I had left rear wheel bearing go at 51K, just out of warranty. I took it in for repair and was pleasantly surprised that Toyota paid for the repair. (Did they know something?) Now the right side is going at 56K.

 

my left side is bad. It was replaced 35k miles ago last January....

so now i have two Left side wheel bearings go out in less than a year...

 

What brand bearing was it replaced with? Considering that the OEM bearings are not working well it might be best to go with a non-OEM bearing.

 

Timken packaging, with Koyo name on the back of the actual replacement.

i got it brand new for $105 shipped, which is the least expensive ive seen anywhere...


i picked up two just to have a spare

 

Thread revival - but for a good cause: All those who reported replacing a rear hub with Timken/Koyo - how is it holding up?

 

I'm now at 160,000 and still no issues.

 

i had mine cheapest from ebay ~$50-60 15k later - just fine.

 

okay so i was thinking. how do you even tell if they are bad? i mean tell if you are driving? i've never had a rear bearing go on anything i've ever owned. i've had plenty of front bearings go though. usually i haven't noticed it until the car sounded like a helicopter. i had them go on my old 97 f-350. i actually didn't even realize they were bad. i had a buddy working on it for me for something else that was wrong, and called me up, and told me the wheel bearings sounded like a helicopter. when he brought it back we changed it in my driveway when it was snowing. the truck had 280k miles maybe even 290k at that time. i'm pretty sure they were replaced before, because i had the ball joints done, and he replaced the hubs, and seals. that's in a 7.3 diesel. good luck hearing any suspension noise in that thing. even in the 2000 i got now it took the cops pulling me over twice thinking i was drunk, because of how sloppy the front end was just to get me to know there was a serious problem. i kinda had an idea with how sloppy the steering was getting, and the pulling to the side.


so i been thinking about it. the xb is a loud car to begin with. i'm sure it's no secret. the wind noise, the road, it would have to be pretty loud to hear it, and think anything was out of whack. i know the swerve trick works for the front bearings, but i'm not sure if they do for the rear since the wheel isn't significantly turning in the back like they are in the front.


no one really sits back there regularly either. i don't think they're bad just wondering how you tell. the car is noisy with the radio off, but not so noisy that you can't have a conversation with the person next to you. nowhere near that noisy. it's just an xb.

also i know it's been said the bearings go, because they are the ones for the echo, and the echo weighs a few hundred pounds less than the xb does. why though is it the rear that's going so much, and not the front? i've always had the front's wear, but never the rears. even in a rear wheel drive which is supposed to place more load on the rear wheel bearings i've had nothing, but rear wheel drives before this xb, and the 99 corolla i had before it. just wondering though.

oh, and i forgot. i also notice more road noise on certain kinds of pavement. particularly newly paved roads. i've been driving over a lot of roads which are freshly paved lately. i think the state is fixing a lot of old roads that haven't been paved in years. at least the main roads. i notice more of a road noise with newly paved roads.

 

Pretty much by the noise. Gradually the rear end starts to whine like you are running Monster Mudders. It's quite distinctive.

Raising the rear and turning the wheels will not show you much, but if you pull the wheels and drums and turn just the hubs by hand you will feel roughness in the bearings.

 

Good to know. Thanks for the info.
BTW, what is the average bearing life so I know when to expect them to go bad?

 

pretty sure my rears aren't bad. i guess the noise is similar to what a front bearing sounds like going out. like a skateboard going over a road, or a helicopter. womp womp womp. those kinds of noises. semi truck, whatever. i think the front bearing may be bad somewhere. one of them, but not sure. no noises like above, but i get a nasty noise when turning the wheel with the brake on. not gonna worry about it until i get the roaring noise when it's riding, or when it makes noises when turning at any point. i drive a little differently. some people do similarly, but not everyone. when i'm straightening out in a parking space i turn the wheel all the way before taking my foot off the brake. that's when i hear whatever it is. could just be the brakes i'm not worried yet. been doing it since i got 14k miles ago.

the car was hit before i had it. i'm the third owner, and it was the original who had the accident i'm sure. it's aligned great though. best suspension i've had in a while or driven on anything that wasn't brand new.

worrying about every noise i've found will drive you crazy. it will also have you putting more money into a car than it's worth, and more than it needs. it also makes you vulnerable to mechanics. they will prey on people who worry about every little noise. when something is the matter you'll know what's wrong. your wheel will shake violently, you'll be able to hear noise over the radio, your steering will be so sloppy the cops will be pulling you over thinking you're drinking, and driving. yes that one has happened to me before.

wouldn't mind knowing what the noise is though. sometimes it sounds bad, but you can't expect to turn the wheel all the way, and cut it all the way without hearing something. don't know if it's the pump groaning, or the brakes, or what. i'm puzzled.

thanks for answering the question on the rears for me george!

