Wheel bearing question (1 Viewer)

[asticot]

In the course of upgrading the LCAs and UCAs on my 2006 (145K miles) I noticed there was play at 12 and 6 o’clock when I put the wheels back on. I recently did a 600 mile trip and noticed some wheel play around 60-65mph.

I figure it’s the bearing, but there is no noise.

I had my neighbour do the 12-6 test and I noticed that the brake rotor is moving. When I remove the wheel and tighten the lug nuts against the bare rotor there is no play at all. Put the wheel back and there’s a wobble. Also, if I depress the brake, there is no play.

With the tire the wobble moves the cv axle, which I figure should be a bearing issue. Without the tire there is no wobble at all anywhere. This is what has me confused, if the bearing was bad, then shouldn’t there be a wobble irrespective of the tire is on or not?

Could I not be torquing the lug nuts enough? I usually torque to 95ft lbs. on the passenger side at the same torque spec there is no 12-6 wobble.

I don’t want to go the route of replacing a perfectly good bearing, I just have no idea how to diagnose at this point.

 

[cwwfj60]

You need a bearing. The tire gives you enough leverage to perceive the play. Also, spinning the tire and listening for a rumbling noise is a good tell sometimes

I just replaced one of mine at 145k by the way, very little play, but completely toast on the inside. I could hear it while driving, but I have a trained ear, just the slightest hum that increased recently.

 

[petrus829]

I'm probably going to have to do the rear passenger side wheel bearing; fairly mechanically inclined, I do brakes & rotors etc but never done a bearing. is this something better left to a mechanic? I do not have a press or anything. just wondering what it might compare to, difficulty-wise.

 

[captainva]

You need a bearing separator and a press for the rear to remove and reinstall the bearing off of and onto the rear axle. You also need to be careful when reinstalling so you don't mess up the axle seal. For the front you don't need a press as its a bolt in unit that the CV goes through. If the bearing is rusted in place a slide hammer might be necessary the old bearing off.

Rear Wheel Bearing '06 GX470 - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion

GX - 1st Gen (2004-2009) - Rear Wheel Bearing '06 GX470 - Hi all. I did a search but nothing came up. I m looking for info on replacing rear wheel bearings on my GX470. Any info would help. I took it to a mechanic and he said take it to a dealer. I really don't want to do that. I've searched the...

www.clublexus.com

 

[petrus829]

You need a bearing separator and a press for the rear to remove and reinstall the bearing off of and onto the rear axle. You also need to be careful when reinstalling so you don't mess up the axle seal. For the front you don't need a press as its a bolt in unit that the CV goes through. If the bearing is rusted in place a slide hammer might be necessary the old bearing off.

Rear Wheel Bearing '06 GX470 - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion

GX - 1st Gen (2004-2009) - Rear Wheel Bearing '06 GX470 - Hi all. I did a search but nothing came up. I m looking for info on replacing rear wheel bearings on my GX470. Any info would help. I took it to a mechanic and he said take it to a dealer. I really don't want to do that. I've searched the...

www.clublexus.com

thanks, captainva, I appreciate the insight. I watched a video on this procedure, and it seems to be above my pay-grade and requires special tools that I don't really want to invest in. There is a company that manufactures a pre-pressed axle/bearing assembly which I'm going to look into: 2003-2009 Lexus GX470 Axle Shaft - Dorman 926-142 - Rear Right - PartsGeek.com - https://bit.ly/3HPI738 No idea of the quality

 

[captainva]

Dorman is hit or miss in general but would be a HARD pass for me if it has a bearing in it. For any vehicle bearings on a Japanese brand you want only Timken, Koyo, or OEM (which is one of those) or you're getting a crap chinesium bearing that you will likely be replacing in short order.