08 LS460 front wheel bearing replacement question
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
08 LS460 front wheel bearing replacement question
I have a bad front driver side wheel bearing. Is the hub assy replacement somthing I can diy or are special tools needed ? Thanks!
#2
Pole Position
No special tools needed, the only problem you could run into is if the wheel bearing is rusted to the steering knuckle, then you'll really have to hammer or air chisel it off.
#3
Intermediate
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yyymmm31 (12-14-17)
#6
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
I know the bearing is bad because it makes the grinding noise that is associated with a worn bearing. Also when I turn the hub it feels rough. I am having a problem getting access to the lower aft wheel hub mount bolt because of interference with the lower control arm. I do not have the SST spacers that alldata advises to use when disassembling the control arms & such. I was thinking about taking the upper arms loose from the steering knuckle in hopes that it will allow me to pivot the top of the upper knuckle outboard giving me the necessary clearance to get the last bolt out. If you please, how did you get access to the lower aft wheel hub bolt? Thanks!
The following users liked this post:
yyymmm31 (12-15-17)
#7
Pole Position
I know the bearing is bad because it makes the grinding noise that is associated with a worn bearing. Also when I turn the hub it feels rough. I am having a problem getting access to the lower aft wheel hub mount bolt because of interference with the lower control arm. I do not have the SST spacers that alldata advises to use when disassembling the control arms & such. I was thinking about taking the upper arms loose from the steering knuckle in hopes that it will allow me to pivot the top of the upper knuckle outboard giving me the necessary clearance to get the last bolt out. If you please, how did you get access to the lower aft wheel hub bolt? Thanks!
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#9
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Crows foot was a no go as well. Not enough clearance for that. I ended up buying a set of low profile sockets with universal heads and that just barely fit. Once I got that last bolt out the hub came off with about 50 whacks with the slide hammer. Then I cleaned off all the corrosion, applied some antisieze and slapped the new hub assy in. I pulled out my noisy subwoofer too. I am going to repair it as soon as my speaker adhesive arrives from amazon. Thankyou all for your assistance.
#13
#14
I am having a problem getting access to the lower aft wheel hub mount bolt because of interference with the lower control arm. ... I was thinking about taking the upper arms loose from the steering knuckle in hopes that it will allow me to pivot the top of the upper knuckle outboard giving me the necessary clearance to get the last bolt out. If you please, how did you get access to the lower aft wheel hub bolt? Thanks!
My hub was not easy to remove. It was fused to the knuckle with lots of good old fashioned rust. I got the loaner slide hammer (5lbs) from Advance and that really was accomplishing nothing on its own. Tip: dont use your Lexus lug nuts with the slide hammer (damaged mine but they still work), get some cheap regular nuts instead.
I used liberal amounts of WD-40, PB Blaster, some ATF I had lying around and penetrating oil, repeatedly. I used a 4lb hammer, air chisel, wood chisel, spackle tool, screwdriver, pry bar and finally and most effectively, a cold chisel I picked up well into the job.
Just after taking the pics above I gave a few more pulls on the slide hammer and voila it pops out.
I wire brushed and cleaned the knuckle, got the new one on and it fixed the loud vibration that I thought was just my tires until it started clunking too. The car drives great now. Quiet as it should be. I used a Timken hub (box says made in Japan) which was well rated online but not cheap. This was my first time ever changing a wheel hub. Luckily I had it jacked up in my garage so I could work on it at my own pace. Started yesterday, got the hub off this morning. I will be tackling the left front in the near future (already have part). I think I will buy the 10 lbs slide hammer for that job or maybe the "hub buster." Definitely a doable DIY if you have the patience and time. Wear hearing/eye protection.
#15
I just replaced my right front hub this weekend. I could not get that bolt off without disconnecting upper control arms. Multiple trips to HF to try to get such a tool to remove that last hub bolt. No luck. Please tell us the exact tool you bought that worked! I had to reattach the uppers to begin pounding off the hub. Then disconnect them again to install bolts on new hub. Then the final reconnect of the upper control arms. Of course the ball joint shafts started spinning on me as I tried to tighten them. With a stroke of luck, pliers (not good, I know) and an impact, I got the castle nuts back on and the cotter pins in.
My hub was not easy to remove. It was fused to the knuckle with lots of good old fashioned rust. I got the loaner slide hammer (5lbs) from Advance and that really was accomplishing nothing on its own. Tip: dont use your Lexus lug nuts with the slide hammer (damaged mine but they still work), get some cheap regular nuts instead.
I used liberal amounts of WD-40, PB Blaster, some ATF I had lying around and penetrating oil, repeatedly. I used a 4lb hammer, air chisel, wood chisel, spackle tool, screwdriver, pry bar and finally and most effectively, a cold chisel I picked up well into the job.
Just after taking the pics above I gave a few more pulls on the slide hammer and voila it pops out.
I wire brushed and cleaned the knuckle, got the new one on and it fixed the loud vibration that I thought was just my tires until it started clunking too. The car drives great now. Quiet as it should be. I used a Timken hub (box says made in Japan) which was well rated online but not cheap. This was my first time ever changing a wheel hub. Luckily I had it jacked up in my garage so I could work on it at my own pace. Started yesterday, got the hub off this morning. I will be tackling the left front in the near future (already have part). I think I will buy the 10 lbs slide hammer for that job or maybe the "hub buster." Definitely a doable DIY if you have the patience and time. Wear hearing/eye protection.
My hub was not easy to remove. It was fused to the knuckle with lots of good old fashioned rust. I got the loaner slide hammer (5lbs) from Advance and that really was accomplishing nothing on its own. Tip: dont use your Lexus lug nuts with the slide hammer (damaged mine but they still work), get some cheap regular nuts instead.
I used liberal amounts of WD-40, PB Blaster, some ATF I had lying around and penetrating oil, repeatedly. I used a 4lb hammer, air chisel, wood chisel, spackle tool, screwdriver, pry bar and finally and most effectively, a cold chisel I picked up well into the job.
Just after taking the pics above I gave a few more pulls on the slide hammer and voila it pops out.
I wire brushed and cleaned the knuckle, got the new one on and it fixed the loud vibration that I thought was just my tires until it started clunking too. The car drives great now. Quiet as it should be. I used a Timken hub (box says made in Japan) which was well rated online but not cheap. This was my first time ever changing a wheel hub. Luckily I had it jacked up in my garage so I could work on it at my own pace. Started yesterday, got the hub off this morning. I will be tackling the left front in the near future (already have part). I think I will buy the 10 lbs slide hammer for that job or maybe the "hub buster." Definitely a doable DIY if you have the patience and time. Wear hearing/eye protection.