wheel bearing

[kidtaurus]

My driver's side wheel bearing is going bad. I was quoted $250 to fix it.
Is this a decent price?
Should I go OEM or aftermarket?
Do I need to replace both sides like you do with CV joints?

 

[Leyland23]

Thats a ridiculous amount. I replaced both of mine a month ago. Barrings were 25 each and it was like 30 a side to press old out and new in. Where are you located? I would suggest replacing both.

 

[kidtaurus]

Athens, GA.

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

While it may seem ridiculous, that's about in line with what I would expect. Maybe a little high, but about right. I would DIY and do both at once.

 

[azuelke]

$250 isnt too bad to have a shop do it, depending upon where you live. I think I paid dollars over $200 to have a shop do one. While DIY would be cheaper, my time is more valuable to me.

 

[Leyland23]

Its not that bad of a job. It was my 1st time doing that and i only had a few hours in it and it was a good learning experience. I guess if money don't matter pay someone else to do it. I like learning how to fix my own stuff by doing it but hey i guess wrenching isn't for everyone

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

Full disclosure...it can be a bad job. It normally isn't, but with rust and without an impact wrench, it can take much longer than a few hours. Because of a few snags I hit that were unavoidable, mine took two days.

That said, I would still do it yourself. Read the how-to and see how comfortable you are with the procedures. Many of us would be more than happy to answer questions and help any way we can. Changing wheel bearings is a right of passage when it comes to owning a P5.

 

[tweety2300]

Get your own parts what that shop is doing is making you buy the entire hub and charging you the same labor charge as it would to press it in and out. I paid 125 for labor +25 for the bearing. When you work 7 days a week it's easier to just pay someone to do it

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

Get your own parts what that shop is doing is making you buy the entire hub and charging you the same labor charge as it would to press it in and out. I paid 125 for labor +25 for the bearing. When you work 7 days a week it's easier to just pay someone to do it

I would doubt the shop is having him buy the hub. Total cost for getting the bearing replaced is normally in the range of $200 to have someone do it. Yours is at the low end of the range, his is at the high.

 

[cutchemist]

I've never replaced a bearing myself, but I have replaced the steering knuckle before so at that point, I could have taken it somewhere to get pressed. I would give the following warnings if your DIY.

-Tie rod bolt could be rusted bad,
-Axle nut without an impact wrench could be hard. I had to use a cheater pipe to get it off.

I know that if I had to do it, I would do it myself to save about 200ish dollars. For me to get knuckle with the tie rod bolt coming off cleanly would take maybe 30-40 minutes. I also used the how-to thread someone mentioned above as a great help.

 

[Cleverfrog]

It's not a difficult service if you have the tools. Your worst enemy is definitely rusted nuts and bolts. And yes do both at once. The first time you do this yourself it will probably take 2 hours or so. Just make sure you have the time and tools or take it somewhere. I recommend timken/koyo bearings personally.

 

[kidtaurus]

I don't have a garage or an impact wrench and worried about any rusted bolts. I did some investigating and found a local mom and pop suspension shop that comes highly recommended that would do it for $75+parts. I don't think I can beat that. Which brand of bearings do you recommend. I have seen them go for $25 for SKF or $50 for National.

 

[Cleverfrog]

It's not a difficult service if you have the tools. Your worst enemy is definitely rusted nuts and bolts. And yes do both at once. The first time you do this yourself it will probably take 2 hours or so. Just make sure you have the time and tools or take it somewhere. I recommend timken/koyo bearings personally.

 

[kidtaurus]

Timken was another I was going to ask about. I guess I will go with Timken. Many thanks for your input.

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

IMO, get the bearing from Mazda. It's not that much more expensive, and it's a part that takes a lot of abuse and is very important. Go with OEM parts whenever possible.

 

[KMac]

If you don't have a press this will not be an easy job. Get a second opinion on the price but $250 is about right for a shop to do these bearings. I would not go with a cheap bearing like Timken, use SKF or Mazda Bearings. Proteges are notorious bearing haters because of the way the engineers made the hub assembly with the drain slot. Do not buy the seal or have them installed with the new bearings. Mazda actually had them removed because of crap getting caught between the bearing and the seal because of that bastard drain hole that actually killed the bearings. This is all my own opinion and I have a full shop to do this work in and it was still a pain in the ass.

 

[Maroon]

I payed Midas $280 after tax to do one of mine. I had started the job myself when my second car broke down, and I was forced to reassemble the Mazda and take it to a mechanic. When it comes time for the other bearing to replace, I will save the $200 and do it myself.

However, the job is a b**** because of rusted fasteners. I never did get the tierod off. And as mentioned, you need access to a press.

For $75, I'd be tempted to let the mom and pop shop do it. But I'm guessing they don't know that the knuckle has to be removed and the bearing has be to be pressed out. That takes a hell of a lot more work than just replacing a unit hub/bearing.

 

[Cleverfrog]

If you don't have a press this will not be an easy job. Get a second opinion on the price but $250 is about right for a shop to do these bearings. I would not go with a cheap bearing like Timken, use SKF or Mazda Bearings. Proteges are notorious bearing haters because of the way the engineers made the hub assembly with the drain slot. Do not buy the seal or have them installed with the new bearings. Mazda actually had them removed because of crap getting caught between the bearing and the seal because of that bastard drain hole that actually killed the bearings. This is all my own opinion and I have a full shop to do this work in and it was still a pain in the ass.

Well then. I didn't consider timken being a cheap bearing. You must remember that they were recently bought out by Koyo.

 

[KMac]

Well then. I didn't consider timken being a cheap bearing. You must remember that they were recently bought out by Koyo.

Hmmmm this I did not know. I guess I am just biased for SKF. Rockauto has the Timken for $19 and thats actually a really good price on these bearings. Some times you can find them on Amazon for the same amount with free shipping.

 

[Cleverfrog]

Timken/koyo is a very high end industrial bearing company. They do bearings for huge machinery. Whether or not they are high end on the automotive side is debatable just is everything auto.