HOFF89

Have an 05' GX470 with about 95k miles on the ticker. Recently did 90k Mile service in Houston at Sterlling McCall Lexus. Purchased my own TB Kit for $198 on parts geek.

https://www.partsgeek.com/lrhvpw1-le...iming+Belt+Kit

Did cabin air filter, oil change, and had all fluids done. $1200 was the total.

About three days ago I started to hear some growling from the front driver side wheel well. Sounded an awful lot like wheel bearing but I'm no mechanic and wanted to see if anyone here might know of some ways to determine if it is in fact the bearing. See from other threads some ways to do your own wrenching on this, but not much in the way of narrowing down the problem to begin with. Any tips would be appreciated.

Cheers

IanB2

Have someone drive the truck slowly so you can walk beside and confirm the origin of the noise. Check and make sure your CV joints are in good shape and not the source of the noise. It's a tough one to diagnose, mine wouldn't make the noise without the vehicle's weight on the tires, so up on jackstands it was silent, but sounded like garbage if you drove it.

If you are able to succesfully diagnose a wheel bearing as the issue, check out this guy:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/sale-t...ml#post1489467

He ships pre-pressed hub assemblies making this truly a bolt off, bolt on job. Money well spent IMO.

HOFF89

Thank You IanB2... I'll try this. And thanks for the parts reference. I'll definitely scope them out.

I've heard that you can drive it for a while, then check for heat in the wheel well? Has anyone else heard of this method before?

chiph9

You can do that, but a stuck brake caliper will also cause extra heat on a wheel, so it's not a definitive test.

Note that the front wheels are always warmer than the rear ones due to the engine & exhaust being right there. You'll want to compare left/right temps on the same axle.

Chip H.

IanB2

When my wheel bearing failed, it was obvious that something was very wrong, sounded like a metal on metal garbarator/trashy noise. I wouldn't want to drive it further than around the block like that, and only in the name of diagnosis, lol. To measure a temp difference you'd need to go for a significant drive, maybe they can fail to different degrees, but this would not have been recommended the way mine failed.

DiabloX22

When you turn the truck left or right and do not hear it, it is the opposite side, the side you are taking the load off.

IanB2

When turning, the inside wheel will be unloaded as all the weight shifts to the outside wheel.

HOFF89

Thanks Everyone,

Turned out to be front driver side wheel bearing... I bought the part from http://www.marionbumper2bumper.com/... part took a little while to ship (called and said he's a one man op and had been quite back ordered) but did arrive finally and was as advertised. Came fully assembled with hub, greased up, and sealed. Truly bolt on bolt off part. Ran into some trouble with hub bolts seizing up but some patience sorted that.

GX feels great now, no growling, steering feedback massively improved.

FWIW: When i was trying to determine the side that needed replacing, strangely when turning to the right and loading the car to the drivers side, the growing stopped... honestly best way to figure it out was jack it up and test for play in both wheels

Cheers

EddieK05

I bought a pair of bearings from him also about a year ago, but haven't installed them yet. They do look solid and he uses quality parts. He does take awhile to ship as it took over a month to get mine, but they were as advertised. I'll probably tackle this job later in the year, seems pretty straightforward.