2004 Dodge 4x4 truck wheel bearings?

[kenimpzoom]

My dads 04 Dodge 1500 4x4 truck has a howing noise from the front end. A repair shop told him these trucks are known for wheel bearing problems and it would cost 500 bucks each side to replace.

How hard is it to replace the bearings on this truck? Does the drive axels in the front make it more complicated? Are there fancy locking hubs in the front or something else?

His 4wd is turned on/off with a knob on the dashboard if that makes any difference.

Thanks, Ken

 

[rwise]

Re: 2004 Dodge 4x4 truck wheel bearings?

when I did my s10 4x4 it did not have lock out hubs and was like a front wheel drive, the bearings were $400.00 each at the parts house at the time

 

[ThumbPkr]

Re: 2004 Dodge 4x4 truck wheel bearings?

The front wheel bearings these days are what they call "unitized" bearings and need to be serviced as a complete assembly.That is to say that you can no longer replace the inner or outer wheel bearing and race individually as we did in the old days,the new assembly contains the hub and inner/outer bearings as one piece and that is how they are sold.They cost between 100 and 200 dollars depending on where you buy them.
The toughest part of the replacement is the hub nut removal,I remove the center of the wheel or what ever you have to do to get a socket on it and lower the wheel and tire back down on the ground to hold it while you remove the nut.I don't remember the size socket for the nut but it was larger than 1 1/2",maybe 1 9/16" or so but be sure and use the right size,don't use a hammer and drift pin etc because you will just do damage to the nut.It is on there tight.
I use Zep45 as a penetrating oil,might be hard to find but it has saved my butt more than once.There are many contenders but Zep45 will do the job if you can find it.
Try to leave the half shafts in place when you do the job to protect the seals and it has been said that the right side might be difficult to reinstall if you remove it unless you leave it in 4 wheel drive before you take it out so leaving them in place is the best way if you can.
I have someplace a video on the process,if you decide to do the job yourself I will try to find it for you.Ron G

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: 2004 Dodge 4x4 truck wheel bearings?

The hub/bearing assembly has a list price from Dodge of $240, and in Mitchell Ultramate is says it's a 1.4 hour job each side. That time is probably a little low and doesn't take everything into account, though.
But $500 a side sounds a bit high to me.

 

[jimr]

Re: 2004 Dodge 4x4 truck wheel bearings?

they are not hard to change out and $500/side sounds high to me. If you do it yourself make sure to torque the axle nut. I think they are about 36MM.