Am I to understand that replacing the rear bearing/hub assembly is a total pain?
My wife has a 2006 LT FWD but for some time now we've heard to me what sounds like a worn out bearing noise coming from the rear driver side of the car. My wife thought it might be the tires and the wear was a little funny, like the had been poorly rotated, so I thought well we need new tires and that's a lot easier than diving in to replace bearings so lets do it. Well, brand new Uniroyals on and guess what, the noise is slightly less but still there and as expected it gets louder as the speed of the car increases (bearing right?). I've explained to her we need to replace that bearing because things will just get worse and it could, very low chance, seize up and create a heck of a problem at freeway speeds.
I'm not a mechanic, but I have worked on my own cars since I was 15 (now 38) and I'm wondering how much of a PITA this going to be? I've read a service manual (found a link on this forum to download it) and it was the worst written manual I've ever seen! Basically told me nothing other than there would be 3 bolts holding the rear hub assembly on...which seems wrong because the replacement parts I'm finding are showing 4 bolts holding the assembly on. If that's not good enough the manual says nothing about removal of the brake hub, wheel, e-brake, ABS wires, and God only knows what else. Now, I've done plenty of suspension work, even put my own lift kit on my 06 Tacoma. But even with my experience, I'd still like a heads up of what I'm about to get myself into.
Has anyone done a rear bearing/hub assembly replacement before? What are your thoughts and recommendations? Does anyone know of any online manuals available for download that are worth a flip? Has anyone on this forum ever done a write up on this job that you all could provide me a link to? Really any information that would be helpful to me with regards to completing this job.
Thanks to all in advance for your help!!