Toyota Corolla DIY

Signs that your wheel bearings are shot:
- droning, humming or resonating noise at certain speeds
- if you take a curve left at that speed and the sound lessens because weight is taken off the left side, then one of your left wheel bearings may be worn
- jack up the wheel and spin it freely. If the wheel bearing is damaged, it may make a grinding sound
- if the wheel has any side to side or top to bottom play, then the bearing may be damaged

One of my rear ones was gone at 60,000 miles.

This easy DIY is to replace the entire REAR hub bearing assembly and takes about 50 minutes.

Parts needed:
- the OEM Toyota rear hub bearing assembly WITH ABS is much cheaper ($135) than the one without ABS ($260) and still fits cars without ABS. Other brands start at around $90.
- 12mm and 21mm (or lug nut wrench) sockets
- breaker bar
- torque wrench
- 2 M8×1.25 bolts. I bought these at Lowes in their specialty METRIC bolt section for $1. They are 8mm wide with 1.25mm thread pitch.
- jack stand
- wheel chocks

Steps:

1. Chock the front wheels
2. Loosen the wheel lug nuts (21mm)
3. Jack up the car
4. Place a jack stand
5. Remove the wheel
6. Release the hand brake

7. Screw the two M8×1.25 bolts into the holes in the drum brake to push it away from the hub. It may be rusted to the hub so prepare for some cracking sounds. Remove the drum once it is free

8. Remove the four 12mm bolts on the back of the hub. You may need a breaker bar. Do not use thin walled 1/4″ drive sockets–I broke two trying to remove those bolts.

9. While holding the backing plate and taking care not to disturb the brake parts and brake line, pull the hub out of the suspension arm. Once it is out, reinsert the bolts to hold the backing plate to the suspension arm so that it doesn’t hang by the brake line.

10. Line up the bolts and insert the new hub. Torque the bolts to 45 ft·lbf. Remember, these bolts hold your wheels on the car!

11. Put the brake drum back on. There will be some play around the lugs. Rest the drum against the FORWARD edge of the lugs so that it doesn’t slip when braking.
12. Put the wheel back on and torque the lug nuts to 76 ft·lbf