2004 AWD Wheel Bearings- Cost to DIY info

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oscarjm
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:39 am

2004 AWD Wheel Bearings- Cost to DIY info

Post by oscarjm »

Just thought I would relay my experience, as wheel bearings are a common maintenance item on these cars.

Rear Wheel Bearings- $79.94
My rear wheel bearings went out at 149,500 miles. Replacement was a fairly simple bolt on process, parts were MOOG wheel bearing and hub assembly (Part # 512512 for AWD) off of eBay for $79.94 total for two complete hubs. I believe I have written about their replacement in another post. I had torn rear CV boots, so I replaced both rear axle shafts at the same time.

Front Wheel Bearings- $288.75
My front wheel bearing went out at 157,500 miles. I couldn’t figure out which side was making the noise as it did not change when steering right or left. After searching this forum and watching a shadetree mechanic and a professional mechanic replace the front wheel bearings, I decided I didn’t have the proper tools (mainly a press and the patience to chisel out the wheel bearing retaining clip) to replace the wheel bearings myself.

I had three options:

1) Take it to a shop. Replacement of both front wheel bearings would have been $712 + tax, so figure $750.

2) Buy a complete MOOG steering knuckle/hub/bearing assembly off of Rock Auto. Cost would have been about $325 total, plus an $89.95 alignment. So total cost of $415.

3) Remove the steering knuckles myself, and take it to a machine shop to have the bearings removed and new ones pressed on. I estimated the total cost for this to be $300 (parts + labor + alignment).

I went with option 3. Here were my costs and part numbers:

$33.23- 2x wheel bearings (ACDelco FW189- which is just a repackaged KOYO bearing, made in Japan, which is OE on this car, purchased from Amazon)
$6.54 -2x wheel bearing retaining ring (Dorman 933-103, O’Reilly Auto Parts)
$59.03- 2x wheel hubs* (Duralast 930-406; Autozone)
$100- machine shop labor ($50 per knuckle)
$89.95 Alignment (Goodyear Auto)
TOTAL COST - $288.75

TOTAL COST to replace all 4 front and rear wheel bearings- $368.69

*The surprise was the front wheel hub purchase. I haven’t seen anyone have to do this, but the machine shop said that removing the inner race of the bearing from the wheel hub would damage the hub, and he always recommends replacing the hub when installing new wheel bearings.

In retrospect, it would have been much easier (in terms of time driving around to parts stores and the machine shop and having the car out of service) to buy the complete knuckle+hub+bearing assembly from RockAuto, but the cost difference would have been about $125 more. But, I have OE wheel bearings that should last another 150,000+ miles, vs whatever bearing MOOG uses.

While I had it all apart, I noticed a leaking outer tie rod boot, and my driver’s side brake hose has worn down to the steel braiding where it rubs against the stabilizer link. So, I will be replacing that brake line (and probably encase the rubbed portion of that hose with a larger hose to prevent this from happening again) and both outer tie rod ends before I get the car aligned. Those tie rod ends are going to need a lot of PB blaster and heat as they are essentially welded in place by 17 years of rust…

It was also a good time to have my 10,000 mile rotors resurfaced as they developed a warp (a constant problem since I’ve owned this car) after 1,000 miles. It was time for new brake pads too. The calipers have already been replaced and slide smoothly on their pins. With new hubs, new wheel bearings, a clean mating surface between the hub + disc + wheel and the proper torque on the lug nuts, I’m hoping to finally have a brake pedal that doesn’t pulsate.

It is nice to have a quieter ride again.
tpollauf
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Re: 2004 AWD Wheel Bearings- Cost to DIY info

Post by tpollauf »

Thanks for the update. Reports like this ALWAYS help others out who are also DIY'ers.
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Seventeen
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Re: 2004 AWD Wheel Bearings- Cost to DIY info

Post by Seventeen »

Thanks for the update. Reports like this ALWAYS help others out who are also DIY'ers.
Amen. Thanks OscarJM
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zbyers
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Re: 2004 AWD Wheel Bearings- Cost to DIY info

Post by zbyers »

We replaced the rear bearings on multiple AWD Vibes...Pretty straightforward.

Due to the time/cost involved in the front bearings, we have always opted to purchase the Moog hub assemblies. We also usually replace the ball joint at the same time. Much quicker/easier that way.
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oscarjm
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:39 am

Re: 2004 AWD Wheel Bearings- Cost to DIY info

Post by oscarjm »

Update: the left front wheel bearing appears to have failed. There is some noise and vibration, and the brake pads seem to drag intermittently when I'm turning into my driveway or a parking lot.

I'm going to replace the whole left front spindle and hub assembly this time, to save time. Since the right front wheel bearing only has 15,000 miles on it and seems fine, I'm going to leave it.

RockAuto does not show a MOOG spindle and hub assembly for an AWD vibe, but interestingly enough, there is one available for the same year AWD Toyota Matrix. According to some posts from zbyers, this will be an exact replacement for an AWD Vibe. I'm not looking forward to doing this again, but that's life!
oscarjm
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:39 am

Re: 2004 AWD Wheel Bearings- Cost to DIY info

Post by oscarjm »

Just to close the loop on this, I ended up getting a WJB wheel bearing/hub/knuckle assembly from RockAuto for $107.79 for a 2004 AWD Toyota Matrix (WLK065). Because I was worried about separating the old ball joint from the old steering knuckle, I got a ball joint from Advance Auto parts for about $26.00. This was a simple installation, although I thought I would need to remove the sway bar end link, and I attempted to loosen the top nut but it spun the ball and wouldn't come all the way off. Word of caution- don't try to remove this if you don't need to!

I installed the new knuckle assembly, torqued all nuts to spec, went for a test drive, and kept hearing knocking in the front. Thought maybe the new ball joint wasn't torqued properly (it is a tight fit to get a torque wrench on the castle nut), so I took everything apart and reinstalled. Same knocking on the test drive. Eventually I figured out that I had loosened the sway bar end link and had forgotten to tighten it back up. So, learn from my mistake!

After a $79.99 alignment, the noise and vibration from the bad wheel bearing was gone. Total cost for this repair was $242. If I had to do both sides with new bearings/hubs/knuckle assemblies and lower ball joints, it would have been around $378. In hindsight, I think this would have been the better route rather than having a machine shop press in new bearings, given that the time I had to take off work and the time I spent running between the parts store and the machine shop wasn't worth the $90 savings. If you factor in that the $378 estimate includes new wheel bearings, I think buying complete assemblies is the winning option. Hopefully WJB assemblies are quality.
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