I have a 98 Blazer and am getting new tires at Pepboys. I wanted an alignment at the same time to protect my new tires. They are telling me I need a pitman arm, idler arm, and front driver side wheel hub. No way in hell am I letting them put the parts on for me. They prob want 500 + dollars to do it. I can get all the parts for a little over $100 bux. Anyway, can I just replace the pitman arm and idler arm, get the alignment and then do the wheel bearing later? Should I get a 2nd opintion? How do I know if my wheel bearing is bad? Thanks in advance!!

- Matt

 

You do not have to realign the front end after a wheel bearing replacement, but I doubt they will do an alignment if the bearing is bad. A wheel that is moving even a little bit will not align properly.

As far as how to tell if the wheel bearing is bad. If it's really bad, there will be play in the wheel and it will likely make noise while driving down the road. You could get another opinion just to check, but you could be throwing money into an alignment that may not hold.

 

Found a reputable place on ebay selling the hubs for 40 a piece. I'm getting and replacing both of them. I don't want to repeat this in a few months. Once again, thanks for the advice!!

 

Using cheap aftermarket bearings can put you right back into the same situation again in short order. I stick to SKF or Timken for bearings I install. They are pricey, but excellent quality. But first you have to actually see if the bearing is bad.

 

No way I would even think about throwing $40 hubs in my Blazer. Let alone a pitman and idler arms, plus hubs, for $100.

Just keep in mind, you get what you pay for. When it comes to steering components I want the best either money can buy or the best I can afford.

And Kyle gave great advice about determining whether you need hubs or not.

 

Thanks for the opinions. I am getting the pitman arm and idler arm from oreilly's and they have a lifetime warranty. I can't understand if the top brands of wheel hubs are that much better, then why is the warranty exactly the same as the less expensive ones? They both have 1 year warranties. You pay 2 to 3 times the price for the same warranty? The place I was getting them from has no complaints about quality. 100% positive feedback. Over 26,000 feedback score. I might only keep this blazer a few more years anyway. Thanks again for the responses!!

 

The SKF hubs I have used in the past carry a 3 year warranty.

Quality CANNOT be judged by the length of the warranty, period.

I think Chris Farley said it best in Tommy Boy - "Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed... I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me."

Many of the aftermarket companies do not pay close enough attention to quality because they can stand to have a few returned because they have kept their costs down by having rather lax quality standards.

 

SKF on ebay for about $125. Ive replaced both sides within 3 months of each other with SKF. Not sure what brand the old ones were but the vehicle had 115k on it. They are easy to replace if you want to do it every year. Eventually you will get the 3yr warranty and price. SKF is a high quality product. See if you can get the orings that go behind the bearing. They stop water from getting between the bearing OD and spindle housing. They are likely a dealer item but should be cheap. Couldnt get them at NAPA.

 

lol I was thinking of the same quote as I was reading above.

Swartlkk is right. Go with the more pricey ones. They are going to be constructed better and will most likely last a lot longer then the cheap ebay ones. For all you know, after all those people posted their feedback, the hub came apart, tire flew off, they crashed, car caught on fire, they were trapped and died. At least with SFK and Timken, they have been around for a long time and EVERYBODY knows their reputation and the quality they strive to maintain. Most of the time the price can be directly connected to the quality of a product.

 

Timkens are $78 bucks on Amazon. . They are miles better than the cheapo ones.