Wheel bearings are components that make it possible for the wheels on your car to spin freely and with the least amount of resistance possible. A wheel bearing is a group of steel balls that are kept together inside the hub of the wheel in a race made of metal. While driving, if you hear a humming or moaning noise, one of your car’s wheel bearings is probably beginning to fail.
Although it requires certain specialized mechanic gear, changing your own wheel bearings is regarded as an intermediate task that may be completed at home.
The generalized instructions provided here address the three most typical wheel bearing types that are present on the majority of automobiles. Before you start the repair, make sure to get the service manual for your car and figure out what kind of wheel bearings it has.
In This Article...
How long does it take to replace the bearings in the two front wheels?
A vehicle’s wheel bearings are crucial components that are necessary for it to run safely. If a wheel bearing isn’t working properly, it can soon endanger your and your passengers’ safety and needs to be fixed right away. Several factors can affect how long it takes to change a wheel bearing, but it’s imperative that you do so. Fortunately, you don’t need to seek any farther to find the wheel bearing replacement information you require!
Quick Answer: Expect 30 Minutes to an Hour, but It Depends
The amount of time it takes to replace a wheel bearing will vary depending on a number of variables, such as the difficulty of the task, the kind of vehicle you are driving, and the location of the broken wheel bearing. This makes it challenging to apply a blanket time estimate, although you can often anticipate waiting between 30 and 65 minutes for front bearings and between 15 and 45 minutes for rear wheel bearings.
You want to find the best bargain on the car you want, not actually purchase it. If a comparable vehicle is offered locally for less money, the CoPilot app will let you know, so you can be sure you received the best bargain.
Why Do You Need a Working Wheel Bearing?
When you drive, the wheel can spin because of the role that wheel bearings play as the connection between the tire and the axle. With this knowledge, it should be obvious why having a wheel bearing that is in perfect working order is crucial. Without it, your automobile can have serious issues and won’t move the way you want it to. There are a few indicators that your wheel bearing requires repair or replacement.
Noise is the most obvious sign of a bad wheel bearing. If there is a problem with your wheel bearing, you will hear loud humming or grinding noises. Depending on what you’re doing at the time, such as turning the car in a particular direction or slowing it down, these noises may become louder or quieter. An professional would be able to determine whether you only have one wheel bearing or one faulty section of a wheel bearing if you listen carefully and discover that the noise is coming from a specific region. Your tires not losing tread at the same rate is another telling symptom of wheel bearing issues. A bad wheel bearing is probably present in a tire that is significantly more worn out than the rest.
On a more serious side, some wheel bearing failure symptoms may indicate serious risk. A shaking steering wheel may be a sign that there is an urgent problem that has to be rectified. Your car pushing to one side is another illustration of this condition. This can have a significant impact on your driving and needs to be fixed right away. Wheel bearings are typically a prevalent cause of the last two issues, although they could also result from other mechanical faults. Have a reliable mechanic take a look as soon as you can if you’re having any of the aforementioned problems so that you can return to driving safely.
How Long Will It Really Take to Replace Your Wheel Bearing?
We need to talk about the various locations wheel bearings are found in a car before we discuss how long it takes to replace a wheel bearing. Each wheel bearing has a varied purpose and requires a varying amount of time to change depending on where it is. Most cars have wheel bearings in the front and back that, depending on where they are located, absorb shock in different ways.
The time it will take to replace a wheel bearing relies largely on your car, the exact wheel bearing that needs to be replaced, and the skill of the mechanic doing the work. Despite the fact that there are numerous variables at play, we can nevertheless provide you with some estimations so that you may plan ahead. With a qualified mechanic, changing the front wheel bearings can be completed in as little as 30 minutes, or it may take an hour and a half if there are complications.
You’re looking to buy a used car, then. We have already prepared a list of crucial inquiries to make while purchasing a secondhand car.
