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'04 Avalanche - Front Wheel Bearing(s)/Hubs Replacement?

BAS-Sr

Full Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2015
Messages
66
Location
Millstone Township, New Jersey
We have had my wife's '04 Avalanche 1500 for quite a few years, heard a noise which sounds like the front wheel bearings, was not sure so I did not investigate so I could see what happens? Thought it might be the front brake pads, but have changed the rotors/pads twice and that did not change the sound. Also, when I am braking the noise stays the same, so I would venture to say that the noise is not associated with the brakes. The noise is not loud, had to point it out to my wife, but being mechanical I do hear it.

Before I jump into it, I am looking to see what it takes to pull the front hubs wondering if buying new hubs is feasible/cost effective or if I should just look into replacing the front wheel bearings? Never done a 4 wheel drive before, done many rear wheel drive just having to pull the rotor off, replace the wheel bearings/seals, cheap job that way and it takes about 2 hours.

I am looking for either a written procedure or a good video on pulling the front hubs, either replacing them of just doing the front wheel bearings?

 
Not a tuff job, if you can R&R the brakes, you can R&R the hubs it's two more steps than a brake job. After you pull all the brake hardware you remove the axle nut and the bolts that hold the hub (breaker bar recommended) behind the steering knuckle and speed sensor and it's off.

You can do it..
 
It was a fairly easy repair when I did mine.  Be sure to get quality hubs, not the Chinese ones.  Timkin ones are available at Amazon for a good price.  If you have an impact gun, the job is much simpler.  Also be sure to torque the hub nut to spec, too tight or too loose can lessen the life of the bearing.
 
I have almost the exact same issue on my 2008.  I was about to post a new topic, but I'll just piggy back.

I noticed a bit of a squeak, but only when towing.  I traced it to the front left wheel.  After a while it started happening when I wasn't towing.  I thought it was a brake pad rubbing, as it would stop when I applied even a small amount of brake. 

Eventually I took the left front apart, cleaned everything up, applied grease to the caliper pins, and it went away... for a couple days. 

Now it appears to be at least one front, and possibly both fronts.  The sound is almost constant.  It sounds like crickets chirping.  It stops when I apply the brake.  I've replaced literally everything else in that front suspension EXCEPT for the bearings/hubs.  That is my next plan unless someone steers me on a different course.

I'm not sure how the 2008 compares to your 2004, but I assume they are similar processes.
 
When my front wheel bearings went (at around 140k miles), I didn't notice a squeak but I could grab the top of the tire & wobble them pretty easily.
I bought Timken bearings off Amazon & got them swapped out in a couple hours.
 
AirJunky said:
When my front wheel bearings went (at around 140k miles), I didn't notice a squeak but I could grab the top of the tire & wobble them pretty easily.
I bought Timken bearings off Amazon & got them swapped out in a couple hours.

Do you replace the entire hub or just press out the bearings?  I've done older trucks before but I think the 2008 is more complicated to remove.... easier to swap the entire thing.
 
JohnnieMo said:
Do you replace the entire hub or just press out the bearings?  I've done older trucks before but I think the 2008 is more complicated to remove.... easier to swap the entire thing.
Hub is a pre-assembled unit with new bearings inside.

SO unbolt old one
Bolt on new one.

Easy Peasy.
 
I ordered Timken replacements off Amazon.  For $360CAD, it is worth it to do even if that isn't the source of my squeaks.  Looks like a far easier project than ball joints....  Timken appears to be the original OEM supplier to GM, or at least that is what the internets is telling me.

Are the rears also worth doing?  Is the process the same?
 
Bearings on rear are different and rarely fail, they don't get the same side load as the front.
 
Thanks for all the replies and input, sorry for the delayed response, had some computer issues! :-(

Seems like doing the hubs is easy enough, looked at them on Rock Auto. Is it worth doing the entire hub, or just do bearings/seal?
 
The hubs are a sealed unit with the ABS speed sensor built in, you can't just change the bearings, it has to be as one part.

After you check Rockauto go to Summit Racing and see if it's cheaper, they have free shipping if it's over $100 no matter how many warehouses the parts come from and can make a difference at check out time. Rockauto can get expensive if your buying more than a few parts, when I rebuilt my front end and was ordering about $200 in parts from Rockauto the total shipping was over $50 so I quit right there and went to Summit, got all the parts for less and free shipping.. They will also meet or beat any price if you order on the phone..

