Firestone wanted $500 to replace the right frong wheel hub on silverado ?

[mizzou]

Couldn't believe what they wanted to charge. Went in after purchasing new set of firestone destination A/T's and they said one of the wheel bearings was bad, they showed it to me and it def. wobbled. Not terribly bad but obvioulsy if it wobbles it is shot and it can only get worse from here.

They say the part costs $317.50 and labor will be $124.80.

Holy crap!!!


I haven't checked the dealer on the OEM part but autozone and other stores have it easily under $150.00

That is one heck of a mark up!

I looked through my haynes manual and on youtube. Hardest part looks like getting that hub nut off, I don't have a breaker bar but am pretty sure I'll need one for it.

WOndering if I should just replace the left front wheel hub just to save time later on.....

 

[jlee]

I broke two breaker bars getting the axle nut off my MR2. You may want a breaker bar and a pipe.

Did you check rockauto for part pricing yet?

 

[Bignate603]

You may want to swing by a local independent mechanic. I have NEVER had good luck at any chain place. The local guys are usually much better.

 

[DietDrThunder]

If the bearing is indeed bad, go to your local pick-a-part wrecking yard. You can pull one or they will for a little more money. I did this on my Chevy pickup and saved a bundle. If I remember correctly, I think I paid $35 for the hub, bearings, and everything. with them pulling it. The hub/spindle was dirty but didn't show any ware.

 

[StageLeft]

I broke two breaker bars getting the axle nut off my MR2.

I've done a few and have always used a breaker bar with a pipe. even then it requires a lot of force. I have always braced myself for something snapping before the big nut coming off but so far have been lucky. I look away and grimace in expectation of something bad happening

 

[radioouman]

Rockauto has the bearing for the Silverado. It is a common bad part on the Silverado 4x4.. Not sure about 2x4. Anyway, it is fairly cheap and not too bad to do yourself.

 

[mizzou]

lol, the axle nut is my main concern right now. I don't have a breaker bar but I don't think it can be too expensive. We don't have tonnnns of salt here but it's enough in the midwest to make me worry that the thing is rusted real bad. I suppose I could rent an impact wrench and throw it on my air compressor.

Hmm maybe that would be a better idea. But I would think a big ol' breaker bar would do better.

I went to my independent mechanic i normally go to, and they were even more expensive.

 

[slag]

after fighting with removing axle nuts for years, I finally went out and bought a 1250 ft lb 3/4 inch drive impact wrench with hardened metric and standard sockets.

Haven't had any issues since, although my 60 gph single stage air compressor is probably too small for the wrench.

 

[bruceb]

The labor rate is reasonable. The parts price is not. You can get that for under $200 .. Buy either the OEM or a Timken unit. Do not get a china generic or a used one, as they will fail again way before their time. I used Timkins on my Grand Prix .. Made in USA quality and they work perfect.

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: mizzou
lol, the axle nut is my main concern right now. I don't have a breaker bar but I don't think it can be too expensive. We don't have tonnnns of salt here but it's enough in the midwest to make me worry that the thing is rusted real bad. I suppose I could rent an impact wrench and throw it on my air compressor.

Hmm maybe that would be a better idea. But I would think a big ol' breaker bar would do better.

I went to my independent mechanic i normally go to, and they were even more expensive.

Take a wire brush to the threads and get as much of the corrosion off that you can. If you have one you can chuck into a drill motor, it will be less grunt work and do a better job. If you have any anti-seize, slather the end of the shaft before you start trying to remove the nut. It will help a lot. If you don't have anti-seize, some grease or even oil will work just fine.

You'll want a good quality breaker bar. A cheap brand you've never heard of will most likely break. I'm speaking from experience. I had one that just kind of casually twisted off the square stub that mates to the socket.

The nut will be hot after it's removed. Spray lubricants will usually just vaporize which is why I made the other suggestions.

 

[mizzou]

Originally posted by: bruceb
The labor rate is reasonable. The parts price is not. You can get that for under $200 .. Buy either the OEM or a Timken unit. Do not get a china generic or a used one, as they will fail again way before their time. I used Timkins on my Grand Prix .. Made in USA quality and they work perfect.

+1 on the Timken, thanks for the advice. I see it's well under $150 =)

Going to jack the truck up tomorrow and see how difficult it's going to be for me to get that darn hub nut off.

 

[mizzou]

Update:

Replaced right front wheel hub bearing with Timken brand $149.99
Tools and items I had to purchase:
a micrometer torque wrench (i only had one from 50-150, i needed one over 150)
a set of larger sockets (needed 14mm to 18mm)
2 jack stands
axel grease
anti-seize compound
a large 15mm hand wrench (on the 4x4 model of 1500, you literally cannot fit a 15mm socket into the thread because of the suspension, go figure! makes me wonder about the 55ft pounds of torque I gave it, lol)
a multi- 1/2 to 3/8 and 3/8 to 1/2 converter (lovin it!)


