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Front Wheel bearing replacement

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by moha777, Aug 4, 2020.

  1. moha777

    moha777 Junior Member

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    Hi I had different experience.replacing front wheel bearings in my gen 2.bought it on ebay skv oem German parts with 4 years warranty.mechanic fixed it.i had the same humming noice again when driving above 40 mph.another experienced mechanic from the same garage drove my car and told this part is faulty.it cost me £100.would that be possible or could be something else.pls advice TIA

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  2. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Have you tried moving the wheel to see if the noise follows to the new location?

    How soon after replacement did it make the noise again, and did the mechanic test drive it before you received it?
     
  3. moha777

    moha777 Junior Member

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    After a week noice came or I realised the noice.mechanic test drove it on the motorway after I am complaining about the noice again.he put it on the ramp and put it drive he found the noice coming from same side.i was really confused when he said parts faulty as it has 4 years warranty skv Germany ISO certified.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  4. Janos77UK

    Janos77UK Junior Member

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    Hi
    Regarding Koyo bearings.
    Has anyone ordered OEM Toyota (Toyota 4351047012) front wheel hub bearing or its Koyo substitute recently?
    What I got is not engraved with the part number and Koyo and Japan. It arrived in a Toyota box...
    It would be useful to know which bearing is genuine or otherwise.
    Did the factory change production or what? Any ideas?
    THanks.
     
  5. Bon Echo

    Bon Echo Junior Member

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    Location:
    Hamilton Ontario Canada
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
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    Base
    In Canada and replaced the front right? (drivers side) last summer. Bought a Koyo hub assembly from Auto Parts Ways, looked identical to the OEM (assuming the old hub assembly was OEM and most likley was, 2009 with around 160,000kms at the time). The Koyo hub assembly was about CAD $140 last summer but now it's CAD $207.
    (I'm too new to post a link so you'll need to search for yourself, website is AutoPartsWay.ca)
    I see a few suppliers in the US that sell the Koyo hub assembly but the part numbers are different. Also the Timken hub assembly on Rock Auto shows a photo of a Koyo bearing but a few places on this chat made me steer clear of the Timken bearning (apparently the Rock Auto photo is old or just wrong)

    Other side started humming about a month ago and so today it's going to be replaced, this time I ordered the SKF hub assembly off Rock Auto, even though its the most expensive they sell still $50 less than the Koyo one. Made in Korea.

    On here today to get the final details and heading out to do the replacement.
     
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  6. Bon Echo

    Bon Echo Junior Member

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    2009 Prius
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    Base
    Done! SKF hub looked good, hope it lasts. I know this topic is covered in many other threads and you-tube videos, here's just a few observations and opinions of my own having now gone through this twice (both sides).

    1) Always order a new genuine Toyota axle nut and disk backing plate, they're relatively cheap even for being dealer items. Axle nut because ruining the threads on the drive axle would really suck, and the backing plate because by the time you get the bearing out of the hub that backing plate is going to be pretty battered. If you get the bearing pressed out you might be okay, but for $5-$10 is sure is nice to have one thing less to worry about.

    2) Be very careful to not snap the small 10mm bolt holding the speed sensor in place (did that the first time and had to drill and tap the hole)

    3) Replace the ball joint while your at it.

    4) Don't waste your time hammering on the hub assembly if you can get a shop to press it out. I spent several hours hammering to get the hub out when I did the one side, and spent about 90 minutes hammering on the hub today without any hint of progress. Drove over to a heavy truck repair shop, they popped it out in 5 minutes and for $20. Wish I just went there to start with.

    Here's a breakdown of the time it took me to do it, just in case it helps anyone with planning
    - 45 minutes to remove the steering knuckle and hub from the vehicle
    - 90 minutes wasted hammering on the hub
    - 15 minutes to drive to a shop and have it pressed out
    - 15 minutes cleaning all the aluminum corrosion off the steering knuckle
    - 60 minutes to fully reassemble

    Also want to add that I read over and over that a bad bearing sounds like a growling or grinding and you can test by raising the vehicle and checking for play. Maybe that's true when the bearing gets really worn, but in my case, both bearings only made a hum at highway speeds, the intensity of the sound changes with speed but not so much with cornering and I never felt any play in the wheel. Which made diagnosis pretty much impossible, I wasn't 100% it even was the bearing until I changed it and the sound went away (both times). Just sharing my experience, ymmv.
     
    #6 Bon Echo, Dec 11, 2020
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2020
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