bklynchris

Just found out the front left bearing on my '09 GS350 AWD is shot and needs replacing - at only 62k miles! What the hell?! And since the bearing is sealed, that means I need a new hub. Was able to locate one at a good price through irontoad.com.
I've used the DIY's on this forum for all service needed this far. Can anyone recommend a DIY for bearing/hub replacement? If I have to give it to a mechanic, are there any things i should tell them to watch out for (torque for bolts, etc) so i can maximize the life of the new hub?

Thanks,
Chris

stvincent

iTrader: (5)

can you describe the symptoms of shot bearing? noise or vibration? did you lift your car and test it?
i suspect my pass. side bearing is shot also @ 30k miles. the dealership was trying to blame on tires instead of inspecting them, so i haven't had a chance to confirm this. like u mentioned, i believe we need a new hub which is doable, but costly.. i have yet to see any diy for hub bearing, at least not on 3gs section...

bklynchris

At first I thought it was a warped rotor, but a bad rotor has different symptoms. Noise and heavy "tapping" vibration starts about around 15 mph and increases as I go faster, finally stopping around 40mph. Classic symptoms of a bad bearing. I also had my mechanic (who I trust) take a ride-along, and he confirmed that the bearing is indeed going.
Hope this helps. If you indeed do need a new hub/bearing, I would suggest irontoad.com I've used them several times and their prices are the lowest I could find. Shipping is very fast also.

FWIW, my mechanic is chargin $80/per side tpe replace the hubs. can anyone tell me if this is a good price?

stvincent

iTrader: (5)

^ thx for the info.. i have that "tapping vibration", but it doesn't go away after certain speed. i also have that typical noise for bad bearing which comes and go?? my car is a vibration nightmare.. drivetrain wobble (i'm lowered on AWD), possibly damaged wheel bearing, and warped rotors which give me a weird feeling when i stop.. need to get this sort out asap..

Mikeyy

iTrader: (3)

Yep $80 is not bad considering its about an hr labor, u gotta take off the calipers, rotors to get to the hub, then there's 4 bolts in the back holding the hub in... pretty easy but I don't recommend it if u never done one before

energie8

I was watching the mechanic at the shop replacing my hub bearings(200k+)and it didn't look too complicated, doesn't take that long either.

Valley101

Wheel bearings should be covered under the power train warranty (70,000). It is part of what makes the car go. 6yr/70,000 miles power train warranty. My wife had a rear hub replaced on her vehicle a few years ago when it was past the bumper to bumper warranty. Covered under the power train warranty. The car was a Lexus SC.

TWong350

iTrader: (8)

That's a good point. OP may want to look into this.

bklynchris

I looked into the warranty regarding this, but coverage for bearings seems to beonly for RWD GS's (mine is AWD). Can anyone confirm this?

It would really suck if this is covered under warranty cuz I just dropped off the car to my mechanic 3 hours ago. FML. Could I petition Lexus corporate to issue me some sort of refund or something? I can produce receipts for the parts, and I suppose I could get a receipt for the labor. Any advice?

TWong350

iTrader: (8)

I can't see why it would only pertain to RWD GS's. I'd recommend you call Lexus Corp and ask them directly.

Bushwack

Sounds like a warranty issue. If not, I'd still contact Lexus.

stvincent

iTrader: (5)

i have aftermarket springs, and hopefully my dealership will cover this.. when i had an infiniti, they refused to service my car even though i was willing to pay out of my own pocket..

bklynchris

Ok, so I put in a call to Lexus Corporate. They're gonna have a customer rep follow up with me within 5 business days. I told them I can supply receipts for parts and labor, so hopefully that will be enough to receive some sort of compensation.
Can anyone recommend anything else to increase my chances of reimbursement?

PS- StVincent, the fact that you installed aftermarket springs will not help your case. They're gonna claim that the installation could've been done incorrectly, and that aftermarket parts can negatively affect the factory setup, or that a unicorn could've bent a johnson rod blah blah blah. Best of luck though.

toptech

well, im pretty sure you shot yourself in the foot on this one chris. i can only tell u what my dealership would do in this situation. first off, they are most likely going to ask you if you used a genuine lexus replacement hub and if it was fixed by a certified technician. if you didnt, i am going to say they would tell u they arent going to cover it. the other reason they wont is because any lexus owner could come into the dealership with a receipt saying they bought this part and replaced the old one because it was bad, without ever having done so just to get some cash. thirdly, it was never diagnosed as having a bad bearing by a Lexus tech in the firsty place. what i would have suggested was the next time you needed an oil change, take it to the dealership and let them know you think the front bearings are bad. that way, there is at least some documentation saying you were correct and a possibility they would cover it under warranty. the other thing i was going to say was the chances that both front bearings went out at the same time is a pretty rare on a vehicle with only 62,000 miles. Is it possible that one was loud enough to make it sound like both? or that it may have been a completely different issue on the other side? i know that sometimes when things go wrong with a car, people tend to panic and hastily make decisions. next time there is an issue, try to take some more time to figure out the best solution. you can always PM me if u run into another issue. let me know how it turns out, im curious to see what happens.

modonna223

OMG . My GS is 06 80000k .there is noise from front left . and i think i need to change Wheel bearing, but i want to make sure that before order a part. anyone knows good shops in NY and how cdo i figure that i need to change wheel bearing?