Replaced front hub on TV

[Ramp]

I had to replace the front hub on my 2002 Duramax 2500 yesterday. My truck has one hundred and ten thousand miles on it about half of those were puling some kind of load. Memorial day this year I went to West Virgina and pulled back a 1970 Safari without any trouble. This week when I left work I could hear a grinding in the front end when I jacked the wheel up on the pasengers side it had lots of play in it. After checking the Internet Durmax forum I was surpised to find this is a very common problem not only with Chevy but Ford and Dodge allso. I would like to know how many forum members have had this problem. The wheel hub is a one piece unit with the bearing built in, so you have to buy the whole unit (around $300.00 bucks). I did the job myself so at least I saved the cost of labor. If you find yourself in this position there are a couple of tips I can give you.
1. You must have a impact wrench to loosen the bolts they are in super
tight.
2. You also need a large socket to remove the nut from the axle stub I think it is 32mm. The flange bolts are 15mm.
3. Don't try to remove the splined axle stub by hitting it with a hammer you will ruin your CV joint. I sprayed mine with WD40 and let it soak a while.
In the old days we had manual hubs on the old Jeeps and 4x4 trucks with replaceable wheel bearings. Now because we want push button 4 wheel drive and antilock brakes it costs ten times as much to replace a bad wheel bearing, is this progress??? I like the old ways.

[rangebowdrie]

Oh boy, some job, I had to have the right-front hub/bearing replaced on my '97 suburban, lacking impact tools, and not really wanting to do the job,took 'burb to dealer, quick job, big bucks. Old '80 K-25, with straight axle, much better in many ways, deficient in the creature comforts we all desire now, but the leaf sprung axle, with manual hubs, I still admire, it seemed to be more of a "truck" front end.

[overlander63]

This is what I've been preaching about the "Nev-r-lube" hubs on some trailer axles. It is the same setup, with the same potential consequences, as you experienced.
Now, I have an expensive suggestion for you: Replace the other bearing NOW. It's been on your truck the same number of miles as the one you just replaced, and could leave you stranded at any time.

[RossFam05BH]

We have a 2003 GMC 2500HD/CC. Passenger front wheel bearing assembly needed to be changed at 110000 miles. With the front wheel lifted off the ground, I could wiggle the tire over 2 inches when pushing the top and bottom. I changed the hub assembly myself; total cost was $190 through O'Reilly auto parts. No problems encountered. Yes the bolts were tight, but penetrating oil helps. There is a great thread, including pics, at Dieselplace.com showing how to replace the hub assembly. The link is here.

Bye

Paul

[rangebowdrie]

From what I was told by mechanic, it is not uncommon to have to replace right side bearing long before left side. When turning left, you generally are moving faster then right turns, and right side has more stress. Also, pull into diagonal parking, and right side hits curb, pull off road, onto shoulder, and right side takes all the bumps/impacts first. It seems as though the right-front wheel is the "leading" wheel for vehicle wear.