Rear Hub bearing replacement

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NukeMedic

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Ok guys I frequently troll through the threads on here absorbing the vast amounts of information that is to be had, but I am having a hard time finding a solid answer on this question.

I have a 2002 LSE with 105k on her and a V8. I am having the wonderful grinding noises in the rear that is associated with the bearings going bad. Now I'm pretty mechanically inclined and tend to do most things myself. From what I can understand is that I need to pull the entire knuckle off the back and have the bearings pressed out and a new one pressed in. Or I can buy the hub assembly in its entirety?

This is where I get confused. Can I buy the Hub assembly or do I have to buy the entire knuckle at a whopping $750? since the car is a bit older I would just as soon pay a little bit more for the entire hub (not the knuckle) and replace that.

Can somebody please point me in the right direction so I can get this crap over with?!

Thanks in advance!
 
Remove the knuckle and have a new bearing pressed in. Pretty simple repair. Part should be cheap. You or the machine shop will need to drill out the backing plate rivets so you will need (3) 1/4 inch rivets. Hardest part is removing the knuckle and thats not hard. Axle nut may be pretty tight. 221 lb/ft.
 
One potential complication, if your car is as old as mine (2001): Fortunately I have never yet had to remove the rear knuckles - however if/when I do, I'm going to have a problem because the exposed end of the rear axle shaft beyond the nut is heavily corroded to the point where the threads are essentially non-existent any more. The axle nut itself is pretty corroded as well. One side is particularly bad and the other less so. I have been coating the ends with white grease every time I take the wheels off for cleaning/rotating/balancing etc. to prevent further deterioration. If the time comes, I suspect that the axle nuts will have to be cut off and new axle shafts fitted (as well as whatever else needs replacing). Ugh!
 
its a pretty easy fix. take off the knuckle, bring it to napa(most of them have machine shops attached), i think it was $60 a side for the bearing and the installation and then put it back on the car. double check to its not the diff, mine went out from burning up the fluid and it was making griding noises that i thought were bearings.
 
When mine was bad,I just went and bought the bearing at auto zone for 30.00 then took it and the car to a local mechanic and he did all the work for 125.00.
 
Your best bet is to have a new wheel bearing pressed in. They don't sell just the rear hub for an LS as far as I know. You have to buy the whole knuckle. I replaced my passenger side knuckle back in 08 for the same reason. At that time I was able to purchase one for $365. I don't know why they have gone up so much. If I had to do it today, I would have the bearings pressed in instead of paying six or seven hundred dollars for a knuckle. I have other things better to blow that kind of money on.
 
Thanks for the advice. Can someone tell me the axle nut size?

So I got it half way done and called the shop to make sure the machinist and my parts were in. Turns out the guy forgot to order my parts. Took the whole day off work for this project. So now what was supposed to be a cheap $100 fix has turned into hundreds of dollars if u factor in lost wages. Blows
 
Any updates?

I have my rear passenger bearing going bad - loud humming noise when turning left.

Also, are there any special tools required to remove the knuckle from the upper control arm/ball joint? What about getting it off the half-shafts? The service manual shows the following:

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I was told by a dealer and a repair shop that you can not buy just a bearing. You have to replace everything for about $1,500.00. So, that is what I did to my son's 2000 LS V8. What a load of crap.
 
I have done both of my rear bearings on both my LS's. I took the knuckle off and brought it to the dealer to have them pressed in. The bearing is pressed into the knuckle and the part with the lug studs that the shaft slides into presses into the center of the bearing. The bearings are cheap, shouldnt be more than $30 ea.
 
I did the same. Bought an axle nut (dealer) and a bearing (rockauto), took everything apart, had the bearing pressed in very cheap, and then assembled everything back in my garage. It has been a few thousand KMs and everything is fine.
 
I had my entire wheel hub replaced by my mechanic for about $250, labor and parts. which was great because the assembly comes with the sensors that normally wear out over time. And he finished it in about and hour and a half (including time replacing my sway bar bushings)....never met a more honest and fast mechanic than this guy. I hope he doesn't retire any time soon.
 
When was this? The knuckle assemblies used to retail for about $350 just over 2 years ago, whereas now they go for $1000 and some change.

You must be speaking of a front wheel hub.
 
you know M4rk I believe you ar correct, it was the front passenger hub. Totally different story going on there.
 
What did you specifically use to rmove the knuckle/ wheel hub assembly?

hite337 said:
I have done both of my rear bearings on both my LS's. I took the knuckle off and brought it to the dealer to have them pressed in. The bearing is pressed into the knuckle and the part with the lug studs that the shaft slides into presses into the center of the bearing. The bearings are cheap, shouldnt be more than $30 ea.
Click to expand...

What did you use to remove the knuckle? Im unsure of what kind of puller?
 
A hammer. Loosen everything and hammer the shaft out of the hub. You could also rent a puller from the auto parts store.
 
I ended up renting a front end puller (who knew?) and it came right off. Didn't have to use a hammer at all. Took assembly to a machine shop shop who removed old bearing and pressed in new bearing for $65.00 while while I waited. Thank you for your help!
 
yes a front end service kit is what a lot of people call a front end puller, since a good kit will have enough different claws to pretty much pull anything off the front end of car you may need. or at least that and normal two and three jaw pullers are the only things I've heard referred to "front end pullers"
 
1LoudLS said:
yes a front end service kit is what a lot of people call a front end puller, since a good kit will have enough different claws to pretty much pull anything off the front end of car you may need. or at least that and normal two and three jaw pullers are the only things I've heard referred to "front end pullers"
Click to expand...

A front wheel hub puller is what I should have written. My apologies. My point was the tool specified it was for the front wheel but worked for my rear hub as well. Thanks.
 
Oh,it's all right, it's just I had never heard the term `front end puller'.LOL! don-ohio :)^)
 
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