Front hub bearing

So changing out my wheels on 2008 4x4 trd off road to the summer ones I find the whole wheel moves when jacked up, real bad. I assume it is a bad or loose wheel bearing hub assembly.

With the hub as bad as it is already is it possible to just pick up a whole hun assembly and just change it out myself with ease if I buy a 36 mil socket or whatever size it is, or is it much more complicated?

I need my truck for work and thought this would be best place to start for good suggestions. What is the cost at a dealer versus local parts place? Is there pressing of parts and seals or is it just a basic assembly job like a front wheel drive car. Thankyou!!

 

do it yourself
I did both mine a few months back
slight learning curve, but watch a few youtube vidz & you will be fine

buy the parts online
get koyo brand

I got mine on Amazon for $100 each roughly
also get the inner seal (dont buy outer, it is built into the hub assembly)

 

Thanks, so you just buy the hub assembly and you need the inner seal for sure? I will watch some vids but have to call around and get one hopefully today at the local shop! This thing is loose and I need my vehicle for work tomorrow! Will order a good one online by koyo for the other side as I imagine it will go soon as well. I am in Canada in a smaller city so I am sure I pay a premium compared to US people plus shipping is atrocious.

Phoning around a couple places say it is just the flange not with the studs on it....hrmmm. This part hard to find at a local shop?

 

I'd you can do a brake job, this is only 6 more bolts. Hardest part is getting the right socket for axle nut.

 

Question -- is there really any need to buy the expensive hub assemblies offered by various sellers on this site for the 'average joe' Tacoma owner? I realize there may be Chinese knock-offs, but a name like Dorman or Beck Arnely for half the price of the ones using Koyo parts, etc. seems like overkill for those of us who just own the truck to use like a car with occasional loads to the dump or for firewood or other stuff.

--- needless to say, I'm on the verge of replacing front hubs and have been doing lots of shopping.

 

if you plan on keeping it...go with a quality name, Timken comes to mind.

 

Well, it's 14 years old, 98k on it, and at this point I'm only putting about 5-7k on the thing. I'm keeping it, but I still don't see how double the price makes much sense on this truck for my use.

 

only problem going cheap on bearings is, I dont think they last as long as quality bearings. but if you want to save money now go that route.

 

Thanks for your replies. I guess my question remains. How long will the Dorman last compared to the fancy ones for double the price? If OEM lasted me almost 100k, and Dorman last me 50k and the fancy ones 100k but double the price...well, for my purposes, seems like Dorman is just fine. I see lots of comments along the lines of what you are relaying, but not much from posters about why (harder use than I plan), how they know, failures of Dorman, etc.

 

How much of a savings would it be? One guy on here sells the complete assembly with Koyo bearings and some generic hub already pressed. Comes with dust seal, axle nut and greased (need spindle side dust seal if you want to replace that as well). Pretty much everything you would need.

Also, depending on the condition, axle and diff seals might be a good idea while you are in there. It's a lot easier to get the new spindle dust seal on with the axle out. I ended up doing the ECGS bushing and new CV boots since everything was already apart.

 

Including dust seals for both sides, it looks like to me that the guys on here with Koyo parts want double for a pair of assemblies compared to what comes off the shelf.

 

Thanks whatstcp...I'm not usually one for the cheap route, but as I mentioned, 5-7k on the truck per year projected over the time I'll likely use it even that much (getting old, ya see) seems like there'd need to be some data to suggest the expensive route makes usual good sense. Not sure it does for me, so I asked.

 

What bearings are you getting with those and what is the warranty? To me it sounds like you can save money now and possibly have to replace sooner, but if your budget doesn't permit something like Koyo bearings then generic is better than driving with a failed bearing.

Some of the generic stuff comes with great warranties. It's like the NAPA axles that people buy with a lifetime warranty. It's not as good as OEM and they don't worry about new boots (or slide mod) for lifted applications. They just run then until they crap out and get a free replacement. Personally, I like doing maintenance but hate doing repairs, so I put in the highest quality parts I can.

 

Year warranty on Beck Arnley via Rock Auto, same warranty as 05taco4x4 who seems to be the preferred assembler for folks on this site.

 

What socket do you need for that big axle nut, all I have is a 16 point 1 3/8 anyone know if it has to be deep etc?

 

1 3/8 will work, doesn't have to be deep.

 

I bought a cheap one off Amazon to be here in 3 days and then I bought a quality one from Marion bumper2bumper which I will change out the good side. I will have to take pics and compare quality if the eye can tell, and see how long these 2 last, if I keep this thing that long...maybe get a used 2019 in a couple years, seems like they have most of the bugs worked out of them now. Lots of vids on YouTube wow....

 

I put the cheapies on from ebay if I remember correctly. It's been over a year and have around 9000 miles on them. Good so far!

 

My take on spending more for quality parts is that on DIY items like wheel bearings that are more labor intensive than just changing a sensor, I prefer to spend more to avoid having to replacing it again due to cheaper quality. The axle nut takes a 35MM socket. Other various size wrenches/sockets needed are 10mm,12mm,14mm,17mm, BFH and liquid wrench to spray the rear hub assembly bolts the night before install.

Here's a good post on the process:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...e-replace-front-wheel-bearing-2nd-gen.189356/

 

$330 for a pair of assembled hubs is a bargain imho. The time and aggravation saved to avoid pressing in the bearings is well worth the price. That and you get the quality bearing.

Dealerships will charge >$600 per side.