Rear Bearing Failure @ 24K

My 2016 Tundra only has 24,000 miles on it and on a trip down from Canada to Florida I started hearing a hum noise. Turned out to be the left rear wheel bearing. I'm a retired Toyota tech and didn't have a place to repair it myself. Sucked that I had to pay $1200 bucks to have it done. I've done quite a few of these bearings myself and have never heard of one failing at with such low mileage.

 

Sucks! Helluva drive to have it happen on too. Is $1200 an average price? Seems high.

 

I assume a wheel bearing?

 

Yes a fair price. I got a second quote from another shop. Parts where around 500 and four hours of labour.

 

Fixed.

 

$500 for parts, wow. What parts? Seems to me you would only need the bearing, lube and some sealant.

 

Anybody have a link to the tool to change these?

Will this do it?

 

Yep, that’s what I used

 

Is there any possiblity that someone else used your truck for something over the last several years? Maybe they are/were part of the reason for premature failure. Either way, any repair during a trip in a low mileage vehicle bites hard! Good luck with the other side!

 

The Tundra was my father in-laws and I've known the truck since it was new. He bought it off the dealership I worked at. The truck never even seen winter driving. It was parked in the garage all winter while he was in Florida. He's one of those that really didn't need a truck but wanted one. No one but him drove it except I did occasionally when he wanted me to do maintenance work on it.

 

Curious but why the two piece design? The one we used at the shop was just a long pipe with a flange to bolt to the bearing and the other end had a flange that fit in the shop press.

 

The non bolt flange one is used to press off the retainer and wheel speed gear. The one with the bolt flange is used to press off the bearing if I remember

 

All you have to do it hit one pot hole hard enough and it will put a flat spot in the bearing. Ask me how I know.

 

I feel like this might be part of what got mine after 160k, the driveway to the house, I almost always tag the passenger tire on the curb, not high speed. Or I hit a decent pothole while loaded for a trip(the trip I first noticed it)
But what’s interesting is both sides(did the other side a few week’s ago when doing gears) had rust/water but I believe it’s from the outer seal; a flimsy o ring at the hub to axle tube mating surface. I have a diff breather relocate, but it still makes me weary dipping the boat in the lake

 

Mine were shot at 115k miles. Replaced both sides. Not a terrible repair except I had to buy an extra wheel speed sensor (250$!!). I took my removed axles and new parts to a driveline shop. They took the old off and new on for 50$.

Kind of chapped my ass because the bearing is “discontinued”. I did find an oem toyota “kit” for 450$/side. After the original Toyota bearing failed, I feel like buying the dormans with the bearing and axle would probably last as long…

 

My passenger rear wheel bearing failed and was replaced last weekend at 40k miles. I don't overload the truck and I think the bearing has been going bad since about 5k miles. I also had the driver's side needle bearing in the front differential issue at the same time so not 100% sure the exact source of the various noises over the last 35k miles.

Symptoms (after the differential needle bearing was replaced) were bad vibrations/noise that peaked at about 30, 45, 60 and then over 70 MPH. It was loudest at 58 MPH, sounded like a droning Honda Civic with a fart can exhaust that resonated the whole cab. The noise really took off at 38k miles and got noticeably worse every week. No leaking axle seals, differential breather is not plugged.

They tried sliding the repair bill off on me, quoted me $1450. Luckily they didn't put up any fight after I said they needed to check the factory powertrain warranty. Seemed kind of sneaky to me.

The truck is very quiet now and much more enjoyable to drive.

 

Holy shit that's expensive... that can't be normal, is it?

 

Mine was around $1200 for one side and I talked them down to that. I had a previous quote from another shop so they matched it.

 

Tough break about the bearing, but man, $1200?! I've only done a couple front bearings on a '93 full-size 4x4 Bronco many years ago, and they were pretty cheap and easy. My wife's '07 GX470 had its front bearing replaced not too long ago for a few hundred dollars, including labor. What makes the Tundra rear bearings so pricey?

 

The worst part about it I'm a just retired Toyota tech and could have done it myself but I was on vacation in Florida and had no place to do the work.


The bearing is pressed onto the axle shafts and you need a press to remove and install it. Also Toyota give around 4.5 hours of labour to do the work even though there is a "cheat" and it normally takes around 2 hours.

 

That must've been frustrating having to pay labor for something you could've done yourself. But at least it's fixed now. I've pulled axles before and have taken them to a shop to get the bearings R&R'ed, and the hardest thing for me was making sure the new rear axle seal was on right. I always managed to get a slight leak and having to carefully tap the seal back in right. So is the process that much harder to do on the rear Tundra axle or are the parts that much more expensive (or maybe both)? I guess I'm just still confused as to the high cost involved, which I'm not looking forward to paying if the same issue pops up on mine.

 

If memory serves me correctly the bearing was around $430 and labor and taxes where the rest. The reason Toyota give so much for the labour is because they allow extra time for the brake line to be disconnected and brake system bleeding. The rear brake line is captured in the backing plate. Techs just make a cut in the brake line retainer then spread it apart so the line can be removed. Axle removal is simple but it does take a special tool to remove the bearing from the axle shaft.

The Toyota dealership that did the work in Punta Gorda knew I was a Toyota tech and I met the Toyota tech who was doing the work. Cool guy. We chatted in the shop for awhile and I knew he was a competent tech.