Right front wheel bearing went out.

For several days I could hear a scraping sound from the right front side. I thought it was snow packed in the wheel well at first, until there wasn't any snow there. Today I was driving on the Xway and the scraping became a buzz like a Cessna airplane. On the way back home I turned the steering wheel back and forth and sure enough the buzz came and went.

That made it sure to me the wheel bearing was bad. Now where to find info to fix it.
I looked for a search box on PC but didn't find one. So I'll have to rely on our intrepid PC chatters to come to the rescue.

Thanks in advance.
Lee

I found some info on PC via Google. I got the part number and ordered two new HA590064 Timken bearings. Now or the fun of getting things apart and reassembled it the right order.

If anyone has more tips, please tell 'im to me

 

Thanks, I'll look again. Google has every forum topic anyway.

 

I was reading today about replacing wheel bearings. I came across this site that got me thinking about why my wheel bearing are going bad. Here is the link.
DIY Toyota Front Wheel Drive (FWD) Wheel Bearing Replacement

It says this at the beginning of the article.

Quote
The most common causes of wheel bearing failure are 1) out-of-balance wheels, which a wheel balance job will fix, and 2) out-of-round tires, which a wheel balance job will not fix; the tire must be replaced. If the wheel vibrates constantly, as it will if these problems are present, the front wheel bearing will wear out. Worn out wheel bearings make a low-pitched humming or grinding noise that gets progressively louder as the car's speed increases. It is most noticeable when cruising on the highway.
/quote

I had been running 42 in the front and 40 in the rear. It seemed that I got better mileage that way. Last week I started to hear a scraping sound from the right front wheel which soon turned into a buzz sounding like a Cessna airplane. By working the steering wheel right and left the sound came and went. I was sure at this time the wheel bearing has gone bad.

My tires are Bravuris 195/60R15 88H by Barum Barum-online.com

They seem to vibrate at higher speeds. I don't remember how well they ran when the pressure were normal. I'll find out now. My tires were balanced in 9/25/2014

I have now reduced the tire pressures to 35 front, 33 back.

I think this higher pressure put more stress on the wheel bearings and caused premature failure.

That means I'm spending a little over $200 for the new wheel bearings (Right and left) plus the fun of replacing them.

Hey! $200 can buy me a lot of gas.

The Japanese engineers design to a specification with little safety factor figured in. American designers usually have a much bigger safety factor. Besides our cars are much bigger and need stronger parts. That's why we get longer bearing life.

So I'll run the tires at the right pressures hope those wheel bearings hold up. I did order Timken bearings for replacement bearings.

I didn't see a single YouTube video showing any gen 2 front wheel bearings being replaced.
I would loved to have seen one.

 

Patrick, thanks for the info.

Yesterday I reduced the air pressure to the factory specs. Today I drove the Prius over the same expressway section and the ride was much smoother. At that time the wheel sound was normal. It was slowly getting louder the longer I drove. It takes about 1/2 hour to get it warm enough to really notice it.

I have to go to Harbor Freight to buy a cheap torque wrench. It is a 1/2 inch drive for $9.99 Now I know that's too cheap but it will do in a pinch.The wrench is their $21.95 model, look good. The top load is 150 ft lb. I read that the torque is 159 ft lb so it's good enough.

I am going to swap right side wheels to eliminate a tire problem instead wheel bearings.
I'll keep everyone posted on the repair. Maybe a video is in order.

I didn't have time for the wheel swap, but I am sure the bearing is toast. I just got the bearings today. 1-21-2015. Tomorrow one bearing gets put in.

 

They look like the "Good Stuff", made by Koyo. with the right part number. 3DACF038DB-2E




I hope that they come out easily.
I forgot to mention the mileage. It is 151,138

 

There is very little of the actual bearings that can be seen as they come as complete hubs for the gen2 including the wheel flange, and studs. The bearings will not press out of the hubs as the outer part of the races is machined in the hub itself.

John (Britprius)

I had a thought. What happens if you don't torque down the wheel lugs? It looks like a bearing replacement is needed. I had an old Dodge van and the left rear wheel came loose. It was driven quite a while. All the lug studs were damaged. I was able to tighten the wheel and get home. It had drum brakes and the repair was easy, new wheel studs, nuts, and it needed a wheel to boot.
Lee

 

I made some progress in the bearing replacement. I got the axle nut loose. The grove in the axle is where everyone had a different description of what was done to restrain the nut. It was clinched, the first word I thought of. I think the real description is staked. They staked (dimpled) the axle nut into the groove. It is easy to get it out. I took a sharp pointed long punch and placed it in the grove and tapped it with a hammer and that removed the dimple. My electric impact wrench removed the nut easily. That really surprised me, since I didn't think it would do it. I couldn't loosen it with my breaker bar.
I got as far as the lower ball joint. The nut on top is frozen in place. I couldn't begin to turn the nut, so i tried to chisel the nut to turn with a large hammer. The nut has a large diameter collar. That didn't work either. I reassembled the brakes and such so I could drive it. I visited a friend to see if he could help. So Tomorrow at 9 am I'll be there. I hope that a slide hammer will remove the bearing. Provided that it isn't corroded in. I may have to burn off the nut, but I hope I don't have to do that. Lower ball joints are scarce around here and I'd have to order one.

I took some pictures and will finish up that as I work on the thing.

 

I got the right front wheel bearing changed today. It was a bit of a thrash. I got so wrapped up in fixing the car I didn't get but one new picture.

I forgot about the 2 lower nuts under the lower ball joint. Steve, my friend, heated the nut with a an acetylene torch. That loosened he nut. Then we took out the knuckle over to the vice . We tried the beat it out with parts from my ball joint removal kit, a cylinder and cap to hit on. The joint wouldn't come loose.

We got out with the Acetylene torch. Steve is an accomplished mechanic, and he heated the knuckle for about 3 minutes! The aluminum knuckle expands faster than the bearing and that what loosens it up. 3 whacks with a sledge hammer did the trick.


I cleaned the bearing bore with a high speed grinder with a 1 in dia wheel. I was careful to only get the crud off. When we assembled the backing plate and the bearing slid right in.

Here is how I handled the rotor and caliper. I removed both together and wired them together and hung it on the spring. Picture below.



This gave me one big advantage. You do not have to remove the battery negative cable! Now I could IG-on and turn the wheel right or left as needed. IG-on and turn the wheel and turn it off before the engine even turns on. All your settings stay intact. Since I had it loose before I now have to chicken dance for 2 settings,Reverse beep and seat belt beep. If I had thought of this sooner I would been good to go.

There is a slight pull to the right, a little stronger than before. I checked the toe-in and it was 1/4 in toed in. Should be 0 to .08 toe-in. I'll get the alignment next week.

The car is now quiet and drives nice. Later on I'll do the drivers side.