In general, a rear wheel bearing will be much quicker, with straightforward procedures taking 15 to 45 minutes. Although many rear wheel bearings are made to be removable, some vehicles have them fixed on, which will lengthen the job. If your vehicle is this way, allow closer to 30 to 60 minutes for delivery of a replacement.
Unfortunately, if you operate a vehicle with four-wheel drive, the advice above probably won’t apply to you. It’s difficult for a repair to quickly change the wheel bearings because of how these cars are constructed. It’s incredibly hard to predict how long a replacement will take because these operations may be so intimidating; it might take hours in some cases. The same holds true for vehicles with rear-wheel drive when having the wheel bearings on the rear axle replaced. Regardless of these projections, your best bet is to inquire with your mechanic about how long they anticipate repair will take after inspecting your vehicle.
We have a selection of quick two-seaters if you’re in the market. See our ranking of the top two-seater vehicles available today.
Should You Have Your Wheel Bearing Repaired Instead?
While it is feasible to repair your wheel bearing rather than replace it entirely, this is rather uncommon. To begin with, you’ll need a specific set of knowledge and equipment in order to fix a wheel bearing on your own. Beginners should avoid attempting to fix their wheel bearings themselves. If you take your automobile to a shop, the majority of professionals will probably choose to simply replace the wheel bearings outright, so you shouldn’t anticipate anything less.
Make sure to obtain a professional set of eyes on your automobile before you ever attempt to make adjustments on your own. As always, we advise getting a reputable expert’s advice on the work you need to be done on your car. Wheel bearing replacements can generally be a pain, but you must have totally functional ones before you can resume driving.
Get a Curated List of the Best Used Cars Near You
The simplest way to purchase a car is using the CoPilot auto shopping app. You may create a customized list of the top car listings in your area by telling us what you’re looking for, and we’ll search the inventories of every dealership in your area.
Just seeking for more recent models? The search engine for virtually new vehicles is CoPilot Compare. only observe recentfive years or lessautos with little mileage. The greatest place to look for off-lease, early trade-in, and CPO vehicles is CoPilot Compare.
What’s best? We have more information on each vehicle than our rivals since CoPilot was developed using the same technologies that dealerships use to acquire and sell their inventories. Since CoPilot doesn’t partner with automakers, there aren’t any sponsored posts or other dubious tacticsjust the most information about the best vehicles. To learn more about CoPilot’s operation, see our About Us page.
Does the hub assembly or simply the bearing need to be replaced?
A: My 2002 Oldsmobile Alero is in good condition, but my mechanic has identified a noise coming from the rear wheels as “the dry bearings. I’ve been informed that the complete wheel hub will need to be replaced for the repair. In addition to being pricey ($300 for parts alone per hub), I’ve been informed that both hubs need to be replaced even though just one is noisy. Is this suggestion accurate? If so, is it possible to delay the second replacement and if so, what would be the consequences?
One of these wheel bearings failing is unusual “dry. The reason why a bearing begins to make noise is typically because it has been damaged in an accident, such as when it slides sideways into a solid item while driving on a slippery road or bounces through a very large pothole.
Your wheel bearing may have previously sustained minor damage but is now worn to the point that it is beginning to create noise.
Your mechanic is correct in saying that the hub replacement is the only way to fix the bearing. Due to its sealed nature, it cannot be disassembled without being obliterated.
I would simply change the hub responsible for the loudness. If the other one is silent, it should be fine and may provide you with service for thousands (or tens of thousands) of kilometers without any issues.
The wheel and brake drum must be taken off, the hub must be unbolted, and the wire for the ABS speed sensor at the back of the hub must be disconnected in order to replace the hub. The hub is fastened to the rim with four bolts. To remove them, a #50 Torx bit and a little bit of luck are needed.
On practically every automobile I’ve had to remove these bolts from, they appear to be seized. When attempting to remove the bolts, it is fairly uncommon for the Torx bit to shatter. For this reason alone, most wheel alignment specialists have two or three #50 Torx bits in their toolbox.
