Hi Everybody,

I have some noise starting, coming from back-end. Started about 2 weeks ago. May be getting slightly worse. Probably Passenger side. I'm thinking it's Wheel Bearings. Hopefully not Rear Differential (I have the Locking one). I have a trip planned for this weekend, (Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail), so I quickly ordered everything that I think I may need -

Rear Brake Discs (Rotors)
Rear Brake Pads (Only 3mm left, might as well get it done)
Rear Brake Pad Wear Sensor
Rear Brake Caliper Pins
Rear Parking Brake Shoes and hardware Kit
Rear Hubs
Rear Wheel Bearings
Rear Sway Bar Bushings (been on my list of things to do for a while)
Rear Sway Bar Links (been on my list of things to do for a while)

I'm relying heavily on Bodsy's Brake Bible to learn how to work with the Parking Brakes - Never worked on these before, for any vehicle.

All parts should be here by tomorrow, and I'll be working on it tomorrow night and Thursday.

I also picked up a Harbor Freight 12 Ton Shop Press to press the Bearings in, (cost $95 after discounts) - I may attempt to press the old bearings out of the old Hubs, and press new Bearings into old Hubs. Otherwise I'll just press new Bearings into new Hubs. I'll borrow some Bearing press tools free of charge from local O'Reilly's. Never used a Shop Press before - Going to be exciting! Note - For the Front Bearings, you can purchase the Bearing and Hub together, with Bearing already pressed in - I did not see this option for Rears, hence the need to get the Press and do it myself.

Wish me Luck!

I'll report back to let you know what I messed up.

P.s. This will be a good opportunity to use my Ryobi 18v Impact Wrench again - I am extremely impressed with how powerful it is. I used it to do 95% of the work on my wife's Chevy Malibu - Lots of front end Suspension work, Brakes, and new Shocks all round. Barely needed to use the Air Compressor.

Cheers, Simon in Madison, Wisconsin

 

I'm confused. Did you order all those parts because you wanted to change all those things ahead of your trip? Or did you order all of them to throw the kitchen sink at the noise and possibly return parts that were not needed?

BTW...can you describe the noise?

 

Houm-Wa and Team - Update - I took the Rear Passenger wheel off last night, and I do have a very small amount of 'play' in the Hub. And I do not see any issues with the Parking Brake assembly, after taking the Brake Disc / Rotor off. All Ball joints also look good, with no 'rips' in the rubber boots. Therefore, I'm diagnosing this issue as Rear Wheel Bearing.

At this point however I am leaning towards NOT replacing the Bearing before my road-trip - I truly do not believe there is a safety issue at this point. I have very sensitive hearing, and the 'noise' really is very faint, and the amount of 'play' is very slight.

Also, I'm a bit concerned that I may not be able to finish the job in time - It looks very tricky to remove the Brake Shoe Assembly, and replace again, and I'm not sure that I have a complete step-by-step understanding of how to take off the Knuckle and the Hub.

I'm getting into some things I have not done before, and I don't want to mess anything up.

I would truly appreciate some advice regarding Parking Brake removal / re-assembly, and Hub removal.

Hub - Do I need to take the whole knuckle off? Which seems to be attached to an Upper Control Arm, a Lower Control Arm, and a Ball-Joint Arm?

Can I remove the Hub / Knuckle from the Axle by using a pointed air hammer in the middle of the Axle Shaft (which is 'concave indented' slightly, therefore this may work)?

I'm finding lots of information for how to replace the Front Bearings, but not the Rear Bearings.

Other info - (Answers to Houm-Wa) -

Rear Brake Pads, Rotors and Brake Shoes were purchased from local auto-parts store - 5 minutes away if I need to return them (with no return fee).

Brake Pads are down to less than 3mm, and so I had planned to replace these soon anyway. Also decided to replace the Rotors at same time.

Rear Sway Bar Links - Had these anyway, and picked up the Sway Bar Bushings from same local auto parts store for about $20 - Have heard that it's a good idea to replace these Links and Bushings - My mileage is 120,000 miles. Makes total sense top replace them while I'm doing the Bearing / Brake work, since the wheels will be off, and it's just a few Nuts.

Brake Pad Ware Sensor - Mine broke a few months ago, so need to replace it.

So, that's my update.

Would appreciate some advice on steps involved to get to the Rear Bearings.

Cheers, Simon

 

I can see changing the sway bar bushings, they wear....but the links? Those things are pretty beefy. I had a front one fail on me but only because the shock on that side was toast and no longer limiting wheel travel.

 

I'm not going to lie. Replacing the parking brake shoes is a PAIN. I had significant difficulty trying to get that one big spring attached to both shoes on each side. I eventually got it by using a pair of vice grips, a screwdriver, and then a hammer, but damn, it's difficult.

The problem is that the holes the spring goes into on each shoe is tiny and the spring itself requires a lot of force.

I would give yourself quite a bit of time the first go around and you will need some beer and good variety of curse words lined up.

 

When i bought mine last summer, both rear links were snapped... I'm sure it's not common.

 

Yeah I don't think it's common at all; I wonder what happened to your LR3 in its previous life for that to be the case....? Snapping one is uncommon, snapping TWO is just unheard of.