I'm in it now - Front wheel bearing/hub replacement

I'm back, 80,000 miles later, and now it's time for the other one. Last time I just bought the bearing and had a local machine shop press the old one out and the new one back in, but it was kind of nervewracking and I am not entirely sure I saved that much money. It certainly took more time, and this go-round I would much rather just buy the damn thing together, bearing already pressed into whatever the hell that part is, "hub assembly" as I recall.

So I am looking all over and can't seem to find anybody who sell that. Any ideas?

Thanks, Joe

 

Ummm, that would be a GenII or newer, Joe. Gen I (including your 2002) models get just the plain old bearing, and you have to press it out and press the new one in, probably at a machine shop. It took you long enough to figure it out, didn't it?

Nothing is easy, boy.

 

did not remove ball joint, much eaiser to remove the 3 nuts on the lower arm and led the knuckle be in place.

changed both front bearing hubs, 80% of noise removed,last 20% assumed as tire noise. Really improvement. Registred little rainbow colour on one of the bearings. Change were simple on the on axis on the other i needed to remove the knuckle to bring to visit local garage where they must flame-heat and use 15 tons pressssure to remove bearing hub from knukle - they've not met a knuckle this difficult before. (guess alu knuckle and steel hub corrosion is the case)

 

AM Auto Parts has the wheel bearing hubs (Timken) for $238.55 this is for a 2004-2009 Prius.

 

I can't get my passenger side half shaft out of the transaxle. Any tips?

 

Appreciate the forum. Removed the steering knuckle and still could not pound out the bearing assembly. Pounded the bearing apart and with a diamond coated reciprocating saw blade- about $15 from Menards- cut a slot through the outer cage through to the aluminum. Possibly a torch could have annealed it enough for a regular blade. Quite a bit of pounding got the cage out. A lot of scraping with a utility knife cleaned out the bore- perhaps ended up a little oversize. Had trouble installing the half shaft. After ramming the knuckle assembly against the shaft with the lower control arm pulled out of the way, got enough thread engagement with the spindle nut and pulled everything together by cranking the nut home. Not an easy job at 82 years but a press would probably have had a rough time with the corrosion interference

 

First thanks to all for posting pictures and experience. I have a 2001 prius with 233k miles and had various symptoms - high speed warble - getting worse, low speed grinding noise - I had to do something.

Since this was a classic some of the things were a little different than gen2 and I appreciated jethrow's post. I just wanted to give some additional details on my experience:
In removal (from memory)
- remove wheel, disconnect 12 v battery, remove two bolts holding caliper, remove and support caliper, remove break pads, remove two bolts which contain tracks for break pads, remove disc.
- removing axel nut can be a challenge getting the punched divot in the groove - needed a breaker bar to get this loose.
- with the battery disconnected rotate the wheel so the backside is pointing out to get better access.
- remove the steering pitman arm by removing the cotter pin, nut and using a pitman arm splitter (borrowed from autozone).
- remove and protect the speed sensor - it is a 10mm bolt and I found using a 6 point was best because it was rusted. To locate follow the cable to the hub area.
- The ball joint seems to be pretty impossible because of the half shaft proximity - however (thank you Toyota) there are two nuts and a bolt which connect the ball joint to the lower arm - this is so much easier than trying to get the nut off and trying to use a splitter to separate.
- The axle hub did not just pull from the half shaft spline so I used a 3 jaw puller to seperate the steering knuckle with the axel hub from the half shaft. I later found a "hub puller" which would do the job as well (I believe that is what jethrow did).
- The part which was the hardest for me was the removal of the two bolts which mounted the steering knuckle to the strut. These are 19mm bolts and had some rust - I used a breaker bar not only to get the nuts off - advancing 10-15 dregrees per effort - but once the nuts were off I also had to use the breaker bar to "unscrew" the bolts from the steering knuckle again 10-15 degrees per effort. This convinced me to purchase an air wrench and compressor.
- Once those bolts were out I could then remove the steering knuckle, hub, disc cover and ball joint from the vehicle.
- I was unsure if the machine shop would take the steering knuckle with the ball joint so I removed the cotter pin (it was rusted so I ended up drilling it out) and nut and tried to remove the ball joint using a splitter. I only succeeded in rupturing the grease seal on the ball joint.
- I took a new bearing the knuckle hub, disc cover and ball joint to a autoparts store which had machine service (a rare commodity it seems these days) - it took them about 1/2 hour to remove the ball joint, press out and press in the new bearing - he had to apply heat to get the old bearing out and replaced the snap ring which had pretty much deteriorated with rust.
- I picked up a new bolt from Toyota dealership (over $12 compared to the $6 someone else found).
- I picked up a new ball joint from Autozone.
- I spent a _LONG_ while cleaning up the two bolts using bolt buster to clear out the threads which had been impregnated with rust during the removal process. Had the Toyota dealership been close I would have taken them in to get new ones - was quoted at $7 per bolt - but apparently have different sizes related to alignment.
- Re-assembly went reasonably smooth compared to removal - had some difficulty getting the bracket which holds the break pads in properly but not major.

Was thrilled when doing the test drive with no noise!
Costs:
Rock auto - $24 + shipping for bearing
Carquest machine shop - quoted between $45-$55 for removing and pressing in bearing - charged $35
Autozone - $20 - new pads
Autozone - $30 - new ball joint (could have gotten one for $20 at rock auto but shipping was $7 + wait)
johnh...

