Close-ups of the spalling (click to enlarge) -- these surfaces are supposed to be almost mirror-finish-smooth:


In this next one you can see the lip that formed on the edge -- that's how bad the wear was:




Needless to say, the bearing needed replacement... and, because of all that wear, so did the hub ($140+ on top of the bearing + labor). That's what I get for not fixing it when I should have. Don't let this happen to you.

wow that is bad. I had to replace my bearings, but not the hub, I was coming close to replacing those hubs. Good luck with the repair.

WOW.

....

Sooo... what were symptoms like?

My drivers side front wheel bearing is real bad, its really loose you can like grab the tire and it will shake around a tad... i better get my **** fixed soon... hope its not too late.

How much did all that cost you?

looks like im buying a junkyard hub assembly and using that.

Wow. Are you sure it's not a tie rod end or something else? Whatever it is, find it and fix it before your tire tread disintegrates.....

I definitely noticed play in the bearing with the wheel off, just moving the hub by hand. I decided to unbolt the spindle myself, take it to Pep Boys, buy one of their bearings, and have them install it on the spot: $50 for the bearing, $35 for the work, and that's the end of it. Pretty cheap, since they didn't have to get my car up on a lift and disassemble the front suspension. Well, there was still play in the bearing even after the tech pressed the new bearing in, and only after he pressed everything back out (destroying a brand new, perfectly good bearing in the process) did he notice the crazy wear on the hub. It's pretty clear that THAT much wear should have been noticed the first time around, so I walked out without paying a dime.

The next day, I took it to my friendly local dealership for a new hub and bearing. <$200 and 2 hours later, it was good to go.

Werd me an you both.... i just discovered mine last night.. now it pisses me off... the damn thing wobbles like crazy...

I needed a passenger side hub and bearing, the bearing had so much play that it wore down the inner part of the hub so it needed to be replaced. The hub itself is only available through the dealer for $120 I think. It made a grinding noise when it was bad. Good Luck!

I got mine replaced at this place called "BURD'S AUTO BAY" in Streamwood, IL. Cost me like $568 total for one side I think. They had to get a new bearing and all, but the hub was still ok. phew. Good luck to those that have to do this. Also I recommend this to people that want to save money to get it professionally done. In another words get it done right the first time around. If you don't get it pressed right you can screw up your bearing again. Also you have to get the nut for the axle to the hub torqued down right.

symptom: are you will hear a grinding noise when you turn your wheel left and right while moving.(Mine was the worst when going backwards) Also as they said you can wobble your front wheels. I also had a thread a while back with a video file with the sound of a bad wheel bearing. Let me go find it.

wait.. 568 bucks to change a front wheel bearing!? No way... some mechanic guestimated me a price of about 200 or something when I went to get my allignment done.. i think i cant remember what he said. That's when i was told my bearing was bad and never got the car alligned as it would be a waste of money. The back wheel bearing only cost me 60 bucks... but then again labor on that was free...

I had to get brand new parts and the parts are $200+labor+ anything else envolved.

wow... i gotte get new axles and that front left wheel bearing... i was hoping to keep it under 500 bucks for everthing... i guess i can forget about that.. damn. Raxles axles alone are 300.

Where do you get the tool to separate the ball joint? And to separate the tie rod end?

So whats the verdict on labor costs for hub/bearing replacements? I can probably get the part myself from DAVEB....then take it to a regular shop for installation...I just wanna know how long it will take a professional to do these jobs...I'm sure with the right tools and a lift, a pro can do it fairly quick?

daaamn d00d!

Those look terrible. Your car must ride so much smoother now. I'm doing the same thing tonight except its just the whole spindle comming out and replacement going in.

If all goes well, it should take no more than an hour for both.

Remember, you might also need new seals (two of them)... Make sure you check on that.

Does this 1hr include hub AND bearing replacement? Or do both parts come apart together, making it a fairly quick install job? I just wanna make sure I get charged the right amount for labor u know?

what are these seals you mention? elaborate plz

On mine, there are two seals that get pressed in on either side of the bearing. If you have those as well, and if you don't want to have to do this job again within a year, you'll need to replace those seals because they always get mangled or destroyed in the process of pressing the old bearing out.

But according to the dealership, at some point Nissan switched to a design in which the bearing already had those seals integrated so you don't have to worry about pressing them in separately. I don't know if that's going to be the case for you, so you should check.

In my case, here's how it goes:

- Hub out
- Bearing out
- Seal in
- Bearing in
- Seal in
- Hub in

The hub has to come out to allow access to the bearing anyway, so the labor should be the same with a new hub.

Man u dont need any tool... infact dont use the stupid pickle fork that **** will mess the boot of the ball joint up.. just take a rubber mallot and hit the control arm close to the ball joint.. of course take the nut off the ball joint... it works every time...

I got bearing and seal from dealership, took it to a mom/pop place to get pressed. When they pressed the old out, they saw the hub was also mangled... so I went to the dealership to pick up a hub. Labor was about $35 i think.
Jae

DO NOT go to Burds.. He is a bastard... my buddy used to go there all the time.. until one day he brought his z28 for a simple mil light check... they told him that his car isnt sending info to the scan tool.. and they charge him 80$ for nothing.. to fix the problem they were gonna charge him for a new compter which was like 800$....later that day we borrowed regular scan tool form a buddy of mine...for obd1 and it worked just fine. we went back and told him and he didnt want to give my friend his money back...what a bastard...