Quick opinion on bearings

[has2be]

Hi All,

I was just at the dealer getting the crank pulley replaced on my O2 ls . I took a good look at the front suspension that they pointed out to me was close to needing done ie) some play in bearings.

I,m too old to fall for the replacing the whole arm just to get a bearing and luckily I know a fello who has run a front end steering repair facility for years and will press new bearings and replace the arm.

My question is the bearing themselves I can get no problem but I see some available with the old school grease fitting and was wondering if they are any good or should I stick to the german made ones from the fello in New York.

I want to order them as soon as possible so your knowledge and opinions on this would be much appreciated.
Thanks !

 

[joegr]

Hi All,

I was just at the dealer getting the crank pulley replaced on my O2 ls ...

So, are these finally off of back order now?

...I see some available with the old school grease fitting and was wondering if they are any good or should I stick to the german made ones from the fello in New York....

All I have to add here is that I don't see an advantage to having the grease fittings. My experience has been that joints with the grease fittings wear out just about as soon as those without. At least with the ones without, you don't have to mess around with greasing them.

 

[hite337]

I,m too old to fall for the replacing the whole arm just to get a bearing and luckily I know a fello who has run a front end steering repair facility for years and will press new bearings and replace the arm.

My question is the bearing themselves I can get no problem but I see some available with the old school grease fitting and was wondering if they are any good or should I stick to the german made ones from the fello in New York.

I am assuming you are talking about the ball joints, as the front bearings do not 'press' in and you don't have to remove the controls arms to replace the bearings. I have the ball joints with the grease fittings and have not had any issues with them. Unfortunately my ball joints came with straight fittings so I cant grease them without removing the wheel bearing/hub assembly. One of these days I might buy some 90 degree grease fittings to be able to grease them, probly should do that soon because they are 2 or 3 years old now.

 

[has2be]

Yep sorry was talking about the ball joints. Too many parts on the brain was also thinking about wheel bearings I need for the boys car when I typed it lol.
The ones with the grease fitting have a ninety degree fitting now so no hub removal. I could be wrong but I thought the ones with a grease fitting might have more longevity but only time I guess can answer that . Was just wondering if anyone had direct experience positive or negative.

Hi Joegr, if you meant the crank pulley on back order , I waited a week for the dealer to get one from the US. I couldn't find one anywhere myself. Turned out to be a bit of a problem too. The dealer quoted me 1.5 hours to install the new one or 130 bucks plus 130 for the part. 5 hours later and they still didn,t get it done and won't till tomorrow morning. Not one of the dealers mechanics had ever changed one in an ls and seemed lost. I was told they would split the differance on the labour. I smiled and said so your only going to charge me for 45 minutes as i slid the estimate in front of him. Its not my fault they did not know how to approach it. Book says .9 hours labour. Looked to me like a job to do from above then raise it to torque the bolt so they could hold the flywheel. But thats why I,m not a mechanic I guess.

I know a front end specialist who will remove the lower control arms and press out and put the new balljoints in , put new outer tie rods on and sway bar links for 240 labour including the front end alignment if I supply the parts. Ball joints will cost me say 100 with shipping and the tie rods 80 and 60 for the sway bar links to the door. So $ 480 total right and left ball joints and tie rods and sway bar links alignment and instalation total.
The dealers here want 900 bucks for one balljoint installed because of that idiotic way of only with the control arm to get the ball joint.

I still cant personally say anything bad about these cars as the altenater last week and the crank and the suspension are the first real repairs I have had with mine other than the regular :q:q:q:q like brakes , tires and oil changes. Not bad for a car that was built in the fall of 2001.
Cheers

 

[M4rk]

Where in Ontario are you?

 

[has2be]

Where in Ontario are you?

Hi M4rk, 45 minutes east of Toronto.