Bearing Assembly

[castnet]

I have a 99 GL, 3.5 Intrigue with 120 K miles. I was told by "Just Tires" where I have them rotated, that I need a new bearing assembly for both front wheels. They quoted $810 for 3rd party parts. Does any one have any experience with this?

[busboy4]

Hi
I have not done this work on my Intrigue, but have on my Ford van and it is a labor intensive job. I'll look at my Factory manual to see how it describes the job, but with transaxle front wheel drive the bearings are pressed into the steering knuckle/wheel hub assembly and the whole front end has to basically be pulled apart to get at the bearings which in my case were $35 apiece at Autozone. I'll look into it further and let you know if my assumptions are off base.
Best of luck

[studlee]

I replaced both of my front wheel bearing assemblies on my 99 GLS 3.5. They'll cost you between $100-$180 for an aftermarket bearing assembly. (Autozone has Timken's for $124). One tool that you'll need is a Flange Axle Puller, which can be loaned out from Autozone ($20 deposit). http://www1.autozone.com/servlet/UiB...e_axle_fwd.jsp

Just jack up the front end, remove wheel, brake calipher and rotor (I replaced my brake shoes and rotors at the same time). Disconnect the wire, (the part that makes the bearing so expensive) then attach the puller and remove the assembly. The new bearing goes on very tightly, I tapped my on with a dead blow hammer. Reconnect the wire, reinstall the rotor, brakes and wheel and your done. It took me an hour total for each bearing.

[busboy4]

Hi
I looked at my factory manual and as "studlee" indicated it is a fairly straight forward job. The Intrigue has an integrated hub/bearing assembly that is changed as a unit, which explains the difference in cost vs. what my van used. After you push out the axle with the autozone tool, there are three bolts from the inside which hold the hub/bearing in place. The electrical connection is for the wheel speed sensor for ABS.
Good luck and go for it!