Front wheel bearings/hub

[MuseChaser]

2013 FR-S, approaching 90K miles. Original front brakes... yeah, I know, I let them go way too long. In the process, I think I've toasted my wheel bearings. I've replaced bearings and races on trailers, planes, and a few other road vehicles ('93 Range Rover in particular used to eat them), but they were always the "tap'em out, tap'em in" Timken sets. I gather ours are a cartridge type affair and you need to just buy and replace the hub assembly as a whole?

If that is correct, does the new OEM hub assembly come w/ the wheel studs and the mounting bolts for the hub itself (inserted from the rear)?

Any words of wisdom? Looks like an easy job, but unfortunate that the entire hub needs to be replaced instead of a $30 set of bearings.

[NoHaveMSG]

The hubs do not come with studs or mounting bolts. Don't forget to remove the wheel speed sensor before trying to pull out the hub or you will damage it. Given the mileage of your car it is not going to come out easy, the hub is a snug fit in the knuckle. You may need to persuade it with a mallet. The OEM hub bolts are held in with blue loctite, I'd recommend using it on assembly. I suggest using a 6 point socket, you will need a 3" extension to get it in there.

[MuseChaser]

Thanks for the reply and the advice. As I search for parts, I found a Centric hub that comes w/ the ABS ring and it looks like the wheel studs are premounted based upon the attached pic... and it's less than half the price of OEM. Bad idea? Any experience with Centric hubs?

Edit: should probably add that the car is a year-long daily driver, including many months of nasty salty winter driving. Driven spritedly but sanely when roads are good. Never tracked.

[NoHaveMSG]

I am not sure about the Centric's. They are an decent brand when it comes to non-OEM parts. I have a couple cheaper hubs in my car to try out and so far no issues, the oldest one has been in there for a little over a year. The brand I used was "Detroit axle" and I believe it did have the studs now that I think about. The ABS ring is a pressed on cap on the OEM and aftermarket hubs. I am not sure if the sender picks that up, or if it is just a dust shield and what the speed sensor is picking up may be on the hub shaft itself.

[Bonburner]

How did the old bearings sound on your vehicle? (curious)

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by Bonburner

How did the old bearings sound on your vehicle? (curious)

I'm still driving on them. I haven't jacked up the car yet to confirm that the bearings are indeed bad, but the front rotors are scored and warped and the pads are on their last legs. The sounds I hear that I think is indicative of bad wheel bearings are...

1. When initially backing out of my driveway when the car is cold, there's metallic squeaking when turning. That could be brakes, possibly, but maybe wheel bearings?

2. Between the speeds of about 38mph and 50 mph, there is a speed dependent noticeable whine/whistle, like an alto singer softly singing "oooooooooo," almost like a smooth sine wave, somewhere around a "G" above middle C on the piano, rising with speed. It sounds somewhat like some snow tires can sound on dry pavement, but it's not that.

The wheel bearing is mostly a guess for now, but it makes sense given the amount of heat my lame brakes are probably generating and have been generating for a while. I'll know more when I jack up the car and wiggle the wheels. Called the dealer just to get a quote today, but they haven't gotten back to me yet. Fairly sure this is something I'll do myself... done stuff a lot harder before, but don't really enjoy wrenching much these days. On the other hand, my cutoff is usually if I can do it for less than 50% of what it would cost me to pay someone, I usually do it myself.

[Dave-ROR]

Hopefully it won't need bearings.. those things are going to be a nightmare to change on a NY winter driven car. Do you have an air hammer? I had to use one on a car I bought from Nebraska..........

[NoHaveMSG]

All the front hubs I had to swap made the same noise and only while driving. If it was a left it would make noise when turning right and vise versa. It's a low rolling hum. Getting the car up off the ground and trying to rotate the wheel while putting uneven pressure on it, hub would feel fine. I even tried unbolting the caliper so there was nothing dragging on the rotor and I couldn't feel it. Driving it was the only way I could tell. I did have one on the way from the track start squealing and vibrating a little.

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

Hopefully it won't need bearings.. those things are going to be a nightmare to change on a NY winter driven car. Do you have an air hammer? I had to use one on a car I bought from Nebraska..........

Pretty well-equipped garage. Strong compressor, good air tools, lots of PBBlaster. Shouldn't be too bad. The underside of the car really is surprisingly good for the amount of central NY winters it's been through. Wish I had a lift, but the garage ceiling is too low to be able to use a lift on our two SUVs, and I'm not going to put one in just for the FRS and the toy car.

[Opie]

If you don't like wrenching as much as you used to...buy a better quality hub/bearing. Like SKF or Timken and save yourself doing them again in 1-2 years.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Opie

If you don't like wrenching as much as you used to...buy a better quality hub/bearing. Like SKF or Timken and save yourself doing them again in 1-2 years.

I believe @rice_classic has a couple seasons of racing on the Timken hubs. I am going through about 1 a year, so I figured I would give the cheap ones a shot to see how they work, though this season I hardly got any track time in.

[dreamwonder]

If car sees winter and if diy... consider a hub buster and a 12lb sledgehammer. I learned my lesson after trying other techniques to get the hub out, failed, and having to pay $500 in labor to get one hub replaced.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

I believe @rice_classic has a couple seasons of racing on the Timken hubs. I am going through about 1 a year, so I figured I would give the cheap ones a shot to see how they work, though this season I hardly got any track time in.

I like Centric (not their lower tier C-Tek stuff tho) and I like Timken and SKF as well.

When I built the race car I installed Timken P/N HA590518 on the fronts and Centric 40147002 on the rear. I recently RE-ordered the same front TIMKEN hubs from Rock auto and was surprised at how different they were:

In the pic below is the same P/N one purchased early 2019 and the one on the right just recently.


Pick Centric, Timken or SKF and be confident. Since this is a daily and rust is a concern I say...
A) Good luck getting off what's on there
B) put a water resistance or rust prohibiting interface on the surfaces (copper antiseize, wd40, rust inhibitor..something) before bolting up the new one so if you have to do this again, they will come apart much easier.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I recently RE-ordered the same front TIMKEN hubs from Rock auto and was surprised at how different they were:

In the pic below is the same P/N one purchased early 2019 and the one on the right just recently.

Interesting. At first I thought they were saving some costs by cutting some machining steps out. But it looks like a different casting, probably for the same end result though.