I am getting The Noise on the passenger front wheel bearing/hub. It's a light humming/vibration that increases/decreases along with the vehicle speed, resonant through the front end, if you turn RIGHT to unload the bearing it disappears and then returns in a straight line, gets a little louder on left hand turns, not too bad yet.

I'm betting it's the front passenger wheel hub/bearing. I am going to verify in the next day.

Anyone have good parts recommendations and caveats? I know it means it's time to inspect the ABS Tone Rings again, along with balljoints, stab. links, etc.

I want to buy the parts and have my trusted (in business since the '60s) mechanic do the job.

The car now has 82,000 miles on it. We've put almost 24,000 miles on it in approx. one year and nine months. During that time it was our ONLY car for about six months when our other two were laid up due to accidents/age, so it got 3x usage during that time. This winter it saw some really heavy use during the muck and the snow and I think that wheel hub bearing have suffered the most. It's been very reliable - parked outside even during frigid and scorching weather. But the car saw a lot of snow/slush/ice this winter.

Any thoughts, recommends, prior knowledge is appreciated.

 

I think I'm gonna buy the MOOG preassembled unit for ~150+shipping from RockAuto and have it installed. I could go cheaper. What do you think?

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...assembly,10923

The MOOG is almost 2X as much as the SKP. Is it worth it?

 

Moog's quality has slipped, but If not Motorcraft, Moog would be my choice.

 

Well it's easier for ME to buy the whole assembly and that's the route I'd go. A mechanic I would think can just change the bearing. I would ask for the price on labor vs part in each case.

 

I went with the MOOG due to the lifetime warranty, their remaining quality reputation, and because it minimizes the chances of having any problems pressing in/out. I'll let everyone know the total cost with my trusted (fair) mechanic doing the part exchange.

 

I initially thought Moog's warranty was lifetime on that assembly, but I saw in several places it is 3 years. You might want to verify that..

 

Thanks, GatorJ. Let's put it this way: If this car lasts me three more full years, I'll be happy. MOOG makes pretty good parts, the price is not exorbitant, and the alternative is the "bargain" part made by some company I've never heard of. MOOG it is.

 

UPDATE: I got the car back today after it spent an extra night at my mechanic's place waiting for a part. I'm glad I had him do it. He said he it was so rusted in places that it was a real challenge to get the knuckle off. The ABS speed sensor was apparently so badly rusted that it broke upon removal and had to be replaced. Total hit to my wallet $307 for the installation of the knuckle, the new ABS sensor, and installation of my blower motor speed control unit. Plus he tracked down something that looked like a wire or cable hanging under the passenger side of the car. It was a piece of wire that had been picked up from the road and wedged itself around an exhaust shield.

The car is much, much quieter and now my blower control (see the appropriate thread for pics) works right.

The MOOG part itself cost about $185 with shipping so this was rather expensive, about $500 total. But it had to be done and I cannot do it right now for health-related reasons. A good home mechanic with air tools and know how could get away for much less. His labor was billed at $200 and then there were the ABS Sensor, wiring, and some ancillaries.

He also rotated my tires. The Pirelli Scorpions have worn very evenly but of course the fronts wear more quickly on this car. I've got about 21,000 miles on them and I'll be happy if they last another 25-26k miles. They're very good tires.

 

If you do a front knuckle doesn't it need alignment too?

 

My mechanic marked everything and did his best to realign as closely as possible manually. He's got a lot of experience, so he was very close. There is about 1/4-3/8" discrepancy from center in the steering wheel in a straight line. It doesn't "pull" - it tracks straight, the steering wheel is off-center by about 1/4-3/8 inch. I have another mechanic friend who is just getting into business with his tire/alignment shop and next week I'll take it to him and offer to be a beta tester . He also does other types of work and we have a car we want him to work on. It helps to have friends. The steering wheel has always been slightly "off center" in a straight line on this car and I'm going to try to get this other pal to do a proper front end digital alignment on the cheap. In other words, I think you're right but there's also a method to my madness.