2004 Chevrolet Wheelbearing Assembly

[Moot]

Has anybody had problems with the newer Chev/GMC vans with 4 wheel ABS? I have a 2004 Chev 3500. Yesterday en route to a pickup I trashed the left front wheel bearing. The bearing comes as a sealed assembly with some ABS sensor stuff attached to it.

My question is should I have both sides replaced? I have 237,000 miles on this van and don't want to go through another bearing failure anytime soon. What are the odds of the other side failing? Any advice before Monday morning would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[terryandrene]

I don't remember all the details but I had the right front bearing only replaced on my 2000 Chev 3500. Luckily, I was about two blocks away from my mechanic of choice when a problem became apparent. Left front inspection at the time showed a servicable bearing.

 

[Crazynuff]

Inspect the other side . Sealed bearing fail when the seal fails allowing grease to get out or water to get in . If it's intact it should be o.k. . There is a company that makes replacement hub assemblies that have the old type bearing you can grease and replace just the bearing when the bearing goes . I read about the company in "Diesel Power" magazine about a year ago .

 

[Moot]

I was 135 miles from my mechanic of choice. I had an appointment set up for Monday morning for front brake pads. The garage where I broke down couldn't get the parts until Monday afternoon and have me up running Tuesday. So I opted for the hook to my mechanic of choice. Guess he will be doing more than a brake come Monday morning!

I will have him look at the other bearing. The problem with these sealed bearings is they don't get attention until they fail.

 

[Marty]

On my 2004 Chevy the left side went bad at 39,000 miles but the right side was still good when I sold the van with 325,000 miles.

 

[Moot]

Thanks, I am leaning toward replacing the fried bearings and having my mechanic evaluate the other set. Any other advice before Monday morning would be appreciated.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

While he's under there might as well visually check the steering linkage...ball joints, control arm bearings, centre link...make sure everythings good and tight...