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Front hub/wheel bearing going out?

whoaru99

whoaru99

Epic Member
2009 Impala has a medium pitched howl that comes on strong about 30 mph. Seems to be a little worse if I turn right and a little better if I turn left.

Sound like the left front hub assy is going South?

If so, what's the good brand to get? Delco, Timken, ?
 
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I buy parts from rockauto They have ACDelco and other brands I would go with the ACDelco or Moog
 
If I'm not mistaken, the front wheel bearing isn't serviceable in a 2009 Impala. You have to buy the whole hub assembly.

I could be wrong.
 
bentpencil said:
If I'm not mistaken, the front wheel bearing isn't serviceable in a 2009 Impala. You have to buy the whole hub assembly.

I could be wrong.
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I'll look into that, but I did some on my Focus and Cindy's Mazda and they were pressed in and needed a shop install.

Looks like Larry is right. It's actually easier than my cars as the steering knuckle stays attached and you don't have to mess with the strut, ball joint or steering arm.
Looks like about an $80-90 part at Rock.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zML7lpdIdSs
 
I've been through about six bearing assemblies over the years on my Mazda3. They usually sound like excessive road noise and for a long time I didn't realize it was a bearing. It's time to change it when you have to turn up the radio a lot to drown it out.

I've never found much difference between factory and aftermarket parts, well known or no-name, other than price.

What bugs me is they determined that ball bearings were unsuited to automotive wheel service way back in the '30s or '40s, and thus Timken tapered roller bearings became the norm. With proper clearance and some grease, they pretty much never failed. They were cheap and easy to service. Modern sealed hubs are usually ball bearings and are just another way to extract more money from your pocket.
 
ConradH said:
I've been through about six bearing assemblies over the years on my Mazda3. They usually sound like excessive road noise and for a long time I didn't realize it was a bearing. It's time to change it when you have to turn up the radio a lot to drown it out.

I've never found much difference between factory and aftermarket parts, well known or no-name, other than price.

What bugs me is they determined that ball bearings were unsuited to automotive wheel service way back in the '30s or '40s, and thus Timken tapered roller bearings became the norm. With proper clearance and some grease, they pretty much never failed. They were cheap and easy to service. Modern sealed hubs are usually ball bearings and are just another way to extract more money from your pocket.
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I had front bearing going out on my Civic and thought I had noisy tires. Sounds like excessive road noise 'howl' starting at less than 20mph.
 
Sounds like the hub. Thought it was tires too but I don't think that's it. Starts under 30, but 30-32 is where it really peaks out. Above that I think it starts to get drown out by true wind/road noise.
 
I would think there would be excessive play in the bearing if it was bad enough to howl or rumble. Easy to check.
 
The bay is usually the cheapest place, I bought a pair for my Cobalt for 59 bucks shipped and just 1 at the parts store was 110 bucks.
 
Rockauto is killer if you can wait for the delivery.

I needed a new master cylinder for a forklift that NAPA wanted $89 for.

I bought the same thing from Rockauto for $29. When it arrived, it was in a Napa box (they buy old/excess inventory from other parts distributors).
 
I'd go Timken if possible. They have been making quality bearings for a long time. When I needed one replaced on my mom's Blazer, my friend told me I was getting a Timken and I had no choice in the matter. He said that many of the others either didn't fit right or didn't last very long. He's done enough of them that I take his word on stuff like that.


Rockauto is pretty awesome, and if you look around a tiny bit you can almost always find a 5% off code. I get a lot of things from there. Last order I bought 10 Purolator oil filters in a jobber-branded box for $1.10 each. As long as you're more concerned with what is in the box vs what is on the box those closeout specials can be your friend.
 
Ended up ordering two AC/Delco front hubs through Amazon. Roughly $20 cheaper, delivered, than Rockauto for the same part number.

Looked at SKF, Timken, and Moog, but decided on the Delco parts.
 
+1 on Rockauto, but it pays to shop around. The wiggle and feel test will prove a bearing is bad, but not that it's good. I know mine can get annoyingly noisy before you can feel anything unloaded.
 
if you can see the drive-shaft nut with wheel on undo it first when wheels on the ground .. am presuming its front wheel drive .
 
My experience with a Wheel Bearing going bad is not a good one.

I was in a 1988 Honda Accord and the front bearing driver's side was noisy on turns. I ignored it for a week or so and while driving on a bypass on a smaller city (thank goodness it wasn't a city like Chicago or LA) the entire wheel let go and left the car. What a mess. Luckily, no traffic around me. That was about 1994 ish.

In 2003 ish I had an Audi 100 that had a bad bearing. I saw to it immediately after the experience in the Honda. Damn thing had dual front wheel drive and of course the bearings in the transaxle coupler had to be replaced as well as the wheel bearings. Hugely expensive. Yet I bought another Audi (A8) and now it's costing me a fortune to keep on the road. It will be my last German import. Too expensive to maintain unless you buy new or lease ever 4 years.
 
petehall347 said:
if you can see the drive-shaft nut with wheel on undo it first when wheels on the ground .. am presuming its front wheel drive .
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Indeed it is FWD. Just need to pull out the little center cap to get to the axle nut.

Looks like a fairly straight-forward job as long as nothing is too terribly corroded. Have managed to get much older stuff than this torn apart. Gonna give all the relevant hardware a shot of PB Blaster a couple days in advance.
 
relatively easy job ..i do lots of wheel bearings .. have a press here to make life easier .. can even do some in situ with home made tools ..
just be careful if it has a built in magnet for abs .. you shouldn't need to worry if changing complete hub .
 
You may not feel the play in it and it can still be bad. Take it off the car and give it a spin.You'll know then that you found the bad one.

BTW, be careful taking that large axle nut loose. I was standing on a breaker bar doing mine and slipped. When I went to catch myself, I bent my thumb way too far backwards on the fender! It felt like I broke it off of my hand! It hurt for a couple of weeks after that.

I like Timken and National (Moog) bearings. AC Delco should be good too.
 
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