Has anyone had problems with the hub assembly? Is it a common problem for the hub assembly to go out after 100,000 miles? My hub assembly/bearings made a humming noise and then it developed into a louder noise. I know of several GM owners who have experience trouble with their hub assembly.
Bearings that last 100,000 miles have done a good job.
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Yes, very common. Absolutely normal life for one of those package bearing hub assemblies.
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Been through 3 wheel bearing failures on my Chevrolet, left front 130k right front 150k, left front 180k, at $300 a pop life goes on. 200k now, deal with it when it happens.
Both front wheel hubs were bad on my 2000 Blazer at 60-65k miles.
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Picked up an 05 equinox and rear hub had seized while it sat for several weeks. I used a big hammer to whack rear of drum and it came loose enough to roll.
I fixed some other stuff and 1st time I drove it the hub was whining.
Any possibility the hammering caused the hub to fail?
That illustrates the first two rules of carpentry:
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If it doesn’t fit, get a hammer.
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If it still doesn’t fit, get a bigger hammer.
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That’s why one of my truck’s hubs failed - trying to remove a brake rotor by beating on it that was welded to it by rust
well, I hit it 2-3 times last week and it was able to spin. I drove it around the block for giggles as I was going to do headgaskets. Only hit 10-15mph and was not listening for drivetrain noises.
I wouldn’t think the force on the bearings in the hub generated by hitting the brake drum with a hammer two or three times would be anywhere near the force generated on the hub bearings driving on the highway hitting expansion joints, etc. I realize shocks and tires absorb the blow, but still…the bearings are supporting the weight of the vehicle… But, I could be wrong. I’m wondering if the partially siezed drum generated some heat and cooked the grease in the bearings.
I’ve seen a hub assembly fail when an impact gun was used to tighten the axle nut.
Tester
Yes, that’s a very common post here. Not just on the CTS, but most vehicles. The hubs contain bearings which allow the wheels to rotate on two steel surfaces (races) separated by a bevy of steel balls or cylinders. The races and the balls/cylinders eventually wear out. It’s never happened on my Ford truck or Corolla, both with over 200 k miles; but it happened on my VW Rabbit at around 60 k miles. The hub bearing is a wearing item, like a belt. Has to be replaced once in a while.
Well, in product testing there is a shock test that mimics dropping, called a 1/2 sine wave shock test. The machine used to subject the product to the shock force has rubber bump stops. When they calibrate the unit, the bump stops are removed. At 100G with stops it is pretty loud. When they run without the stops, it’ll scare the bejesus out of you if you’re not prepared. Looking at the meter, it was more than an order of magnitude higher shock. An air filled tire and suspension has to be significantly more absorptive than a 1" thick high durometer rubber pad. So the difference between direct metal contact impact force and a tire insulator will be significantly different. Orders of magnitude different.
Understood. Just trying to wrap my brain around how much force you’d have to generate metal on metal (striking the back edge of the brake drum, so not directly on the hub) with 2-3 hammer blows vs the force generated on the bearings supporting all that weight and receiving shock inputs, albeit with the dampening of the tires and suspension. And then how big is the hammer? And how mad is the ole boy who’s swinging it? Lots of variables. Sounds like the makings of a complex math problem. No doubt you can do damage with a hammer if you hit it hard enough.
Seller said wheel turned fine since he was driving it. Till overheating issue popped up. Than he parked it. For several weeks. When we tried to move it the wheel was frozen. Had it towed to my house and I took off wheel and used sledge to whack rear of drum. Was only tying to get drum to spin. Not really interested in removing drum to investigate at that time. I drove it 10days later and wheel rolled ok. But now had rumble.
Yeah, I got frustrated once and started wailing away with a 5lb sledge on a rotor that was really stuck. The angle of the blows needs to be considered also. After a few pretty hard blows I thought better of it and decided to cut the dang thing off. It actually took very little effort or time to slice through it and once I scored the “hat” section, it popped open like a popcorn kernel and almost fell off. No noticeable damage to the bearing after many years of service but I was aware of what could be happening…
i removed 2 studs and put in (2) 5" bolts with nut on backside of flange and it pushed the hub out of the knuckle with little fuss. yes, it was stuck due to corrosion
i have 54 5" M12 bolts from my 3 headgasket jobs