Front wheel hubs & trust yr mechanic

[kevbayer]

Here is a bit of history on my front wheel hubs

5/25/07 - 121600 miles - Left Front hub Assemblyy - 149.95
1/26/08 - 139464 miles- Another Left Front Hub assembly / left front bearing $189.95

5/02/08- 145152 miles- Right front hub bearing / assembly - 189.95


Go to the garage on Saturday because of some road noise, they tell me I need another right front hub....I get over 100,00 miles on my original hub now I have to get 4 new in a year...what is going on I feel like I am getting ripped off!

I need to go talk to the manager on Tuesday morning but I mean, another 250 to get it changed and installed after I just got one 4 months and less than 8,000 miles ago???

Should they fix this for free? am I wrong in thinking so....I didnt realize I bought 2 left hubs within 6 months until I had them pull my records on Saturday..

Your opinions Please, i am going in on Tuesday Morning to talk with the manager!

[harmankardon35]

its likely they aren't tightening the axle nut to spec. I just found out the hard way that many of the cheap hub assemblies you can order online or the kind some garages use require quite a bit more axle nut torque than the original bearings. OEM spec is 118 ft/lb....turns out mine now require 190 ft/lb except they did not ship with this new spec, so I just used OEM spec @ 118 ft/lb and of course 2 months and the bearings were toast!...These wheel hubs are expensive if you have to replace them so make sure the garage follows proper torque specs on the axel nut. Many shops unfortunatly just crank them down with the air gun and call it a day...

[LittleHoov]

The Chiltons lists the OEM spec at 160 ft. lbs. Or at least thats what mine says haha. I just replaced both front hubs with Timken units, which didnt come with any updated setting, so I went with 150, because thats as high as my wrench will go.

Most of those hubs should have at least some sort of warranty, also the brand of bearing can make a difference. The general saying on a Grand Prix forum I drop by on occasionally is "go Timken or go home" but I dont know how true that is. But ive got a couple hundred miles on mine with no problems

[panzer dragoon]

replace those Timkens! (tapered roller bearings) with real Timkens or go GM.

[kevbayer]

should they fix this for free, it has been only a few months and less than 8,ooo miles?

[dtownfb]

i replaced my hubs last October. Bought the hubs from Advance Auto parts and had my mechanic install them. The right hub started making noise in April. I took the hub back to Advance Auto Parts and they replaced it, no questions asked. Since they track al purchases in their computer, they saw i had bought one in October.

All the hubs I looked at have a one year warranty. your mechanic should be able to warranty the part. All you should pay is labor. It does not take that long to install the hubs.

[BNaylor]

Obviously the GM/Delco hubs lasted the longest so I agree get the Delco hubs regardless of any warranty with the aftermarket hubs purchased. Best part is they come with 3 new hub to spindle bolts and a new axle nut. The GM FSM axle nut torque specs apply only to GM/Delco hubs and the only other company that uses the axle nut torque specs by default is the SKS brand which are good aftermarket hubs. The FSM specs are for a hub with new axle nut not used/old.

I've seen a high failure rate with the Timken brand but probably due to incorrect axle nut preload torque specs being used or improper installation.

As to any saying about Timken hubs I can see why the guys from other Grand Prix forums come to AF's Grand Prix forum for good advice.

[harmankardon35]

right, that's another good point...the axle nut spec changed through the 2000 model year I believe...98-99's were 118 ft/lb, and they were revised to 160 I believe after 2000. Even the cheap hub bearings should last a while if Installed correctly, The ones you can order on www.1aauto.com are defiantly cheapies (made in china) but they have a 60 day return guarantee, and thereafter the original manufacturer provides a 1 year warranty. The biggest problem is the bearing pre-load not being set properly...like I said less than 2 months and my bearings were clicking and howling on the highway because of being under-tightened... If the OEM hubs from GM didnt cost $250 each in canada I would have went with OEM's, even the quality aftermarkets were $200 each. I got mine for roughly $75 each shipped.

[LittleHoov]

Ive had at least one failure with an OEM bearing, at least as far as the bearing itself is concerned. I went through another used OEM bearing by having the sensor fail.

I dont know the validity of the saying that Timkens were good, I hope they are because I just put two of them on. That seemed to be the preference, aside from OEM at ***Edited Out by Moderator***. Yes I actually mentioned another forum directly. It seems to get a poor response no matter how I do it, so might as well name the place.

Does anyone know if there are quality differences in the wheel speed sensors? Personally id rather deal with a little bearing noise than not have ABS/TC

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by LittleHoov

I dont know the validity of the saying that Timkens were good, I hope they are because I just put two of them on. That seemed to be the preference, aside from OEM at ***Edited Out by Moderator***. Yes I actually mentioned another forum directly. It seems to get a poor response no matter how I do it, so might as well name the place.

Now was that really necessary?

[kevbayer]

just a update, they replace the hub for free, it really does help to have all of your paperwork!

Ride is smooth and enjoyable!

[Rolm]

Welcome to the real world of ultra-Aftermarket junk. I am on my 3rd heater core the so-called aftermarket junk lasted and average of 6 months. If the 3rd one goes I will visit my bone yard and pull one from an intrigue and hopefully it will be a orignal unit.

As a side note I talked to an aftermarket rad manufacturer of Rads and he said the aftermarket stuff is real junk. The main problem is in the good old days the aftermarket guys would make a copy of an OEM part now most smaller guys are making copies of aftermarket stuff as you can see the The junk levet goes up every time a copy is made from junk.