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Unit bearing life expectancy

Old Jun 24, 2009 | 05:04 PM
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Default Unit bearing life expectancy

how many miles have you guys been getting out of your front hub unit bearings?

i have a choice to make and i need to make it fairly quick. i can either buy the EMS hub kit to convert to servicable bearings and unlockable hubs, or buy another set of replacement unit bearings.

EMS hubs will cost about $2100 taxes included, but the bearings are only around $10 to replace when the time comes.

Replacement unit bearings will cost about $700, but i dont know how long they are going to last. the originals have lasted 170,000km (i think thats about 110,000 miles), but whos to say how long the new ones will last.
 
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 05:11 PM
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$700 for front hub bearing assemblies?
 
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 05:24 PM
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That price is a little high. I paid $113 a piece for the whole hub assemblys and replaced them myself.
 
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 05:25 PM
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i think he's talking about the cost of parts with labor.
 
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 05:32 PM
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I hope so, but I think he works on it himself. And even if he doesn't , $700 is too high.
 
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 06:14 PM
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I think he's referring to replacement hubs with ABS. $700 is about right for a pair of those. I looked at the EMS and Dynatrac solutions and while pretty sweet, the cost is just way too much. Even if a set of stock hubs is only good for 100k miles, over the 10+ years it would take me to put that many miles on them it just doesn't make sense to go with either of those kits. I did that conversion on my '79 Powerwagon, but back then you simply changed everything from the knuckle out with Dana axle parts from a Chevy 1/2 ton to eliminate the Dodge unit bearing, bought a set of Warn hubs and a transfer case conversion kit to make it part-time. Cost me less than $200 back in 1987.
 
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 07:00 PM
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one side of my 1500 went out at about 140k miles. the bearings were $180 ea. for parts only. they really weren't as hard to change as i was expecting.
 
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 07:07 PM
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$700 is about right.....provided thats both sides, i paid $355 for one side and thats with ABS.
 
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 07:24 PM
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Originally Posted by dhvaughan
one side of my 1500 went out at about 140k miles. the bearings were $180 ea. for parts only. they really weren't as hard to change as i was expecting.
Not hard at all, but like I said, if you have front ABS then the replacement hub is double or more of the price of non-ABS hubs.
 
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Old Jun 25, 2009 | 02:52 AM
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lol, of course i do the work myself. the price may seem high to some of you, but dont forget: The Canadian dollar is worth $0.85 US today, and im driving a, '02 2500, that means Dana 60 and ABS.

My parts guys quoted me $305.43 ea

Everything automotive related is expensive in Canada land, thats why we take dogsleds to work.

I may not need to change them, ill be checking tommorrow. im digging in to change balljoints and wheel joints while im there, i just expect to see these bearings crumble to peices when i pull them out.
 

Last edited by helms; Jun 25, 2009 at 02:58 AM.
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