I just got new front brake pads and rotors and I was about to change them tomorrow. At the same time I need one, maybe both wheel bearings. I'm comfortable doing the brakes but not the bearings. The previous owner gave me bearings for all four wheels.

So if it turns out I need both front bearings done I guess it's pointless for me to change the brakes myself since the shop will have to take them off anyway to do the bearings, am I correct?

How much labor is involved to do the bearings? As far as a shop is concerned should it cost just a little more than getting the pads and rotors done?

Thanks,
Sulaiman

 

As far as I know the spindle has to be removed whether you do it or it's done at a shop. I'm pretty sure there is no "right" way to press bearings in with the spindle attached to the rest of the suspension. It needs to be removed so the old bearing can be pressed out and a new one pressed in.

So, the shop will charge you an arm, leg, and first born to remove the spindles and re-install them. It won't be cheap.

I just did my rear bearings and didn't find it difficult. I'd bet if you can do your brakes with confidence you could do it yourself. Might be hard doing it on a weekend though because you need to take the spindles to a shop to have the bearings pressed in so, plan for that and make an appointment ahead of time. When I did mine I found a place open on Saturday, so I started disassembling Friday night and finished Sat. morning, took the spindles in, and then reassembled Sunday.

 

The hardest part about front wheel bearings is pressing them in. I suppose its possible to do it with the steering knuckle attached but not really likely. You'll most likely need at least a 25 ton press. Just remove the knuckles yourself and take the whole unit in to a local shop to get pressed in. That is if you're up to removing the knuckle yourself. The hardest part about that is the pinch bolt. If you live in an area with snow and salt odds are its seized in pretty well. I'd try taking that out first and if you can't handle that then take it in.

 

Ok thanks for the input y'all. I think I'll get the wheels checked and if both front bearings need to be replaced I'll just have the mechanic them and the brakes too. I'm not comfortable doing the wheel bearings until I have some hands on training. I don't do well with just an instruction manual.

Also I had another question. I'm getting a lot of shaking in the steering wheel when the car is sitting still. So much so that the keys rattle sometimes. I changed the spark plugs and the belts and tensioner are good so I'm thinking it might be the motor mount or mounts. Could this be the cause or could it be something else?

 

Bad motor mounts could definitely cause the shaking you're experiencing. The big tip off there is that its happening at idle, not at speed. You've got two large regular motor mounts, one on either side of the engine and a third "snub" mount in the front. The snub mount is made of soft rubber that deteriorates over time. This is likely the cause of the shaking. You also might want to check out your trans/diff mounts. Replacing those will clean up a lot of drive train slop too.