They may need to be heated with a torch or helped loosen using an impact driver. This usually works, but you must use the least amount of heat possible to avoid damaging other components.
You can discover a tapered plastic shim behind the hub after removing it. Some shops utilize this aftermarket wheel alignment shim for quick alignment adjustments.
Shims are not used in the production. Reverse the procedure of disassembly and bolt the hub back into place to assemble the car. Although a wheel alignment is probably not required, it is suggested if there are signs of uneven tire wear or handling issues.
The decision to merely do one hub has no real drawbacks. Because changing the hub on one side is an entirely different procedure from changing the other side, if the second one ever needs to be replaced, the cost shouldn’t change from what it is currently.
Q: My 2010 Impala’s rear window defroster does not function at all, and I want to fix it while I can do it outside. The dealership’s technician advised replacing the entire window because the contact points are damaged and should be replaced. Given that the lines were operating effectively prior to the contact being loose, this seems like a harsh measure. If there is a more useful solution, please suggest.
A: In auto repair businesses, bonding the electrical contact back onto the glass is typically not done. The suggested course of action is to replace the back window, which will cost money as you no doubt already know.
I would advise trying a different repair method as the window will need to be replaced anyhow.
This one originates in the electronics sector. Use a specific conductive epoxy to glue the electrical termination that was severed back onto the glass.
Silver is used in the formulation of this epoxy to create an electrical connection. Many different materials, including solder, aluminum, copper, glass, and the majority of plastics, are adhered to by the epoxy. Epoxy is a two-part adhesive.
Equal amounts from each tube are combined, and the termination is then carefully glued in place. Before attaching the wire or turning on the defogger, let the epoxy to fully cure.
The price of the conductive epoxy, which I discovered at a nearby electronics industrial supply, was just over $30.
What does it cost to press a wheel bearing?
The national average for replacing one wheel’s wheel bearings is roughly $350. But as you might expect, luxury brands are more expensive. Please note: You don’t necessarily need to repair the bearings at the other wheel on the same axle if the bearings at one wheel need to be replaced. It differs from matching a set of tires.
What is the time required to replace a wheel bearing?
According to our research, replacing a wheel bearing takes an average of 1 to 2 hours.
The time it takes to replace a wheel bearing might vary significantly from car to car because wheel bearing components can be very different between different automobile makes and models.
Depending on whether the bearing is on the front or back wheel, the time required to replace a wheel bearing also varies slightly. Rear wheel bearing replacements typically take under an hour, whereas front wheel bearing replacements often take roughly 90 minutes.
What equipment is required to change a wheel bearing?
How Do I Replace a Wheel Bearing? What Equipment Do I Need?
- a pair of pliers with needle-noses.
- ratchet wrench and a range of socket sizes.
- screwdriver with a flat head.
- jack.
- wheel nut removing with a star wrench.
Are wheel bearing changes difficult?
A wheel bearing serves the straightforward purpose of enabling the wheel to rotate freely. Wheel bearings come in two varieties: ball bearings and tapered roller bearings. The majority of modern automobiles, SUVs, and pickup trucks use double row ball wheel bearings that don’t require any maintenance, like the one in the picture.
This kind of wheel bearing frequently ships with the hub as an assembly. What is the lifespan of a wheel bearing? When should a wheel bearing be changed? Wheel bearing replacement is not time- or mileage-dependent, and in many cars, wheel bearings can last the whole life of the car. Only when a wheel bearing is broken or worn out does it need to be replaced.
What signs indicate a faulty wheel bearing? The most typical symptom is when internal deterioration to a wheel bearing results in a buzzing sound. At faster speeds, this kind of noise is more audible. When the vehicle changes direction, the wheel bearing noise could become louder or quieter. When leaving the highway, for instance, you can hear a change in the volume. When only one row of the wheel bearing is harmed, this occurs. When the load changes to that side of the bearing during turns, the noise gets louder.