 

I have a camo 2004 xB that I bought new and it has been a fantastic, super reliable, fun to drive box car.
I've done all the scheduled maintenance, so repairs have been few and far between with only the front brake pads, disks & calipers for a "noise issue" (covered under warranty) and had to replace a coolant temp sensor.

However, I did have the wheel bearing fail on the front passengers side around 48k. Fortunately it was covered under warranty.

In the last few weeks, I noticed around 90K that the rear wheels (new in the fall of last year) started to sound like "monster truck tires".
I figured it was an alignment issue so I took it into the local (trusted) tire shop and they found that the rear passenger side wheel bearing was failing.

The OEM hub & bearing assembly from the Toyota dealer is $372, so I had the tire-shop do the work with a Timken (made in the USA) bearing, but got a better price on the repair as they threw in the alignment and gave a AAA discount.

I have been running slightly larger 195/60R15 tires for a softer ride. Could this cause a problem?
Why did the bearings only fail on the passenger's side?

 

obviously if everyone is getting this thing fixed then it must be making an awful lot of racket. i have just over 90k actually over 92k, and not sure how to tell if they're bad or not. i hear some noise back there, but pretty sure every vehicle sounds like that. i'm used to driving this, and a 2000 f-350 7.3 diesel. the diesel is so loud, and plus it's got a different rear. i'm familiar with wheel bearing noise i've had them go, but only on the front. not sure if my noise is tires or not. honestly i never thought much about it until i read people were having all kinds of problems on here with theirs.


i've sat in the back while someone else drove just to hear the damn thing, and i don't hear any sounds particular or distinct coming from the wheel well area. it's real easy to hear too, because of the hatchback. all i gotta do on the xb is fold the back seats down, and put my ear to the inner side of the wheel well. it's real easy to hear things from the wheel well. i can hear rocks or dirt get kicked up through there sometimes, so i should be able to hear the bearing if it's bad.

how do you decipher rear bearing noise from tire noise? the xb has always had road noise i thought. a little more noisier than most cars. also it's been said a whine loud monster mudders. don't monster mudders have more of a buzzing, and low noise rather than a high pitched whine? i got some bigger tires on my pickup, and they make more of a buzzing not a whine.

i just wanna know how you're deciphering tire noise from the rear wheel bearing. if so many of you ran out, and got this fixed i'm assuming it was really loud, and made an ungodly noise. like i said i hear a noise that sounds like it's coming from the back while i'm driving. when i sit back there i can't pinpoint where it's coming from, but all i can say is it doesn't seem like the wheel wells. any got a you tube or have bad ones they can post a video of?

 

anybody? anybody at all? anyone can tell me what this sounds like? never had a bad rear bearing on any car ever. don't know what it sounds like. with a front you can swerve, but i don't think you can do that to identify that when it's in the rear.

being that the majority have seemed to have had this problem can anyone tell me what it sounds like? someone says a whine like monster mudders. monster mudders to me don't whine they make a low pitched roaring noise. whatever the noise is it's not coming from my wheel well. could be road noise. hey rallyxb you're still around. what did yours sound like? how did you know? anyway i can figure this out without taking it apart? anyway to identify if they're bad without taking it apart? i don't wanna make a new thread, because i don't even know if they're bad. anyone wanna help me out?

 

Lift the rear of the car up , chock the wheels , release the parking(e) brake , remove wheel , turn the drum by hand. Does it feel rough or gritty ?If it does replace the bearing. Does it rotate smoothly ? If not , replace the bearing .

This is the simple way to test em.

 

feels fine to me. i'm still not sure about the noise? i have a noise, but it don't sound like it's coming from the wheel well. just road noise. i'm bummed on this one. i'm very familiar with bad front bearings, but not the rear. does it make a whining noise? the front always makes a growling noise when i had them go bad. this is only my second front wheel drive car. first was a 99 corolla, and never had a problem with bad rear bearings or any bearings on that car. i'm stumped. does it sound like really loud like deafening? something you can hear with the radio up a lot?

 

anyone try a bearing by the name brand of "parts master"? they're the cheapest I can find via partsgeek....

 

or the brand gmb? the gmb have lifetime warranty for less than $70 a pop

 

Just got rear hub from Amazon (Prime Choice) , paid whooping $47 for one. If it lasts 2 years like the previous one, I'd be more that pleased.

 

yeah saw that brand as well, hell some guy on ebay has sets of two SUPER off brand ones for less than 80!!!