I ended up renting the axle nut socket and breaker bar.

Total cost : $260 bucks about

Total cost Firestone wanted to charge me $500

--------

Would have been MUCH more in savings if I had the right tools, but I seem to get the ones I need as I step up to bigger and bigger projects.

Results: 6 HOURS OF WORK!! AHHHh!! Vast majority was running back and forth to the tool store figuring out crap
Most of it was trying to get the god damn bolts loose, then the absolute worst part was getting the wheel hub off. That took FOREVER. Surprisingly my axel nut was a breeze to remove. The dust cap really makes it easy to keep clean I guess.

My neighbor thought I was crazy, I was basically banging away at the thing with a hammer for the longest time. Finally it took a crowbar to pry the thing off. I didn't mutilate the dust cover which was nice but I would have wish I had a new one to put on to make sure it wouldn't cause any issued....but I don't have one. I think I'll grab one from the dealer and put it on before I take my truck out to get a new front end alignment.


Test drove went well.


Surprisingly, I've never even changed my brake pads or rotors, now that seems like it's childs play =)


Fingers crossed I didn't make this worse lol

 

[boomerang]

Sounds like you had a good time. Dust covers? That's good to know. I can understand how that would have made it easier. Nothing wrong with spending money on tools that you'll have a use for at a later date IMO.

I wouldn't get an alignment just because you replaced that hub. If it needs it for other reasons, fine. But replacing that will have no affect on your alignment at all.

 

[mizzou]

Originally posted by: boomerang

I wouldn't get an alignment just because you replaced that hub. If it needs it for other reasons, fine. But replacing that will have no affect on your alignment at all.

yeah, my front wheels need an alignment real bad. You just look at it and it has horrible toe-in.
I used to think it was just me but you can see how bad the tread wear was on the sides of my old tires because of it

 

[KnuckleScrapper]

Having learned the hard way, If you have to do this job again you can rent a hub puller from someone like advance auto. Also the best tool I ever puchased was torch for easy removal of frozen bolts

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

Replaced the same part on my car this past Friday, OP. I purchased about 5ft of 3/4 inch pipe to fit over the breaker bar, made the axle nut a breeze to remove. Interestingly enough, the hub came off with just a little bit of pulling and some liquid wrench. Made sure to grease it up good before I installed the new unit.

My bearing came with a new dust cap, and I would say that it's a good idea to make sure you get a new one on there before too long.

 

[jlee]

Update:

Replaced right front wheel hub bearing with Timken brand $149.99
Tools and items I had to purchase:
a micrometer torque wrench (i only had one from 50-150, i needed one over 150)
a set of larger sockets (needed 14mm to 18mm)
2 jack stands
axel grease
anti-seize compound
a large 15mm hand wrench (on the 4x4 model of 1500, you literally cannot fit a 15mm socket into the thread because of the suspension, go figure! makes me wonder about the 55ft pounds of torque I gave it, lol)
a multi- 1/2 to 3/8 and 3/8 to 1/2 converter (lovin it!)


I ended up renting the axle nut socket and breaker bar.

Total cost : $260 bucks about

Total cost Firestone wanted to charge me $500

--------

Would have been MUCH more in savings if I had the right tools, but I seem to get the ones I need as I step up to bigger and bigger projects.

Results: 6 HOURS OF WORK!! AHHHh!! Vast majority was running back and forth to the tool store figuring out crap
Most of it was trying to get the god damn bolts loose, then the absolute worst part was getting the wheel hub off. That took FOREVER. Surprisingly my axel nut was a breeze to remove. The dust cap really makes it easy to keep clean I guess.

My neighbor thought I was crazy, I was basically banging away at the thing with a hammer for the longest time. Finally it took a crowbar to pry the thing off. I didn't mutilate the dust cover which was nice but I would have wish I had a new one to put on to make sure it wouldn't cause any issued....but I don't have one. I think I'll grab one from the dealer and put it on before I take my truck out to get a new front end alignment.


Test drove went well.


Surprisingly, I've never even changed my brake pads or rotors, now that seems like it's childs play =)


Fingers crossed I didn't make this worse lol

So basically, you made $40/hr doing it and got some tools out of the deal..nice!

 

[Throckmorton]

+1 on the Timken, thanks for the advice. I see it's well under $150 =)

Going to jack the truck up tomorrow and see how difficult it's going to be for me to get that darn hub nut off.

If an independent mechanic would let you bring your own part and do it for the same labor cost, that's probably worthwhile.