New 2011 LS owner and I thought I'd share some info about front wheel bearing replacement.

I had a very faint rhythmic vibration/noise coming from left front tire. All new Michelin tires, swapped the tire for the spare and noise/vibe stayed the same.

I read a few threads on here and saw several where people replaced wheel bearings and though my car had low miles for a wheel bearing (I thought)--55k, it seemed likely to be culprit.

I bought a Timken bearing set off Amazon, $240 shipped, I will report back if it fails anytime soon. Seems difficult to know exactly where a part os coming from these days and while Timken is a known brand, they appear to produce parts all over the world.

I read previous threads about getting to the bottom rear bolt on the bearing assembly due to lower control arm interference. I saw someone use a crows foot and another person buy a short socket. I happened to have a 17 mm socket with a reduced radius near the back of it which allowed some extra clearance.

But what I also did to buy some space was to grind down the corner of the lower control arm where it interfered with the socket. Didn't remove much, just the corner, but it bought some space.

Now this is where the salt region people will groan--all four bolts came out easy and the original bearing practically FELL OUT OF THE HUB because there was so little rust.

New one is in, test drive reveals noise to be gone (will have to double confirm when back on sweeping 2 lane highway) but all seems good.

Good luck to future searchers!

 

Thanks for sharing.