Left front has been making noise for couple of months now; thought it was the hub/bearing and yesterday after removing tire and brakes verified it is indeed the bearing.

Have new ones on order, but have questions regarding torque values for the three hub bolts and also for the axle nut.

Anyone happen to have a book that has these values and could post them here?

This is for my 2002 4wd, 4dr.

Thanks

 

Media Library

 

Hub/bearing bolts: 77 ft pounds

Drive axle nut: 103 ft pounds. Bind the axle using a philips screwdriver into a rotor vent after the caliper is installed, (do not torque the nut with the wheel on the ground).

 

I am a bit surprised by the 103 ft-lbs for the axle nut, thought it was much higher, like 180 ft-lbs. I will tell on myself here....when I replaced the left axle I did not look-up the torque value for the axle nut and now I know that I waaaaay over did it; cost me a new bearing plus the time.

Sooooo...anyone out there reading this...take note of the torque values for the wheel bearing/hub and do not over do it!!!

Thanks to rexazz2 and Captain for the values.

 

180 ft-lbs sounds about right for a Pitman arm but is way too much for an axle nut. I've always been very careful about torque specs. I learned that when I got started working on cars and I was installing a head on a GM 3.4 V6. I thought the torque was going to be somewhere around 100 ft-lbs and I almost torqued the head bolts to that value. Fortunately I was working with an older mechanic who knew enough to look up the specs. It was about 37 ft-lbs.

 

Not sure where I came-up with such a high torque value in my head....it was from working on another car for sure....likely when I had Fieros and removed the rear struts....IKD.

But this time I asked....must be getting old or something!

Anyways the right front was definitely BAD but I went ahead and changed the right side as well. And actually changing-out the front bearings is not all that bad a job. Most difficult part is getting the ABS wire and brake hose hangers/clamps bolts back-in.

The other problem was that when I went to put the left front brake caliper back on, one of the caliper guide pin/bolt would not go....found that the threads in the caliper were all galled-up and a mess. Did not have any problem getting the guide pin/bolt out, but it is not going to go back in...I tried but just made it worse. So now I will need to replace the left front caliper and guide pin/bolts.

Hey anyone need a good used 4WD front wheel bearing with ABS? Has just over 100k miles on it. Just have to pay shipping fees.

Lesson learned here.....look-up the torque values.

 

Why??

 

With the weight of the vehicle on the bearing, it skews the torque.

 

Lanny/ All; I am experiencing the same thing on my 95 4dr 4X4. I am not familiar with what a front failing hub / bearings sound like, but have been given to believe that they really get loud before they fail. My right front wheel makes a roaring noise, but at this point it is not real loud. My question is this: Is it wise to replace both under the assumption that if one side is "going" the other side will be going soon as well? Also, does it make sense to spend the extra bucks to replace the ABS sensors when doing the hubs? I've got a little over 100K on my Blazer. Thanks.

 

The "roar" is typical for a failing bearing. Turning the wheel side to side while driving will usually cause it to change pitch, and sometimes go away. Not necessary to replace both hub assemblies, unless they're both bad. The hubs come with the ABS sensors already installed.