After rotating my tires. I hear these wobbly noises coming from the front tires of my Mazda Protege 5 02'. Mechanics said i need a set of tires hubs and bearings. Labor alone is $180 from him not including parts which he recommended buying from the dealership. Has anyone gone through this process or know if this is the correct price for this problem. Mechanic tells me it can cost up to $300 after parts. Thank you in advance for some insight
Tire Hub and Bearing
- Thread starter punky3do
- Start date
Done on my own with my cousin. I mean i didnt mess with anything. Just swapped my rear tires to the front w/o tire balancing. At first i thought it needed balancing so thats why i took it to the mechanics originally. Then i got the bad news about the hub and bearings. What do u think guys? Cuz the noise didnt happen after i rotated
yup shouldn't have to balance the tires... did you tighten the bolts and torque them on? also did you make sure there on flush.
1) just tighten every other bolt while the tire is still in the air
2) lower car then continue to tighten every other bolt
3) torque the bolts to recommended pounds (not sure what it is but i just go for 60-80)
you could try and jack your car up and spin the front wheels to see if there's any visible wobble. I would try remounting the rims. But if the damage is already done
1) just tighten every other bolt while the tire is still in the air
2) lower car then continue to tighten every other bolt
3) torque the bolts to recommended pounds (not sure what it is but i just go for 60-80)
you could try and jack your car up and spin the front wheels to see if there's any visible wobble. I would try remounting the rims. But if the damage is already done
id say go to another shop.. see what they say.. if the noise started after you rotated your wheels.. to me that sounds like a bent wheel or just bad tires.. put your front wheels back in the rear and see if it goes away.. and on another note.. the hub and bearings are one piece.. if your hub is bad you should either hear it or if you jack the front up and grab the wheel from the top and bottom and rock it back and forth.. if theres play its bad.. but id go to somewhere other then a dealership to get a hub.. unless you wanna pay for two or three of them and get one.. and put it on yourself.. its not hard at all.. if you have ABS make sure it has the ABS ring on it when you get it..
JT
JT
enderwaves
Member
- :
- 2003 Protege 5
Can you not press out the bearings? I've never looked at the hub assembly on my protege, but generally you can press the bearing out of the hub. It's not a fun job, and requires a pretty well stocked garage, but it changes the price of parts from +$300 to 50 bucks for a bearing. Again, I'm just curious, and haven't actually done this on a mazda before.
DiscreetSpeed
Member
- :
- 03 MSP
Front bearing are such a pain in the arse. good luck.
RockerPro5
Member
- :
- Midnight Blue Protege 5
At what speed do you hear those noises? I have a "thud thud thud" noise coming from the front wheels, (at about 50 km/h) and a strong vibration at highway speeds (100+ km/h). I'd be interersted to know as I also have '02 Protege 5.
Another way is to drive through a tunnel with the windows down at a slow enough speed to hear the noise.
well that im not sure of.. i replaced my rear hub and it cost me 100 bucks.. for the hub... i didnt bother with the bearing.. if your buying $300 hubs you need to start shopping around.. i havent had to price one out.. but $300 sounds like dealership prices to me.. and i just checked online and NAPA is showing just the bearing... but id still do it myself..
RockerPro5
Member
- :
- Midnight Blue Protege 5
And if you drive at highway speeds do you feel vibrations in the steering wheel or anywhere from the front end?
i think you should turn one of your front wheels out and take a pic of it from the front so we can see what your tires look like.. rub your hand around the circumference of your tires.. are you feeling any flat spots.. if you are somethings worn out or you knocked your alignment out of spec causing uneven wear...
I'm also in OC and had the same problem, must be the bad weather... 
just pulled the front hub/steering knuckle this past weekend. Wheel was very wobbly and clunking badly. The locknut was loose and only took about 20ft/lb to remove. Fortunately the bearing/races looked good so just slopped on some grease and put it back at 150ft/lb. Whoever worked on the car last did not torque the locknut properly eventho it was properly dinged/staked.
Check the torque on the locknut first before you remove it. If it's torqued properly then bearing is likely gone.
You need a 32mm socket for the locknut.
ps - just saw this thread on the bottom of this screen, good details on this problem:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123631972
just pulled the front hub/steering knuckle this past weekend. Wheel was very wobbly and clunking badly. The locknut was loose and only took about 20ft/lb to remove. Fortunately the bearing/races looked good so just slopped on some grease and put it back at 150ft/lb. Whoever worked on the car last did not torque the locknut properly eventho it was properly dinged/staked.
Check the torque on the locknut first before you remove it. If it's torqued properly then bearing is likely gone.
You need a 32mm socket for the locknut.
ps - just saw this thread on the bottom of this screen, good details on this problem:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123631972
