I took my 98 blazer 2wd in for an alignment, balance and rotation and upon checkout the guy said the tech found that the right front hub bearing had play in it. I've been having the common 60mph to 75mph front end vibration which is why I brought it in, in the first place.

I just replaced the rear shocks and have bought new ones for the front and have yet to install them. At any rate, could the combination of questionable front shocks and a hub bearing cause this vibration?

 

The shocks wouldn't but depending on how much play there is in the hub it could. But most vibration is tire balance if it is only at a certain speed.

 

uhhhh...........yes it would.

if the wheel isn't held in control from road rash/wheel weight, then it's not going to be able to maintain good road surface contact, and thus amplify any minor vibration that comes up through that coner of the truck.


but if there was play in the hub, why did they still do the alignment & take your money?

 

You know I actually didn't think about that....now that I think about it how can you align a wheel that has play. Looks like I'll be paying them a visit after I get the hub bearing replaced. I've never been a fan of franchise repair shops, they don't really have to worry about reputation as much as local shops. I actually had to replace a bushing on the sway bar that they over-torqued, looks like they don't really care much about quality.

either way I've read a good bit about torque being crucial on the bearing, do you guys know what the spec is on that? and a good way to keep the upper shaft on the shocks to stay still so I can loosen it?

 

heres a little and quik trip on getting the nut off the top of the shock when the shock is spinning....get a 1/2 or 12mm which ever size fits the best and then get a extra long ext bar 3/8 is fine, put the socket on the nut and with the ext on kep moving the ext bar back and forth from either front to back or vice versa, not sideways across the veh,,,, the stud will actually snap off and wala your shock will fall out of the control arm.. or if ya wanna get crazy, jack the veh up, support it with jank stands of course, get a good pair of Vise Grips and clamp it to the chrome part of the shock, thru the coil spring.. either way it will work for you.. Believe me ive done it both removal ways depending on how must rust is on it..

 

yup, that is the best way to get the front shocks out. and i too have done the ol' vise-grip method, but after a Winter or two, you'll probably have better luck just breaking it off.