Gut Check on Failed Bearing and Damage

[quickdraw]

I have a 1996 LX450. Engine and axles were rebuilt 70,000 miles ago. I heard a weird grinding noise in the front driver wheel briefly last week right before my brother-in-law was taking the truck on a 10-day trip. It did not reoccur but I took it in to my local shop to have it looked at. They said it was a rock stuck in a brake pad and replaced the pads.

My brother-in-law took off after the clean bill of health from Denver and made it to the Aspen area. He calls me early the next morning, tells me the vehicle was pulling a bit left on the drive and making some noise. I told it was probably something wrong with the brake pad install, just stop at a shop and have them take a look. He calls me ten minutes later with concern that its now pulling very hard to the left and smoking... bearing failure.

I've attached the pics I have. At this point I received limited information on the damage. However, the mechanic first said $1,100, then $2,000, then $4,000 in just parts in subsequent days and has yet to provide a written quote or any detail on what the parts are.

I have a call in the morning with him and I'll eventually get a list/quote and can check this out thoroughly but with what you can see in the pictures, any insights into the damage beyond the bearing, spindle and hub assembly?

 

[Kernal]

Find another mechanic, $4000 is nuts unless there's something major (replace axle housing/diff) blown up. He may be used to taking care of Range Rover's that come out of their heated garage once a year in Aspen.

Wait for others with a similar experience but it looks like the Spindle is toast, hub (maybe), rotor, new bearings, brake pads or loaded caliper, and a knuckle seal kit. Need more photos to know what's broke.


FWIW there's got to be at least 50 MUD members within an hour's drive of Aspen who might lend a hand.

Here's a link to one vendor the carries Toyota and Made in Japan parts:

Cruiser Teq | Powered by Cruiser Outfitters

Cruiser Teq is powered by Cruiser Outfitters. Get high quality OEM and aftermarket Land Cruiser parts direct to your door, fast!

cruiserteq.com

 

[quickdraw]

Find another mechanic, $4000 is nuts unless there's something major (replace axle housing/diff) blown up. He may be used to taking care of Range Rover's that come out of their heated garage once a year in Aspen.

Wait for others with a similar experience but it looks like the Spindle is toast, hub (maybe), rotor, new bearings, brake pads or loaded caliper, and a knuckle seal kit. Need more photos to know what's broke.


FWIW there's got to be at least 50 MUD members within an hour's drive of Aspen who might lend a hand.

Here's a link to one vendor the carries Toyota and Made in Japan parts:

Cruiser Teq | Powered by Cruiser Outfitters

Cruiser Teq is powered by Cruiser Outfitters. Get high quality OEM and aftermarket Land Cruiser parts direct to your door, fast!

cruiserteq.com

Yeah, I thought $4K was nuts unless I'm missing something big here. Gotta be the Aspen tax

Appreciate the insights and link to Cruiser Teq

 

[robnicko]

In addition to the parts Kernal said the other front rotor may also need to be changed as well to maintain even thickness (dependant on how worn the other side is)

But from what I gather the lock washer was possibly not bent properly (one tab inward / one tab outward) which leads to the bearing coming loose & disintegrating etc. Being the LHS if the washer not properly bent will loosen, RHS tighten

 

[Godwin]

In addition to the parts Kernal said the other front rotor may also need to be changed as well to maintain even thickness (dependant on how worn the other side is)

But from what I gather the lock washer was possibly not bent properly (one tab inward / one tab outward) which leads to the bearing coming loose & disintegrating etc. Being the LHS if the washer not properly bent will loosen, RHS tighten

I had this happen with an FJ60 once when I failed to lock down the tabs on the lock washer. Damage was spindle, hub, lock nuts, bearings. I bought a dremel to cut out the remains of the spindle nuts to remove the hub. The damage on this 80 looks the same.

 

[ChaseTruck]

“…, the mechanic first said $1,100, then $2,000, then $4,000 in just parts in subsequent days and has yet to provide a written quote or any detail on what the parts are….”

Translation: “I don’t want to touch this thing with a 7-foot pole, let alone work on this mess.”

That shop is NOT the solution for a knuckle rebuild.

 

[Kernal]

^^^This^^^

 

[quickdraw]

Translation: “I don’t want to touch this thing with a 7-foot pole, let alone work on this mess.”

That shop is NOT the solution for a knuckle rebuild.

Lol... yup. I think you're on to something here.

Appreciate the sanity check everyone.

 

[Kernal]

@quickdraw : FWIW If you look at the end of the CV joint (Birfield) outer shaft there are dents from what appear to be from a hammer. So why was someone whacking on the stub shaft?? Difficult to tell from the photos but check to make sure the correct (height) drive flange was installed (the dents makes you wonder who worked on the front axle the last time it was serviced).

 

[mudgudgeon]

I agree with everyone above.

Likely caused by either a very loose bearing, or one that had not seen grease in a looong time. Or one that's taken in water, and then rusted.

I've also had left front bearing fail, probably due to poor workmanship by previous owner. There's loads of threads talking about bearing preload.

Parts list, new spindle, new bearings, new thrust washer, new bearing adjusting/lock nuts.

From your pics, looks like rotor and probably pads are toast. Birfield may be too.
If you need to replace birfield, at that point, new drive flange, new hub seal kit new hub studs and hardware, new hub isn't a long stretch.
Knuckle, hub, bearing replacement for an experienced mechanic in a decent shop is a half day tops. Even if you said a full 8hr day at $125/hr, that's $1000 labor, and there isn't $3000 in parts in a worst case scenario.

 

[quickdraw]

@quickdraw : FWIW If you look at the end of the CV joint (Birfield) outer shaft there are dents from what appear to be from a hammer. So why was someone whacking on the stub shaft?? Difficult to tell from the photos but check to make sure the correct (height) drive flange was installed (the dents makes you wonder who worked on the front axle the last time it was serviced).

Yeah, I noticed that too. I'm not sure what was going on there. Thanks for flagging it

 

[quickdraw]

I agree with everyone above.

Likely caused by either a very loose bearing, or one that had not seen grease in a looong time. Or one that's taken in water, and then rusted.

I've also had left front bearing fail, probably due to poor workmanship by previous owner. There's loads of threads talking about bearing preload.

Parts list, new spindle, new bearings, new thrust washer, new bearing adjusting/lock nuts.

From your pics, looks like rotor and probably pads are toast. Birfield may be too.
If you need to replace birfield, at that point, new drive flange, new hub seal kit new hub studs and hardware, new hub isn't a long stretch.
Knuckle, hub, bearing replacement for an experienced mechanic in a decent shop is a half day tops. Even if you said a full 8hr day at $125/hr, that's $1000 labor, and there isn't $3000 in parts in a worst case scenario.

Thank you. The time to do the work is very helpful.

 

[matzell]

Two floor jacks to lift it, no jack stand in sight. parts in a pile on the floor, I understand when traveling, it is hard to choose where to stop for repairs. Hopefully they actually have a lift to work on it. I agree, 4k is way to high a price even with all new Toyota dealer prices.