Has anyone replaced a wheel bearing before. i only found 1 post talking about you had to replace the whole hub. If anyone could help me out that would be great. replacing the hub would be easier, but not looking to spend more money then i need to.

i have a squeaking sound coming from the front left wheel. It's in sync with the speed of the wheel and is not related to the tsb of lug nut torquing. i already inspected the brakes, so I'm pretty sure its' the wheel bearing. I'm just about to 100k.

 

Me too man! A mechanic tried to rip me off and told me it was the wheel bearing, except I know it's not the wheel bearing. I only hear squeaking under braking, not driving. Someone else said the rotor needs to be resurfaced?

 

i replaced both of mine, its a hub assembly. four bolts hold it in place, its not to hard to change but it was a pita to get out. when you replace it make sure to take a wire brush or something to the "socket" that it goes in, mine had a little surface rust in there. i think the only parts store that sells them is auto zone if i remember correctly. mazda wants like $300 a piece, thank god i have a friend that works for them and got a great discount. if it is your hub and you have any questions just hit me up.

 

Thanks now that i know you can't replace just the bearing, it's going to be a breeze. It's 177 from online mazda parts

Yeah it's all the time, it sometimes doesn't happen under breaking but for the most part it happens all the time. Pretty sure it's the wheel bearing. If the rotor needed to be resurfaced i would think i would have some vibration under hard breaking or under high speeds, neither of which happens.

 

that happens to mine aswell i have a 04 and the squeak is more like a grind on my left rear wheel it starts grinding when i start to slow down after 20 mph or when breaking

 

how to check your bearing... swerve the car from side to side... if it comes and goes the bearings bad... if its from speeding up and slowing down it could be another problem. you don't always have to replace a rotor, but resurfacing doesn't hurt. A good idea though if you know a mechanic thats highly skilled is to do a brake alignment. It takes a lot of work and very senstive calibration but you can actually align a brake using shims to knock out tiny bits of warping which can happen as easily as a semi hot rotor hitting a sprinkler puddle and flash cooling it.

 

not accurate for all cases, i have a bad bearing right now that does not fit that diagnosis

 

i tried this method but either way the grinding still happens when my veichle is moving at slow speed and stops when i go over 20 mph... seems like the rear brake is still engaging is my guess

 

This is the test as per the workshop manual. My wheel displays this characteristic after testing for it specifically.

1. Install the magnetic vase and dial gauge as shown in the figure, and inspect the wheel bearing for axial looseness.

• If it exceeds the maximum specification, replace the wheel hub component.

Maximum wheel bearing play
0.05 mm {0.002 in}

 

Mine does and it came on really really fast it feels dangerous! I lifted the back up and put it in first you can see the lump lump lump as the wheel turns. This happened just after I fitted coilovers

 

Easy to replace but just be aware of the after market HUBS