Good luck

Edit: Here's hubs for an 04 AV 4x4 and 2x4.. 4x4's are $176 x 2 = $352 shipped..

https://www.summitracing.com/search/brand/timken/year/2004/make/chevrolet/model/avalanche-1500?N=401752&PageSize=100&keyword=front%20hub

Cheaper but not recommend..  :badidea:

https://www.summitracing.com/search/year/2004/make/chevrolet/model/avalanche-1500?PageSize=100&SortBy=DisplayPrice&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=front%20hub

Double Edit:  I looked at rockauto and they have the same Timken part number SP500300 for $100 each, Summit will match plus free shipping..
 
JohnnieMo said:
Do you replace the entire hub or just press out the bearings?  I've done older trucks before but I think the 2008 is more complicated to remove.... easier to swap the entire thing.

Yea, it's a sealed unit, no grease or anything. Unbolt it, bolt in the new one. The biggest issue is that big socket.
 
DO not need big socket if you have 2wd.

 
My parts have arrived in a day!  Amazon is finally bringing their A-game to Canada.  I think I paid around $175 CAD for each one.  Local auto parts store wanted $341 each for what they called a BCA part.  (not Timken) I''ll report back next week if the squeak is gone.
 

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The install was quite easy.  I've had the front end of this thing apart so many times I can do it blindfolded.  I think it took 2 to 3 hours for the whole job.  Having the lift sure makes it easier on my back!

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So my results aren't quite as I hoped.  The new hubs work great, but they aren't fixing my squeak.  The sound is getting louder now.  It's to the point that I don't want to drive the truck.  I expect the issue is now in a rear wheel.  I need to do a few more tests to confirm.  I think I did have a slight front squeak before and that has been remedied.  However the new chirping (sounds like crickets) is coming from the back half of the truck. 

It's possible this is a rear brake, or a rear bearing I suppose.  I've discovered the sound occurs only after driving a few minutes (doesn't usually happen until you've gone a few blocks).  It also persists whether or not the vehicle is in gear.  It is subdued when brakes are applied, but it doesn't stop entirely.  Applying a bit of e-brake causes no change in the noise.

Any ideas?
 
Whenever I hear the word  squeak I think  ujoint
 
I'm gonna slap the GoPro on tonight and see if I can find the offending noise.  I am hoping it's not a U-joint, but I am running out of ideas.  The noise is almost like a rubber / chirping noise.  Almost like an old washing machine.  (that's sadly the best comparable I can think of)
 
Check your brake backing plates to see if one or the other is touching the rotor. Went through this with mine.
 
Okay, so I found the culprit....  after I made all the effort of compiling videos like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjTHKzuxyDc

We can silence the alarms.  It was only the rear brake pads.  I feel a bit stupid.  Clearly the first noise was the front left, but I think I had that fixed the first time I took it apart and cleaned everything.  Some time after that the right rear pad got down to the brake wear indicator.  And it was sure indicating!

As luck would have it I had a spare set of rear EBC Yellowstuff pads from a previous debacle and I threw them on.  Problem solved!  With the lift it made this a 2 hour job from GoPro diagnosis, to putting my kid to bed.  Nice.

Side note: posting pictures on this forum is so utterly painful now that photobucket is gone, that I barely even bother with pictures anymore.  It just rejects everything I try to upload, so I give up and stop contributing.  I've mentioned Tapatalk before but am always told not to bring it up....
 

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Since it was not continuous you will need the rotors turned or replaced as they are slightly warped....

should squeal all the time when driving and then they stop when you apply brakes...

As for uploading... make em under 100kb and they will upload fine and should be fast due to small size...

For tapatalk.... no one is stopping anyone from talking about it....
Wish I had the skill to make it work... but I don't...


 
ygmn said:
Since it was not continuous you will need the rotors turned or replaced as they are slightly warped....

should squeal all the time when driving and then they stop when you apply brakes...

As for uploading... make em under 100kb and they will upload fine and should be fast due to small size...

For tapatalk.... no one is stopping anyone from talking about it....
Wish I had the skill to make it work... but I don't...

It was a continuous noise but seemed to take a while to increase in volume (if that makes sense)  The rotors are the stupid EBC drilled and slotted, so it is hard to find a shop that knows how to turn them well.  I'm content to leave as is.  Anytime I get rotors turned I may as well throw them away.

I was told specifically to not bring up Tapatalk... must be a sore spot for someone.

I'd love to help upgrade the site, but I just don't know what I'm doing.  As for the pics, if you are on a PC, it's not too difficult.  However I took 5 pictures, reduced them to 480 equivalent size and it still whined at me.  Then it rejects your update because it says "you already posted this!".  It's not worth the hassle.  I just won't do pictures anymore until I figure out a new hosting service.  I typically use an iPad for all my posting - hence the desire for Tapa.
 
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