Did you make sure you don't have a stick stuck in the under tray which is dragging on the ground? Yes I had this happen to me.

Don't buy hubs and bearings until you're sure they are faulty. Check the brake wear indicators, little metal springs that touch the rotors before the backing plates of the disc pads do to make lots of noise to alert you to impending brake repairs. Jack up the front wheels and see if the noise is evident when you hand spin the wheels in neutral and check for play in the bearing by grasping the wheel top and bottom and attempt to rock it sideways. If no movement I doubt the bearings have failed.

If you have a failed bearing only change the side that has failed. Wheel bearing failure is rare these days on FWD cars due to excellent sealing and fine tolerances.

 

My first guess was brake pads but CV joints and bearings could be it too. Keep us posted on what it really is and we need pictures man.:rockon:

Is it coming from both sides? If so man Prius should balanced those parts to wear out at the same time.

 

02 gen 1 (for another week at least)

i foolishly clipped a curb turning a corner (it was a new curb that had been pushed out three feet). I cought it with my right rear tire. This was 3-4 months ago.

it now makes a noise as the rear wheel spins, and it is noticable in stealth mode.

When i had the 140K service, they said i should replace the bearings and the wheel, at about $1200 total, which struck me as way too high.

Is this a safety issue? The car runs fine and is getting its best mileage ever (55 on the last few tanks). It seems like a mild bearing issue, like one got out of round. Can this stay this way untreated and is it safe?

If i have to take the plunge, assuming the wheel is no good, how much should I pay to replace both the wheel and the bearings?

thanks

 

Get a wheel from a junk yard and take it to an independent repair person. $1200 is a little steep man.

 

anything involving brake fluid in a prius should never, ever, EVER be done by a shadetree mechanic, or by anyone who does not have the proper dealership equipment. it cannot be done the typical diy way and will just lead to the car going to the dealership on a towtruck.

 

Listen to G, it is very critical that anything involving bleeding the brakes be done with the dealership scantool. I posted the shop manual section here

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...em-rear-brakes-no-pressure-when-bleeding.html

Along with some schematics that illustrate the brake system operation under normal and failure mode situations. I wouldn't touch a Prius braking system

 

thx - anybody have an answer to the safety question and what a bearing replacement on a rear wheel should cost?

 

Hi Fred, the WB assy retails about $250 and the wheel 1/2 that. Guessing 1 hr labor for WB, surely less than 2 hr. I don't think you need a Toyota shop for this work because the brake system i snot opened - it is just re-hung on the new part

Wheels should be available through other channels. A WB from a salvage dismantler with some sort of warranty might not be a bad source.

I don't see a major safety issue here, although you may be loosing tread rubber quickly of the wheel is very bent. When the bearings finish eating themselves the noise is going to get much louder but I do not believe a rear wheel will fall off.

 

thanks a lot

the noise is not super loud and doesn't seem to be getting worse

i am not even sure the rear wheel itself is "bad"

so much less than $1200. i could order a wheel and a WB assembly from a salvage yard and pay a regular mechanic to do the install

 

Doesn't it make anyone else just a little ill to read of someone who doesn't know how to determine whether the bearings or joints are bad, yet they plan to go ahead and do the repair work themselves? (Not you Fred, I mean the OP.)