i could also be something as simple as your tires need rotated and balanced. that has been an issue for me in the past

 

What're you going to go with? The ebay rotors are pretty nicely priced, but the shipping for me absolutely kills it.

Which of these two looks like a better rotor?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge...40470785QQrdZ1
OR
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...link:middle:us

thanks. ;D

 

He said he just got them balanced.

I would say they both look similarly cut. If the communication andreputation was the same I personally would go with the ones that are $10 cheaper.

 

How difficult is it to replace the hub bearings? It's been years since I've done that and even then it was on a rear wheel drive. If it's not too hard I might just do it when I replace the rotors and pads. What would cause the bearings to be shot after only 28K miles?
I'm thinking of going with the standard Autozone rotors just to see if that fixes the problem before I blow a wad on some higher priced rotors.

 

Chances are both bearings wouldn't be shot after only 28k miles... most of the time they will last much longer than that. I had one fail one time because I ran over a pretty big pothole, and by doing so it actually tweaked the raceways in the bearing and caused it to fail pretty quick. If you had to change one out, it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal. Worst-case scenario, it would take a couple hours... unless you do it while you're doing your brakes than it would take less time combines. You might need a small press to get the old bearing out of the hub and the new one in, it all depends. But like I said, most of the time hub bearings will be perfectly fine especially at only 28k miles, it's just something to keep in mind if everything else doesn't work. My only other suggestion would be to make sure you don't have a bent rim... Firestone balanced my wheels three times in 2 weeks one time, and told me there was nothing wrong with them... and the whole time, it was a bent rim (so they lied)... I thought it was crappy since I bought the rims and tires from their shop, and like the guy didn't see that the rim was bent when he put it on the balancing machine and spun it... whatever.

 

There probably made by the same company, or at the very least have the same exact materials and quality. So find the one with the highest/most feedback and the best overall price. I bought mine from Cquence Motorsports, but they dont have any listed for the Neon at the moment...

 

Is there an easy way to look at the bearing and see if it needs replacement? Any ballpark ideas on what a garage would charge to change one out?

I'm really leaning more towards it being the rotors, given the fact that it only happens under heavy braking conditions (light braking doesn't cause the vibrations) and in all other situations, it's a straight and true ride without any vibrations. I'll probably just pop on some Autozone pads and rotors and see if that fixes the problem, if not then hub bearing replacement would be the next step.

 

The first thing I thought about would be the rotors. The car only has 28,000 on it but I don't know how hard u drive.

 

I wouldn't say I'm a hard driver. Back in December my wife hit a pothole on the stock rims and tires and bent the rim (what prompted me to bite the bullet and buy new rims) but after an alignment everything drove fine, it wasn't until about a month ago that the braking vibrations started. [/align][/align]It seems general consesus is to try the rotors/pads (only set me back about $100) and if that doesn't fix it then I'll have to look at the bearings.[/align]

 

Well like I said bearings would be a last option so replace the pads/rotors first. If for some reason you do that and you still have the vibrations, then keep the bearing problem in mind. Usually there is no easy way to just "look at it" and tell... you'd have to take it apart to find out. I wouldn't worry about it unless it actually comes to that. But like I meantioned before, and like you just said... your wife hit a big-*** pothole and you had to replace the rims, so the bearing problem is not really much of a stretch after all.