When a wheel bearing gets loose or has play in it, it is another sign. Occasionally, a squeaking or growling sound can be caused by a loose wheel bearing.
Can the antilock braking system (ABS) be affected by a damaged wheel bearing? It’s true that many cars have a tone ring for the ABS sensor attached to a wheel bearing.
The wheel bearing and hub are frequently packaged together in modern automobiles. It is bolted to the spindle or steering knuckle.
The ABS sensor may not read correctly if a wheel bearing is loose, which will illuminate the ABS warning light. The tone ring is included into one of the side seals of various wheel bearings. The ABS system won’t function if a wheel bearing is mounted with the improper side towards the sensor.
What could damage a wheel bearing? Normal wear and tear might occasionally cause the wheel bearing to degrade. A wheel bearing might fail early due to rust and moisture. Additionally, a wheel bearing may be harmed by collisions, potholes, or curbs.
Several issues, such as a faulty transmission bearing, unevenly worn or “cupped” tires, and a worn-out differential, might result in a humming noise when driving. It can be challenging to identify which wheel bearing is noisy because the noise is transmitted via the vehicle’s chassis and metal panels. Most of the time, a mechanic can tell whether a wheel bearing is bad by using a stethoscope to listen for noise and looking for looseness.
Driving with a damaged wheel bearing is it safe? It is dependent upon the bearing’s state. During an examination, only your mechanic will be able to identify this.
Does a car’s warranty cover the wheel bearing? Many manufacturers cover the powertrain warranty for the wheel bearings in the drive axle, such as the front wheel bearings in a front-wheel drive car. Otherwise, the standard new car warranty will cover wheel bearings. If a wheel bearing fails and is damaged in an accident, it might not be covered.
Should you change both wheel bearings if just one is damaged? No, it is not required. Only that particular wheel bearing needs to be changed if only one of them is damaged. A good wheel bearing does not require replacement as a preventative measure.
Can you grease a wheel bearing? Greasing is only permitted for tapered roller wheel bearings. A double row ball bearing, which is common in cars, is permanently sealed and must only be replaced if it is damaged.
What is a wheel bearing’s typical lifespan? Wheel bearings in many cars, as we previously discussed, can endure the entire lifespan of the car. According to our observations, a car might require a wheel bearing replacement after 150,000 km.
Watch out for potholes and go over speed bumps more slowly to extend the life of the wheel bearings.
What is the price of a new wheel bearing? Depending on the amount of work required. In many automobiles, a wheel bearing and hub are assembled together.
Like this one, tapered roller bearings are sold in pairs, one larger and one smaller.
It is bolted to the spindle or steering knuckle. It is simpler to replace in this instance ($80180 labor plus $65180 part).
In order to install a wheel bearing in some cars, a press must be used, which adds to the labor costs ($120250 labor plus $40120 item). It takes a lot more work and costs more money to replace a wheel bearing in some large SUVs and trucks. For instance, the parts and labor cost to replace a rear wheel bearing in a Toyota FJ Cruiser with a solid back axle might reach $1,200.
The grease and adjustments on tapered roller wheel bearings must be done on a regular basis. How can you know what kind of bearings your automobile or truck has? The majority of the time, non-drive axles employ tapered roller bearings.
For instance, the front wheels of many vintage rear-wheel drive pickup trucks contain tapered roller bearings. The adjustment nut in the tapered roller bearing design frequently has a removable cap covering it, which is one visible difference. For one wheel, tapered roller bearings are supplied as a pair, and they are always changed in pairs. Repacking the hub with fresh grease and correcting the bearing pre-tension are required when replacing tapered roller bearings.
How simple is it to change a wheel bearing at home? If you have the right knowledge, equipment, and manual, replacing a wheel bearing that comes as an assembly with the hub and bolts to the spindle or steering knuckle is not that difficult. The huge axle nut is obviously extremely tight and can be challenging to remove. It’s advisable to let the experts handle pressing the bearing in and out if that’s necessary.