Best Automotive Axle Bearing And Hub Assembly Replacement Service and Cost in
McAllen TX
Mobile Mechanic of McAllen

MCALLEN AUTOMOTIVE AXLE BEARING AND HUB ASSEMBLY REPLACEMENT

Automotive Axle Bearing And Hub Assembly Replacement Service at Home or Office

Automotive Axle Bearing And Hub Assembly Replacement Service near McAllen TX: Your wheel bearings and hubs are an important part of your vehicle’s steering, suspension, and braking systems. Most modern vehicles use a one-piece hub assembly that incorporates the hub, wheel bearing, ABS wheel speed sensor, and mounting flange. Wheel hubs connect the axles, steering knuckles, and the wheels. They are imperative to the steering system because they help support the weight of the vehicle and help turn the wheels.

What is Hub Assembly Replacement?

The wheel hub holds a vehicle’s wheels in place. When properly functioning, the front hub ensures that a vehicle’s tires turn freely, that the ABS system works properly, and that fuel efficiency is normal. A rear wheel hub provides a solid mounting point for the rear wheel to bolt onto and ensures smooth rotation at all speeds. Mobile Mechanics Of McAllen, the wheel hub assembly is an essential component of any vehicle. If the wheel hub assembly is not in good operational condition, the wheel can separate from the axle. This is an extreme safety hazard, and a repair should never be delayed.

How is Hub Assembly Replacement Done?

• Raise your vehicle and support it on jack stands.
• Remove your lug nuts and pull off the wheel.
• Remove the brake caliper.
• Pull off the brake rotor.
• Remove the axle nut.
• Lift the new hub into place and thread the bolts by hand.
• Tighten the hub bolts to your vehicle manufacturer’s recommended torque setting with a torque wrench.
• Fasten the axle nut to the axle and tighten it to the recommended torque setting.
• Put on the brake caliper bracket. Install the caliper bracket bolts and tighten them to the recommended torque setting.
• Put on the brake caliper. Install the caliper bolts and tighten them to the recommended torque setting.
• Slide on the wheel and thread the lug nuts by hand.
• Lower the vehicle to the ground.
• Tighten the lug nuts to the recommended torque setting.

Recommendations

If you suspect that your wheel hub assembly needs to be replaced, you should schedule service from one of our expert mechanics immediately. Replacement of a wheel hub assembly may require specialized tools that are best left operated by professional mechanics.

Symptoms That Indicate You Need A Wheel Hub Assembly Replacement

• Steering responds slowly
• Uneven brake application or excessive brake pedal travel before brakes apply
• Grinding noise from the area of the front hub, located near the center of the vehicle’s wheels, underneath the hubcap.

Our mobile mechanics will show up at your home with state-of-the-art tools and equipment to wheel hub assembly replacement service for your vehicle. We have the know-how needed to fix any type of car or truck. When you contact Mobile Mechanics Of McAllen, we may be able to provide you with a quote over the phone. On the other hand, if you don’t know what the issue is, we can investigate and do some diagnostics to get to the bottom of the issue. Our mobile mechanics will treat your vehicle as if it was theirs. You can rest assured that we stand behind the quality of our mechanics’ work. Customer satisfaction is a top priority to Mobile Mechanics Of McAllen and our mobile mechanics.

What Is The Severity Of A Failed Wheel Bearing?

Automotive Axle Bearing And Hub Assembly Replacement Service near McAllen TX: The affected wheel could literally fall off. You’d have had to ignore progressively accelerating symptoms for a while, by that point.

Catastrophic failure is possible if the failing bearing is the old-fashioned style that needs periodic adjustment and re-lubrication. Cartridge-style bearings generally fail less dramatically, but nonetheless could leave you with an inoperable vehicle, or even the possibility of losing control of the vehicle in traffic. Allowing the bearing to fail completely also stands the chance of damaging other expensive components like brake calipers and wheel-speed sensors.

The wheel bearing cost of some simpler bearings can be less than $35 for parts and an additional $50 or so for labor, including replacing the seal. That’s basically the same labor cost as cleaning, repacking and adjusting one of these old-school wheel bearings. Replacing a cartridge-style bearing can top $300 for the part, and $100 for labor. Part of the large replacement part cost is that the wheel-speed sensor is sometimes integrated into the bearing, driving up the price. These prices are for a single bearing. It’s usually safe to replace only one bearing that’s been damaged by a curb or pothole. If the bearings are simply worn, think hard about doing both sides at the same time. You also may be able to save some labor costs if your brake rotors and pads could use replacing at the same time.

