Help With Wheel Bearing and Hub Assembly

My 98 Blazer 4dr 4wd has a whinning noise coming from the right front, the noise is acompanied by a vibration, while turning left it gets worse and when turning right it goes away. I'm guessing that it is a wheel bearing and because you can't just replace the wheel bearing on this model, I will be replacing the wheel bearing and hub assembly.
Before I start.... does anybody have any other suggestions on what the problem could be?
If not.... how difficult of a job is this?
Any tips or tricks I should know?
Any special tools required?
Is there an online guide or instructions that I could use?

I'm thankful for any help I can get.

The wheal bearing is pretty straight forward...before jacking the blazer up remove the cotter pin and break the spindle nut loose (just break it loose, do not remove yet)...Jack it up and support the vehicle, remove the wheel, the spindle nut and then the brakes...slide the rotor off and trace the wires from the abs wheel sensor back on the frame and unplug it...remove the three bolts from behind the bearing assemble and you might have to give it a tap from behind with a hammer, I reccomend a brass one but you can get away with a block of wood and a regular one should slide off from that point..

Be careful, use a jack stand. You will also have to drive the axle shaft back through the hub before it slides off. Use a punch in the center of the axle shaft as to not hit the threads.

Thanks alot guys, just changed it out today. Piece of cake, Drives great.

How much did this cost you? I get a slight annoying hum from 35 mph to 60 and want to decide whether to fix it or live with it.

I've ridden in vehicles with bad bearings and this definetely isn't as bad. It's not a grinding but a pulsating hum.

I hope you did a preload torque of 180 ft pounds. If you under or over torqued it, your bearings will be shot again within a 1000 miles.

I read in an earlier post to torque it to 103 ft/lbs so that is what I did.
I Bought Everything at Advance Auto. Here is the price list:
Wheel Bearing/Hub Assembly........$136.88
36mm Deep Well Socket..............$ 17.49
1/2 Drive Torque Wrench.............$ 35.88

103 is WAY too low! it's spec is 180 ft pounds... In fact it should have been on the tag included with your hub

I have put 200 miles on it...too late to retorque?

I just looked it up in my Haynes book, it says
"through 98..180ft/lbs"
"99 and up...103ft/lbs"
just missed it by one year. no specs on the tag.

Rlith-not calling you out here, but I'm concerned with the 103 lb/ft being way too low. The specs I got from 3 different GM dealers here in Allentown PA were for 103 lb/ft. I also have the same specs rated from my Haynes manual (180 lb/ft noted through 1998) (103 lb/ft 1999 and up). I've replaced both hubs on my 2000 LS with these settings almost 8000 to 10,000 miles ago with no problems yet. However, If my information is mistaken, it needs to be corrected ASAP before someone tears something up or worse, get's hurt. I'm pretty sure the post(s) he's referring to are mine. You need to provide proof in one way or the other. I would post something, but the best I can do is to give names and phone numbers to the shops that I called and post the number of the haynes manual I used.

On a side note, both hub assy's I purchased did NOT come with torque specs. I purchased mine from Advance Auto and Autozone specifically, can't remember the brand, and no offense, but I'd believe the dealership shops and a haynes manual over some guy posting on this message board.

I just want to make sure I haven't given bad info to anyone.

If the Haynes manual is right and people just can't be arsed to read the directions first, then I'm Ok cause we agree spec wise.

I'm pretty sure the post(s) he's referring to are mine.

Yes, the post was yours in reference to a 2000 Blazer. I have a Haynes book....guess I should have used it....didn't know that chevy had changed anything these years.

After more research I don't believe it really matters.Here why:

Haynes Says-
"through 98..180ft/lbs"
"99 and up...103ft/lbs"

I checked Advance Auto and AutoZone for 98,99,and 00 models they both show the same wheel bearing/hub assembly for all three model years.... None of the front end parts are different only the recommended specs as told by Haynes. I believe this was probably a typo.EXAMPLE..... The Service manuel for my 96 Impala SS told me to torque my ball joints to 125ft/lbs....Chevy said that the Chilton Book and they're own service manuels were wrong that the proper torque is 83ft/lbs. hey mistakes happen.

Anyone disagree?

