I have a friend with a 2 wheel drive 2002 Blazer. While you are driving it makes a loud humming noise and the faster you go the louder it gets. She said the noise goes away when you turn left. Someone said it might be the hub or something like that. Any ideas on what this might be? Also were can I get a replacement? Thanks

 

Sounds like a wheel bearing issue. You can feel for a bad wheel bearing by jacking up the front end of the vehicle and turning each wheel, feeling for roughness. If it is as bad as you state, you should be able to put your hands at 12 & 6 o'clock and pull/push on the wheel. If the wheel moves at all in this direction, get your wheel bearings replaced ASAP. Very bad wheel bearings could lead to your wheel parting ways with the rest of your vehicle.

Any autoparts store will carry the replacement bearings. The problem that you'll run into on the 2wd models is that there is a pressed in bearing race in the hub on the front. These are pressed in and will require force to remove them. If you don't have the proper tools, I wouldn't recommend trying to do it yourself. The parts shouldn't cost you more than $10-$20.

Good Luck

 

Ok thanks. One more question, she said that she and her dad called different shops and they said you can't just replace the bearings. That you have to replace the hole hub and it runs around $300. Does this sound correct to you?

 

Yes, they are correct. I was thinking of the older s10 based 2wd vehicles with a front spindle within which are replaceable wheel bearings/races. The front wheel bearing hub assembly should be fairly easy to replace yourself with common hand tools. It is available from Autozone for $189 (timken). I believe that you must take off the tire, caliper, brake rotor, and then remove 3 or 4 bolts that hold the hub to the steering knuckle. It could easily be done in a driveway and probably wouldn't take you all that long.

While you're at it, it probably would be a good time to do a brake job. With a worn wheel hub, your rotor may be oddly worn due to the angle at which it was sitting. The caliper is held on the steering knuckle, while the worn hub was allowing the wheel/rotor to lean in at the top. A decent (don't go cheap) set of rotors and brake pads would be a good idea. Like I said though, DO NOT go with the cheapest stuff. The quality sucks!

Good luck and let me know if there is any other way that I can help.

 

Hey thanks man! That was very helpful information. I will recommend she do her brakes at the same time.

 

Shop around on the hub assemble. Prices vary. Try LMCtrucks.com They sell them also. Shop around.
Timkin is a good brand. Last unit I bought cost $130, although it was for a 4x4 truck and came with a new anti-lock brake sensor.

 

I'm having trouble removing the axle from the hub assembly. No matter how much pounding from a 2x4 and a big hammer. How does one get the axle to slide out of the assembly? BTW I've got a 2000 4x4 Blazer.....

 

It should come out with a decent amount of persuation. Mine moved fairly easily when I did my ball joints (which is much easier if you slide the axle out of the hub a bit). I just flipped the nut around and screwed it on until it was out by about 1 thread and then put a chunk of steel on the nut and hit the steel with the hammer. Mine only required a 5lb hammer to persuade it. I have seen some require a 20lb sledge and/or heat. The one thing you must remember when heating is that everything gets warm (or hot), including the CV in the axle which will ruin the CV. Be very careful if you use heat on the hub.

I think that some of your problem could be the use of the 2x4 in that it is absorbing too much of the force when you hit it and not enough is going into the axle itself.

As with anytime that you have your vehicle up in the air, ALWAYS make sure that you have it properly supported. This goes DOUBLE for when you are pounding the crap out of something!

If you cannot loosen it by force (w/ or w/o heat), you may need to get a puller and use a combination of heating and cooling to cycle the part in order to break the bond loose.

And remember, before you put it back together, use some anti-seize on the splines to make the next hub replacement easier on you!