Keep in mind, pricing will vary by location and your vehicle make and model. If you want to know the wheel bearing cost for your vehicle, start by using Open bay to compare service pricing from quality repair shops in your area.

Wheel Bearings Replacement Service

What are wheel bearings and how do they work?

A wheel bearing assembly consists of rolling elements, such as hardened steel ball bearings or roller bearings, that roll on and around hardened steel bearing races. The wheel bearings support the front and rear axle, and all the weight of your car. Wheel bearings are made with a high-precision technique using extremely hard steel in order to withstand all the normal impacts that occur to the wheel and tire assembly as you drive along the road.

When to replace wheel bearings?

• Growling or grinding noise from a wheel. Failed or failing wheel bearings make a very characteristic growling noise which will grow louder as the bearing wear progresses. If you believe the wheel bearing noise is coming from one side of the car, you can self-diagnose your wheel bearing as you drive the car by loading and unloading vehicle weight You can do this by swerving from side-to-side. For example, if the noise markedly increases when you swerve to the left, which shifts the vehicle’s weight to the right, then it often indicates the wheel bearing on the right is failing.
• Axial or radial play in the wheel or wheel hub. Should the wheel hub move up and down or in and out, the bearing may be worn.
• Vibration in the steering wheel or vehicle body and/or wandering. Vibration and lack of directional stability could be consequences of loose or worn out wheel bearings.
• Tire and wheel assembly does not turn smoothly. With the wheel jacked up, and the car not in gear, the wheel should rotate smoothly. Rough or inconsistent movement, which is often accompanied by noise, can signify damaged bearings. Be sure the brakes are not dragging as you perform this check.

How do mechanics replace wheel bearings?

The complexity of wheel bearing replacement varies greatly depending on the vehicle make, model, year, the wheel position (front versus rear), and the drive type (AWD versus FWD):

• On vehicles with unitized wheel bearing/hub assemblies, the brake rotor and caliper are removed.
• The large axle nut is removed, the axle is pushed back through the center of the unitized hub assembly, and three (or more) bolts holding the hub assembly to the steering knuckle are removed.
• The hub assembly is then removed from the knuckle. On installation of the new hub assembly to the knuckle, the bolts are torqued to the factory specification. In many cases, it is required to discard the old axle nut and replace with a new one. Special attention must be given to tightening the axle nut to the exact factory specification because over or under-tightening can damage the newly installed bearing. All Your Mechanic professionals use calibrated torque wrenches on these critical fasteners.
• Finally, the brake rotor and brake caliper are re-attached, the wheel installed and the car is road tested.
• On vehicles where the wheel bearing is pressed into a cavity within the steering knuckle, the steering knuckle must be removed from the vehicle in order to press out the old bearing and press in the new bearing.
• On some vehicles, the wheel bearing is pressed onto an axle shaft and thus the axle must be extracted from the axle carrier. This will apply to certain trucks.

Is it safe to drive with a wheel bearing problem?

Automotive Axle Bearing And Hub Assembly Replacement Service near McAllen TX: No. Wheel bearing failure is usually gradual, although in some cases it starts immediately after the dramatic impact of the wheel and tire assembly with a deep pothole. Wheel bearings can sometimes make noise for quite some time before you experience a catastrophic failure that would result in complete separation of the wheel and tire assembly from the axle. Generally, the risk of sudden failure increases with the noise level. But strictly speaking, once the bearing has started to fail it is impossible to predict exactly when it will fail completely. So it should not continue to be driven. Were a failing bearing to seize or break while you are moving, you could experience loss of control of the vehicle. Once you receive a conclusive diagnostic that a wheel bearing has failed, replace the bearing promptly.

When replacing wheel bearings, keep in mind:

• If the car has a substantial number of miles on the failed bearing (100,000 miles or more), it is a good idea to replace both bearings (driver and passenger) on the axle at the same time.
• Wheel bearing noise can be confused with tire noise from defective tires. In difficult cases, a mechanic will apply remote wireless microphones at all 4 wheel positions, and then drive the car while listening to a remote receiver, switching between wheel positions to pinpoint the location of the failed bearing.