I am going to be replacing my hub and wheel bearing assembly on my 2000 4wd Blazer. I read the posts about setting the torque to 180 vs. 103 ft lbs. I have never done this job before so I must ask, what bolts are are you talking about? I have the Hayne's manual for the 1995-2001 S10, Sonoma, Blazer, and Jimmy (24071) in front of me and the chapter (Chapter 10 Suspension and Steering Systems) that shows how to replace the hub and wheel bearing assembly indicates the spec for the 4wd hub and bearing assembly bolts is 77 ft lbs. Looking down all of the specs at the beginning of the chapter I don't see any spec of 180 or 103 ft lbs. What bolts are you talking about?

We are talking about the nut for the front driveaxle. (the big one that takes a 36mm deep-well socket.) The driveaxle goes through the hub assembly and this nut goes on to hold it in place. The spec for this one is at the begining of Chapter 8. Page 8-2


Front driveaxle (4wd models)
Hub nut
Through 1998.....................180
1999 and later....................103

don't suppose you took photos of the process by any chance? thinking about doing my front right hub this weekend. Any helpful hints?

No I didn't take any pics. Check out the link below, it tells how to do it and Swalt posted a link to a guys site that did take pics.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=365392

thanks bud

It is pretty straight forward, not that bad of a job. The hardest part is getting the driveaxle out of the hub. Spray some penetrating oil on it, let it soak a few minutes, then put a board or some thing on it (to protect the threads) and hit it to break it loose. Do this before removing the three hub bolts. When putting it back in the new one, smear some axle grease on it to help it slide in. Do not pull the driveaxle out of the differential, I've read some posts where people have had 4wd problems after letting the drive axle slide too far out of the diff., appearently there is a thrust washer that falls off or something.

do I regrease the spline before installing the new one?

It is pretty straight forward, not that bad of a job. The hardest part is getting the driveaxle out of the hub. Spray some penetrating oil on it, let it soak a few minutes, then put a board or some thing on it (to protect the threads) and hit it to break it loose. Do this before removing the three hub bolts. When putting it back in the new one, smear some axle grease on it to help it slide in. Do not pull the driveaxle out of the differential, I've read some posts where people have had 4wd problems after letting the drive axle slide too far out of the diff., appearently there is a thrust washer that falls off or something.
I have had that happen to me when changing the right front (passenger) axle seal. The thrust washer will slide down from between the connector and output shaft when the axle is removed. You then have to remove the axle tube and a lot of stuff falls out when you do that.

Another tip on hub replacement: Do not use an impact wrench to install the new hub because it may damage the hub. Also, I use a large three jaw puller to remove the hub, but I realize everyone dosen't have one. They do come in handy though.

do I regrease the spline before installing the new one?

Just put some grease on the shaft before sliding into the hub.

Did mine last night. No more hum/roar from the right front tire on hard left turns at highway speeds! Success.
Sorry BlazerLT, but I too had to beat the shit out of the old hub/bearing assembly to remove it from the shaft. I really think you need a puller as the Hanes book suggests. I was totally dumbfounded when it came to torquing the nut. I read there was some confusion as to whether it was 104ft lbs, or 180ft lbs. I saw that some said the Hanes manual said 180ft lbs for a 1998. I couldnt find it in the torque specs myself. I could only get a hold of a 150ft lb torque wrench, so I did it to 150ft lbs, and then went a C-hair further. I should be somewhere between 150 and 180. I reckon thats fine. I locktighted the three hub bolts as well.
Now I just gotta figure out what the rattles are from the left front over bumps!

The torque specs are on page 8-2. I think the 180 for 98 is a typo, because it has the same parts as the 99+. I only torqued mine to 103ft/lbs....that was 8,000 miles ago and still no problems.

shit. think theres a problem with me torquing it that tight then?!

I don't know. Either yours is overtorqued or mine is undertorqued. :)
I just don't see why the 98s would be 180 and the 99+ with the same parts would be 103. I guess we'll find out. :)

So...... Is it agreed that it should be 103lbs then? I'm doing mine tommorow. That doesn't seem very tight, I would have thought 180lbs would have been it, but I'm no automobile engineer or anything.

98 is the only one in question. Your 2001 should be 103ft/lbs

98 is the only one in question. Your 2001 should be 103ft/lbs


Alright... gotcha.

Some of the post had confused me with the talking about 99+ vehicles.

Was I supposed to pack the bearing with grease?!

No, the grease is just for sliding the driveaxle in the hub. The bearings are a sealed unit a come pregreased.

so I don't have to remove it right?!

