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Rear wheel bearings: How serious?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Bill Bruck, Jul 29, 2020.

  1. Bill Bruck

    Bill Bruck Junior Member

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    My wife has a constant thum thum thum noise from the back of her 2010 Prius. Took the car to Firestone; they diagnosed that the LR wheel bearing needs replacement now; the RR is not great and should be done as well. They want $850 for both. Parts alone are $100 on Amazon ($500 from Firestone), so I'd like to do this myself. Having gone to YouTube University it looks fairly straightforward except possibly freeing the hub (and LOTS of advice here on various ways to do that).

    The problem is that I just had surgery for a herniated disc. So it's "call in a favor from a friend" time.

    My question is this: I don't know whether I'll be able to get a friend to help with this for the next month or two, and I don't know how safe the car is to drive. With COVID we're not going out much, but she drives it a couple times a week around town or for short distances on the beltway (i.e. 60mph).

    Can anyone help with this - not how to replace it, but interim safety questions?
     
    #1 Bill Bruck, Jul 29, 2020
  2. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Impossible to predict remaining safe lifetime. It could be ready to absorb another 50k noisy miles, and it could be in a ditch tonight.

    They make noise until they give way, with the wheel flopping a bit loose. They've gotten very good at making them so that the wheel doesn't separate and roll away on its own but that still isn't impossible.

    I've seen some so bad that you could make the whole wheel visibly wiggle just by pushing on the tire, with the weight of the car still on it.

    Even if you set up an arbitrary test for yourself "okay we will drive it until the wheel visibly wiggles" you still have to do that test often and be ready to announce "okay we no longer have transportation" once it fails the test as it may be before your help is available.

    Also keep in mind the possibility of an incorrect diagnosis. Wheel bearings can be ventriloquists. You swear it's the RR and the sound doesn't go away until you replace the LR, stuff like that. If you do the work yourself and it's wrong, consider the implications. Sometimes that work is worth paying for.
     
    #2 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Jul 29, 2020
  3. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Thum thum thum noise? Or did you mean thumP?
    I have never heard a wheel bearing thumping, that's more a tire thing, or cv axel.
    Which the rear doesn't have. Maybe rotate the wheels/tires front to back and see if it changes.
    How many miles on the car? How long have you had the noise?

     
    #3 ASRDogman, Jul 29, 2020
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  4. Pluggo

    Pluggo Senior Member

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    Is wheel-bearing replacement now considered a do-it-yourself job? I'd like to see the YouTube link.
     
    #4 Pluggo, Jul 29, 2020
  5. Ed Beaty

    Ed Beaty Active Member

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    "I'd like to see the YouTube link."

    Rear (easy):


    Front (somewhat trickier):



    From 1A Auto, which are generally pretty good. There are many more....
     
    #5 Ed Beaty, Jul 29, 2020
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  6. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    They aren't too bad. The parking brake cable can be tricky. But if you take your time,
    you can do it without too much of a fight.
    I use my big hammer and punch and hit the hub to rotate it clockwise and counter clockwise to
    loosen it up, and it started coming out. Then my chisel between the hub and base to apply pressure
    then rotating again. They both came out without too much of a fight.
    I couldn't get the bolts threaded behind because there wasn't room. I need shorter ones that I didn't have.
    But I put anti-seize on hub and base so the next time they will come off easily.

    But not something you want to do right out of the hospital! Hopefully your friend can help you.
    Drive a little slower and be more aware of how the Prius handles so you can notice if they are failing.
    They can do a long time while making noise, but it's safer to get them done as soon as you can.

    I took the whole caliper off, I didn't take it apart.
     
    #6 ASRDogman, Jul 29, 2020
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  7. Bill Bruck

    Bill Bruck Junior Member

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    Thanks gang! Firestone had it on their lift and pulled the tires; I would guess that their diagnosis is sound. Can't remember if it's a thum or thump. I am getting extremely tired of paying literally 5x the cost of the same exact brand of part on Amazon, and tired of paying book rate for labor when the last two jobs I've done w/o a lift or the right tools I've spent less than the book amount on labor. This job looks very straight forward aside from being careful about the sensor and not knowing how hard getting the hub off will be - there are several hints on this forum about that though. I just wish I could do it myself!!! But a freshly repaired herniated disc is nothing to fool with.

    Based on your advise I talked to my friend, am ordering the parts, and when the DC heat wave breaks (IF the heat wave breaks???) we'll just do it!
     
    #7 Bill Bruck, Jul 29, 2020
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  8. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Always best to heal YOUR body before healing the car body! :)
    Glad your friend will be able to help you.
     
    #8 ASRDogman, Jul 29, 2020
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