Few days ago, I felt something was hopping on my front wheel when I cornered hard. The next few days after that I heard this whooop....whopp..whoop noise coming from my front end. I thought it was a fluke till I hit a very smooth road duing 30-45 mph and when the noise got louder. So, I thought, it must be the tire that I bought recently with deep gouge. So today, on my way home, I heard the same thing again except it got louder. Nothing was shaking, nothing was rattling, just helicopter sounds. So, thinking it was still the tire, I replaced the tire with spare tire and to my surprise it still made that sound. So I jacked the front end up, and started shaking the tires. My driver side axle play is like .25" inch in/out and was also left/right, up and down, I saw wet grease also seaping thru the axle nut. Crapaholla.....I took the tire off and I could wiggle the hub assembly easily. Checked the passenger side, tight no play. Checked the knuckle to ball joint play and it was tight.

So I think my wheel bearing is toast now, or is it the hub, or both?

how do I know that the hub(#9) is still good? FSM says to press fit the hub to the bearing (#6), so theoretically it shouldn't go in by hand push correct?


FSM also says no grease between the hub and the bearing during press fit.

I'm getting the Timken bearing from Autozone or National Brand from Orielly's and Dorman Hub if need to. Probably will replace both sides at the same time.

Anyone else has experience with this Hub/bearing assy from Duralast?
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...60578_451569_0_

Thanks

 

I would replace the hub. AutoZone has the whole timken assembky. Otherwise you are just asking to have to do the job over.

I also would only use timken. It is one of those jobs you want done right and only once. Don't cheap out on bearings or the hub...it costs too much to have to do the job again. Even if doing it yourself.

 

Agreed. If you wanna save a little bit, you can get Timken bearing from autozone (cheapest I've found 'em), and then get the Timken bearing seals and dorman hub from rockauto.

 

National bearings, made in Japan. And yea replace the hub, I have this same issue, although I think my axle carrier is screwed as well.

 

On 5th gen, it didn't show bearing seals. Are you saying get bearing seals to increase longevity?

Here is the video I took.


Thanks

 

you're right. on nymber 6 it shows the bearing. On my 99 it's different, it's got two seals, one on each side. Yours does not.

 

Both sides probly isn't necessary, but I would def do the hub as well
I have done two on different cars (passenger side), and both times with that much play the hub was pooched.

Replace just the bearing, and you will be doing it again shortly.

I'm not sure about these bearing seals tho?

 

I hope the axle isn't damaged...

What do you guys think?

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...ings+%26+seals

or

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...29536_434538_0_

$30 different, but if the quality is the same it pays for Jamba Juice for the whole family...

 

If you find you want to pursue the front bearing, I've got 2 for sale.

 

What brand and how much? This is my daily driver so I'm thinking of getting it done quickly....
Thanks

 

Are these better than timken? Who has a prepreesed assembly? Otherwise I can just an oem hub and a timken/national bearing. Would be cheaper. The axle carrier is part of the half shaft?

 

With that amount of play the hub surface is likely scored and should be replaced. At the very least have a hub on hand in case you can't re-use the existing hub. National bearings are high quality. I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Duralast parts I've bought given the price-I recently replaced a front wheel bearings on my spouse's Protege5 and the parts were fine, ditto for the 2 ignition coils I changed 2+ years ago. I see RockAuto has a Moog/National front kit for $87 and change...I'd go that route if you can wait on delivery. Last thing-I suggest you have a replacement snap ring on hand too...half the time when I've done a front bearing I end up trashing the snap ring when getting it off.

 

I recently replaced these on both wheels. I used the Dorman hub and the Timken bearing, both purchased from Rockauto. Paid a shop $30/side to press off and then press on the new bearings and hubs to the spindle.

 

I like Timken too. Rockauto has good prices. Just got 2 front wheel bearings for my girlfriend's Maxima.

 

This is embarrassing, but uh.....it turned out the axle was loose. I took the cotter pin out, soaked the nut with PB blaster overnight. Tonight I was about to give it all I got to break that axle nut loose and literally the cheater bar was flying over me and I ended up on the floor...dang. I know I used torque wrench to tighthen the axle nut to 240 ft-lbf when I replaced the Cv Axles using rental tool from Orielly's. Went there to rent another one, the guy at the counter told me that the torque wrench was really not accurate at all because people were abusing it......

So, here is lesson learned, if you are DIY, invest in good Torque Wrench and have it calibrated once a year. I torqued the nut all the way up to 150 ft-lbf ( my torque wrench only goes to 150 ft-lbm) and used the breaker bar to give it all I got. Probably will check the torque tomorrow at tire store/machine shop

I would probably keep this handy though.

 

nice...look on the bright side - it's a super cheap fix!

 

For those of you that have used the pre assembled bearing and hub. How did you get the circlip back in if the unit was preassembled. Normally you have to install the bearing then the circlip then the hub. I dont see how you could install the circlip with the hub installed.

 

Pre-assembled? I've never seen a pre-assembled hub/bearing offered for a Maxima. Other vehicles have knuckle designs that allow the hub and wheel bearing to be installed pre-assembled, but not the 4th/5th gen Maxima.The bearing must be pressed into the steering knuckle first, the circlip installed, then the hub pressed into the knuckle/bearing assembly.Your circlip question is bang-on as there's no clearance to get the circlip in once the hub/bearing is seated in the knuckle. If you've seen reference to a pre-assembled unit the post may have referred to a pre-assembled knuckle/bearing/hub unit with everything already pressed in.

 

Thats what I thought. However, you look on any of the parts suppliers such as Autozone and Oreillys they all have preassembled hubs and bearings. I have replaced wheel bearings on Maximas before and was just wondering how that would go together.

 

My car feels like it is driving on gravel on the left side. This is at all times not just turning. I was told by my mechanic that it might be the bearing or the axle but since there is no play he cant tell for sure. But he said there is rust coming out of the bearing which means its dry so it is probably the bearing. Does this make any sense?
And, if I remove the axle from the hub assembly, would I be able to see if the bearing is shot?
is this a bad bearing?
View My Video

Anybody have any experience with this
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...erm=front+hub#

I think I saw somewhere that these are national parts.

 

Lift the car and spin the wheel and listen. It could from the brake rotor grinding or something hitting the wheel. Rock the tire at 12 and 6 o'clock and see if you have play, do the same at 3 and 9. Usually, you can feel a bad wheel bearing but hard to see visually since the bad surfaces are inside the bearing

 

Another trick is to place your hand on the suspension spring and feel the roughness, this is copyrighted too lol

 

Not sure what you mean. If you look at the video link in my post above the wheel rocks 12 and 6 and the brake pads hit the rotor. I am assuming that is what is happening when I drive. One post above said his axle was actually loose and wasnt the bearing. I am wondering how he knew since the nut wasnt what wad loose.

 

Sorry, to check a bad wheel bearing. didn't mention that

 

still not understanding. when do i feel roughness while the tire is turning with the motor on?

 

I was wondering how you knew it was the axle. The reason why i am asking is my bearing was tight with absolutely no play in the wheel. I went to the mechanic to have an lca put on and he at first was trying to open the axle nut. In the end he didnt open the nut but immediately afterwards i started getting that gravel like feeling and when i lifted the car the wheel rocks at 12 and 6. I went back to him and he said the bearing is bad but i am not so sure.