Wheel bearing replace - What should it cost?

I'll take a wag at it. Figure $100 for the bearing and new seals and another for labor. Curious to learn how close I was.

Haha, funny that I found this article. My bearing acutally just jammed up (NOT FUN). But I ended up buying a new one for bout 55 bucks, and took me.... give it 4 hours to replace it. Found out though that the part of the axle the bearing rests on actually got worn down, so now I need to replace it. Thats fun right there!

--parker

Dealer quoted $500 for one side. Car shop was close but said to do both sides at $750 since I've never had them replaced in this 14-year old car. Apparently this job is very labor intensive since the knuckle has to be removed from the car to drive out the inner bearing, press in the bearings and that means disconnecting or removing the brakes, the strut, tie rod, and axle shaft. Basically they would be dismantling and reassembling the whole damn suspension and drive to that knuckle. It was when I read the instructions at

I just did it on my car-- it was not too bad. Getting the knuckle off the car took about an hour, took it to a local shop, had them press the old bearing out and the new bearings in. Then about another hour to put all back togther and then off to the shop for an alignment. Total cost was about $150.00

Steve

Although it may appear to be a bunch of work involved, it really isn't that much. Remove 2 strut bolts and the strut is out of the problem. Another 2 bolts and the caliper is out of the way. One pinch bolt down at the ball joint, the axle nut and the tie rod end and the hub is free. Problem areas are removing the axle nut and the tie rod end. You can rent an electric impact gun and a tie rod puller.

The impact wrench was one of the tools that I didn't have. I didn't think about renting one. The cost for buying one would outweigh the savings of doing the labor myself. I couldn't get the bolts off using a breaker bar and I didn't like using a 12-point socket since that could round off the points on the bolt head or nut (I need to get some

If you can't get the bolts off with a breaker bar, I doubt that an electric impact wrench would do the job. You need an air tool.

Let's see ... $750 - $150DIY parts = $600 for tools. You can get a compressor, impact wrench, impact sockets, etc. and have money left over.

I broke a 30" 3/4" drive breaker bar with a six-foot cheater pipe on it trying to break loose a rear axle nut on a VW beetle. Those nuts must be welded to the center of the earth!

Oscar,

Had to chuckle when I read your comment. Never broke a 3/4 drive but easily managed to break several 1/2" drive sockets without any problem. That's why I moved up to the 3/4" stuff and then finally an impact gun. Getting too old to be pulling on cheater bars.

That is how I have acquired most of my tools over the years-- use the savings by not paying labor to equip myself. Now I do see all the savings because I have the tools most of the time.

On the axel nut-- most of the time you can get it off with a socket and breaker bar. I had one once on an '84 GL wagon that would not come off. I broke three Craftsmen 1/2 breaker bars, after exchanging the third one the guy at Sears said "That's it, no more exchanges, at least not at this store. If you break this one you are going to have to drive." So I took the car down to the local tire/repair shop and asked how much to loosen an axel nut? The guy said ten bucks. 10 bucks, 10 minutes, the shop loosened the nut, snugged it back down and I went home and removed the nut with no drama. So if you ever have anything nuts/bolts can't get off with hand tools, find a local shop that will loosen them for you.

Steve

I picked up some 6-point 1/2-inch drive sockets today. I didn't like using 12-point sockets on such hard-to-remove bolts. Picked up a hefty and long 1/2-inch drive breaker bar, too, so I'll lots more leverage than before.

We just had our garage broken into and got tools, torpedo heater, lumber, edge trimmer, and even took the board they kicked out of the side door. Obviously the compressor and tank would be left in the garage and probably the impact wrench, too. I found a buddy that has the setup (air impact wrench) and am waiting to see if he'll let me use it. When the dealer and car shop quoted such high prices, DIY became more attractive.

Now that's an idea. Pay the shop a fee to have them just loosen and resnug. I checked on renting an electric impact wrench. $24/day. Then I remembered by buddy has an air impact setup. Waiting for a reply on my e-mail to him.