Nope, but if it wears out prematurely...you know next time torque it to 103ft/lbs

98 is the only one in question. Your 2001 should be 103ft/lbs


I was at the dealership today (picking up my e-brake cables) and I stopped in and talked to a tech.... According to the manuals (up to 97) and the pc read outs (98 to current) the torque is indeed 180 ft pounds through all years. He and another tech went on about how a lot of times the torque specs (and some info) is wrong in the haynes/chilton's manuals for that type of thing. They also said, 160 is acceptable and they are actually capable of handling up to 200 without issue. They usually impact wrench them on instead of using a torque wrench... But they said 103 ft pounds is way to low though it won't necessarily hurt the bearing in the short term but it should be tightened up...

The reason I bring this up is a while ago I switched to 2001 front disc/hub/knuckle set ups and I had to buy a new hub and the tag on it said specifically 180 ft pounds. That said I don't understand how haynes/chilton could make such a drastic distinction between a 98 and 99 to current as 98 to current is the exact same setup. The 97-92 are where brakes are different...(just an observation) So at this point I'm more inclined to go with the dealership's reccommendations as they do this stuff far more than we do. Then again, the haynes I have for my 95 states that the torque on the lower intake is 36 ft lbs, where I know for a fact it's 65 ft pounds (at 25 1st pass, 45 second, 65 third with a retorque at 300-500 miles)... Again, just an observation.

I'm only going by Haynes...I know they can be wrong and often are. I wonder where they got the 103ft/lbs from. They say:

Through 1998.....................180
1999 and later....................103

That is why I thought the 98's should be 103ft/lbs because they do indeed have the same hubs as the 99+. After doing some checking of part #s it breaks up like this:

95-97 4wd have the same hub
98+ 4wd and 97 AWD have the same hub

I guess I put way too much time into this issue if chevy says they should all be 180. I would believe chevy over Haynes anyday.

At this point I've got over 9,000 miles on mine so I will leave it alone and see what happens.

Yeah, that's why when I question stuff I find it simpler to call the dealership. The one by me (baierl) is really good about giving info and print outs to me when I need them...(would love to have direct access to their web system)

The one near me isn't helpful at all, I called about this before I started (I didn't see it in the Haynes manual until after I was done) He told me he didn't have time for me, but would have someone call right back.....that was 2 months ago....still waiting for that call. I've already told you about some of the other problems I've had.

All bets aside, if something were to happen to a vehicle because of under-torqued wheel bearings, wouldn't haynes/chiltons then be liable for false information? One would have to "assume" that the information is correct and wouldn't cause an accident of some kind. I've replaced both of my wheel bearings on my 2000 LS @ 103 lb ft with no problems yet. I can go with a conspiracy theory on the dealership just wanting people to bring it in to them for buisness or can assume that an aftermarket manual will provide correct information. Oh well, I haven't heard anything bad coming from either rating from anyone yet.

Any time you do something yourself, you do so at your own risk... I would even bet there are similar disclaimers in the haynes/chilton manuals.

It would be like me saying...

Goto the hobby shop, pick up some model rocketry fuse, run it through a hose in your gas tank, light it 10 seconds before you drag! Incredible mod!!! Guaranteed for 200 hp for 10 seconds, better than nitrous!!!

Now.... Common sense would tell you that either 1, it would just go poof because of a full gas tank... or 2 a half empty gas tank might go boom! Now if you take this advice it would be at your own risk...

The way I look at it anyway...

Goto the hobby shop, pick up some model rocketry fuse, run it through a hose in your gas tank, light it 10 seconds before you drag! Incredible mod!!! Guaranteed for 200 hp for 10 seconds, better than nitrous!!!


Thanks for the tip man!!! I'm going to try it tonight!!!

SWEET!!!!

heh... Have fun, let us know how it turned out! LOL

Just replaced passenger side hub assembly on 2000 blazer now abs light stays on. Checked the conections everythig is tight where do I go from here?

It's pretty wild just how many people out there need to replace bearings! I have to do mine this weekend! Wish me luck - it's the first thing on my new 98 that i'll be doing! The list is very long...

It's pretty wild just how many people out there need to replace bearings! I have to do mine this weekend! Wish me luck - it's the first thing on my new 98 that i'll be doing! The list is very long...

Don't forget, torque them to 180 ft pounds or you will be doing them again!

I'm doing my bearings on a 2004 Chevy S10 crew cab. only has 50,000 on it and it gave out. does everything still apply to what everyone said about installing and the torq specs?

yep