Wheel bearings...1 or 2?

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Frodo

A year or so ago I had a little problem on cold, slick, wet asphalt, doing a complete 360 and smacking some curbing on the right side, the same side that the deteriorating wheel bearing is on. Not real hard, mind you, but you suppose that might have sped things up, bearing-wise?

Definitely.

[thstone]

They don't "have" to be replaced in pairs as there is no safety or mechcanical reason to do so, just a good idea from a preventative maintenance point of view.

In your case, since you have a good idea about the event that led to the right side bearing's early demise, you're probably fine just replaceing the right side.

[sasha055]

If you're paying a shop to change them, change just one, there is no discount for changing more then one, ie if 1 bearing change costs 500$ to replace (seattle prices) two bearings will be 1000$

If you're changing them youself, might as well change both, bearing is cheap and after you've done it once, second bearing is a lot easier.. plus you'll have to do an alignment if you're doing rears so might as well get it all done.

Thanks
Sasha

[RandallNeighbour]

bearing changes on a wheel hub opened a real can of worms for me. To get to it, you have to take off most everything from that corner of the car suspension-wise.

It's a wonderful time to replace a strut, tie rod, control arm or two (or three in the case of the back wheels) because there's no additional labor to take out an old one and put in a new one.

The can of worms is that you should not replace just one strut and they aren't cheap.

You may want to invest in a new lower control arm on that one corner and have the mechanic put that in when he takes the old one off. These wear out way too prematurely on our cars and cause some nasty-loud squeaking when you go over bumps or turn the wheel hard and go into a driveway. It's caused by the steel bit wearing through the rubber gasket and rubbing against the aluminum.

I will say this though... I had all four wheel bearings and most of the suspension swapped out on my car a couple of years ago and it now drives like a brand new car and it's QUIET. I had no idea how noisy worn suspension parts (loose, clanking, and random squeaking that was hard to pinpoint) and nearly-worn out bearings made the car.

[JFP in PA]

As Frodo has the SIR tooling, he will not need to pull the suspension apart to change the wheel bearing.

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

As Frodo has the SIR tooling, he will not need to pull the suspension apart to change the wheel bearing.

Bingo. Actually, not quite yet...but it's on it's way. (Since I smacked the right rear as well as the right front, that may be the next one to go. Figured I should go ahead and spring for the kit now.)

[Steve Tinker]

What exactly does the SIR tools consist of.....

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by Frodo

Bingo. Actually, not quite yet...but it's on it's way. (Since I smacked the right rear as well as the right front, that may be the next one to go. Figured I should go ahead and spring for the kit now.)

I would clean & inspect the wheel carriers for damage & cracks also!