I'm having a vibration problem. 95 4WD, 4door. Anyway, it sounds like I've got big truck tires on it, driving down the road. Upon turning right, the noise disappears(it does not disappear when turning left). We lifted the front end, and didn't feel any play in the front end. So, we thought it must be a rear wheel bearing. Well, we can't "safely" pull the axle out to replace it, because there's -what my cousin(who's doing the work) calls a "gov-lock", and he's unsure about how to get it apart(actually afraid he won't be able to get it back together correctly).
Anyway, do you think my problem IS a rear wheel bearing, or a front wheel bearing, or a ball joint?(we do think the front right ball joint needs replaced) I just hate to replace a front bearing (at $120 for the bearing), only to find out that that's not the problem.
Secondly, if it is a rear bearing, should I not let him mess with this "gov-lock" thing? Is it easy to screw it up?
THANKS!
David

 

Had the same problem you are having, it was the right front wheel bearing.. looking at about $350-$400CDN if you get a shop to do it. The bearing comes with the hub assembly, it being a 4x4 makes it more expensive since you have to replace the whole unit. The unit costs around $160-200 for a good one. Hanr3 made a step by step thread on how to do this, here it is.

https://blazerforum.com/m_56421/tm.htm

 

Hmmm. We'd bought a front bearing assembly, but my cousin's friend, who's a pretty good mechanic, said that he didn't think the noise was coming from the front, but he THOUGHT the right rear. Now, they don't know how to get that "gov-lock" thing in the rear end apart. Now, I'm thinking that you're right, that we should have changed the front bearing. Again, I hated to replace a $120 part, only to find out that that wasn't the problem. Is there a way to make sure which on it is?
Thanks.

 

The Gov locki is really easy to overcome. Just spin the carrier around until the bolt that holds the cross shaft in place comes around, then using a 5/16th wrench remove the bolt, then the cross shaft comes out, and just push the axles in and the c clips will need to be removed, you might need a magnet to retreve the clips, but then the axle slips out. It is just like doing it on an open rear end, just looks different. But I am willing to bet it is in the front, usually th rear bearing will always make noise, since each side only has one, where inside the front hub assemblies there is actuallt 2 bearings in there and when yo go from side to side it transfers the load from one to the other. The front bearings are easy to remove and if you remove the one you think is the bad one and spin it in your hand, it will not feel smooth if it has a problem. Korey

 

He had said the the gov lock thing looked like it had springs that had to be removed, and that's what he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to get back in place properly. Is that not the case?
I am under the assumption that it IS a front bearing problem now, but still, in case it's not, I'm wondering about this.
Thanks!

 

It is not that difficult but if your friend is afraid don't touch anything because his fear will be your problem to pay for....to bad the forum does not have a DIY thread for Gov-Lock....

But if you could search the internet for video you might find some on how these work...I watched HorsepowerTV and other SPEED channel DIY shows and they showed how simple it was to get a rear axle out...

 

Here is a link to the post on the rear axle R&I:
https://blazerforum.com/m_66891/mpag..._/tm.htm#66891

 

I just recently had the same problem. I was getting a loud noise out of the front end. At first I thought it was the ball joints, so I replaced the upper and lower ball joints. That wasn't it though. It was definitely the wheel bearings within the hub assembly in the front end. It's about a $180 part for a 4x4 blazer with ABS, then installation.