 

This thread is great! My 2005 Prius with 104K started making right front hub noise last week, it was only at 75-80mph when it was noticeable, within a week it was hard to have a conversation at 35mph. I bought a new Moog hub from advance for $145-$50(coupon) only cost $101 with tax. I was able to pull everything apart on the car, the dust cover popped out of the hub without a problem,which let me take the hub bolts off. But the hub was frozen to the aluminum assembly. After hours of soaking the hub with penitrating oil and trying many different things to get the hub off I finally pulled the aluminum assembly. The hub was so frozen to the aluminum the press almost couldn't press out the hub. Finally i was able to remove the hub and clean up the aluminum. The new hub fit in without a problem and i was able to install the dust over. I used the torque steps provided and bolted everything back up with no issues. Now I'm back in business! Im sure I will be doing the driver side hub soon. Thanks!

 

I did about 2 hours of research online which included reading this entire thread and watching a few videos a few times over.

I ordered the new hub/bearing from amazon and fortunately it was available as a "warehouse deal" for only $35 with free 2 day prime shipping. It was the beck/arnley one.

Anywho, it took me about 4 hours. I did have a tough time separating the hub from the steering knuckle, but I just whacked it with 100% of my strength with a full size sledge hammer and it worked after a few tries. I propped the assembly on two 4x4's. So that the hub was suspended between the knuckle.

 

Had a cyclical noise from front left wheel. Must be bearing. Changed bearing. Same noise. Must be half shaft. Pulled shaft out with a come along lassoed around inner joint, with other end anchored to another vehicle. This worked, after regular methods failed. Put in new shaft and seal. Local parts store had wrong seal listed. Drove many miles to a Toyota dealer because the local one was out of stock. Same noise. Checked roundness of tire- flat spot. Rotated tires, front to back and rears crossed to front. Noise gone and $100. plus gone. Maybe I'm smarter.

 

Hello,
Can you guys, who successfully replaced front hub, list all the tools necessary for this job, including the ones you used to pry hub from the knuckle?
Thanks.

 

I'm on vacation right now but if you don't get a response in a couple days I'll send you images of my notes I took before starting the job.. It has all the tools and steps very specifically along with torque specs (thanks much to Patrick Wong).
Of what I recall...
Sockets:
10mm
12mm (maybe)
14mm
17mm
19mm
30mm (or 33?) for the axle (amazon has a perfect axle nut / detent took kit. I'll edit after with the link.
To remove the hub from the knuckle I used two cement blocks, topped with some wood planks for protection... I put the knuckle on that in such a way (it was kind of precarious) so that it would pop out the bottom when struck. I used the 30mm socket as the punch and an 8lb sledge hammer.. I used a 16oz hammer for the first and it didn't budge.. The 8lb sledge knocked both out fairly easily. (Salt corroded car, btw). I used a steel wire disk on a drill to clean out the corrosion so the new hub fit in perfectly.
Another tip.. Remove the bottom strut bolt (17mm I think) before the caliper bolts. It frees up a lot of room. If you're not using a legitimate tie rod puller just knock on the SIDE of the tie rod end while applying a little down pressure, don't bang down on the bolt, even with a nut partially on it.. It usually comes off much easier that way.
My speed sensor bolt broke on one side, a tiny dab of epoxy has worked for 25000 miles or so to hold it in since then.
It's not that hard of a job technically speaking, just some muscling of the bolts. Oh, you'll need an adjustable wrench or another 17mm to help remove the strut bolts..
I used a 24" breaker bar to remove the axle nut without any problem.. Just make sure you lift up the detent fully or you'll mess up the threads.
Edit: Toyota / Lexus 30mm Front Axle Lock Nut Remover Kit by Schley Products

For the tool removal. I guess it's 30mm..

 

Thank you!!!
Planning to replace the left one this Sunday.
Noise became very loud when turning left, louder when going straight and almost disapears when turning right.

 

Oh I won't be back by then and that day I have something busy planned but pm me and I'll get a notification if you have any questions. Also your symptoms SEEM to point to the right side, but there was a thread recently where people said the bad bearing was opposite of what one would normally think. just a heads up if you're going based only on the "turn test"

 

Oh, damn.... I already ordered part.
Should get it today or tomorrow.
Is left hub same as right?
Thank you.

 

Yes same part either way, so no big deal unless you swap it and still have the noise.

 

Replaced hub, took me all day on and off. Salt is a killer in Chicago, BUT - problem is still there
Noise when I turn left and I think it's coming from the LH wheel. I also fill a mild vibration through the floor corresponding with noise.
Maybe when I turn right and load goes on the left hub, that same load/pressure silents the bearing noise?? Just trying to figure out….
Is Prius a different "creature" and I should've replaced left one? I'm lost here.... Any suggestions??

 

Ahh crap I was worried when I posted that you would have one of those cases where it was the opposite of "normal" and I should have kept my mouth shut.. I'm sorry I led you to doubt over your initial instincts. If it sounds like it's coming from the left side then yes it sounds like it's doing as you describe.

 

Not a problem. Will have 2 new hubs
I already ordered a second one.
Will do it on the weekend.
Now I know how, it should take less time (hopefully).
BTW, did you put dent in the new axle nut?

Thank you.

 

Yes you should restake the detent. I used the same too used to unstake it. My second went much much faster.