I wonder if the Autozone bearing also has the wheel speed sensor? I haven't looked but if it doesn't is it diificult to move the sensor over?

 

Rich, Yes, it does have the wheel speed sensor (and it works - I can't spin out w/ traction control enabled :D ).

I'll have a website up within the next few days with step by step instructions, as well as detailed photos on how to perform the replacement. IT IS EASY!

 

Jason

Great!

Do you have, by chance, the Autozone part number? I'll add it to the list.
Thanks!

 

Thanks for the info. Post you site address here so we can find it easily.

 

I have the Autozone Part Number, but it's at home. I'll post it tonight.
Autozone got the bearing directly from Timken (I have that part number
also), and it looks like it is made of a high quality materials.
They'res nothing cheap looking about it.

I already have the pictures on my site, but they aren't organized, and I
also have to type in my step by step procedure tonight.

I have tickets to the Petit' Lemans race is this weekend, so it may be
Sunday night before I get the site finished for you guys to peruse.

I'll get it up as soon as I can.

 

The bearings at Autozone are complete assemblies like the one sold at the dealership?

Thanks, vetterdstr :cheers:

 

Here's a picture of the aftermarket timken oem bearing.
Yes, the bearings are already pressed into the housing.
This housing has three star bolts (T55) which secures it to the
upright (which is what makes this replacement so easy).
No pressing required! :)

[img]/Users/jsummero/Pictures/corvette/TIMKEN_BRNG_3.gif[/img]

If this picture didn't show up, the TIMKEN bearing part number is 512153.

 

And the front bearing part # appears to be 513139 at $156.00.
Autozone uses the Timken part # so they are easy to find. This is very cool as I paid almost 3 times that much for the GM part number. And that was at big discount!


[Modified by Richin Chicago, 2:00 PM 10/10/2002]

 

My C5 rear bearing replacement procedure (complete w/ pics) can be found at:

http://www.homepage.mac.com/jsummerour

Click on Docs and Downloads, then
Click on the red 'Download' arrow beside 'C5RearWheelBrngReplacement.doc'

If this doesn't work for some reason, you guys let me know.
I didn't have time to test the download tonight (over a crappy 2Kb/sec modem connection).

Hope this helps!

:flag

 

FWIW:

I just had the LF wheel bearing and hub assembly replaced on my 01 Coupe yesterday (Friday). It was quite noisy, kind of a 'pulsating' noise.

I ruled out tire noise by trying and noting that the noise did NOT change AT ALL on different road surfaces (eg. concrete and asphalt). I also ruled out engine/driveline noise by noting that the noise was proportional to vehicle/tire rotational speed by driving in lower gears and coasting in neutral and noting again no change in the characteristics of the noise.

I even tried shifting into neutral and shutting the engine off 'at speed' and coasting with (again) no diff. (BTW: try THAT if you REALLY want to 'throw some codes'; the on-board computers really think a bunch of things may be 'going south' - check engine lights on after; service active handling on the DIC, etc. They DO 'go away' after a number of restarts BUT if you want to see some for awhile...

I also DID try the 'shake the wheel trick while jacked' and the 'turn right/left technque' while driving with no results, so I guess that while those tests work some of the time, they does NOT work all the time...

ANYWAY: after the FLHS work was done by the dealer, they called me yesterday as told me that they had test driven the car and now wanted to do the FRHS hub and bearing assembly as well. They claimed that they weren't *absolutely* sure but they did suspect a problem there also. I decided to take the car back from them for the weekend since the new parts won't be in till Tuesday at which time I will take it in for the FRHS repair (under warrantee).

While driving it home today though, I thought "yeah, now that the noisier FLHS side repair had been done, it DOES appear that the FRHS bearing is making noises it shouldn't also"...

Anyway, I must say that I am a bit suprised by TWO (front) bearings going bad (asuming the FRHS *is* bad also) in ONLY 8944 miles... Glad it's covered under warrantee. Hope it's not a systemic problem; these things SHOULD under normal conditions last the life of the vehicle and *two failures* in under 10K miles is disturbing. I DOUBT that it's a fundamental design/engineering issue at this stage in the C5's existence. I tend to supect it's more likely something like (maybe) a manufacturing flaw (improper perm. lube or other?) or improper installation (torque?) at the factorty. The car has NOT been driven hard...

 

According to some racing people the C5 bearings have less space between the inner and outer bearings than the C4 bearings do. This puts them under greater stress in turns.
Bill

 

Jason, good job on the write up for the Bearing replacement. :)

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

Thanks! I'm glad people are finding it of use. I had to document this procedure because I knew there are, and would be others w/ the same problem.

Unfortunately now that my right rear bearing is quiet, I can now hear a howl in the front right bearing (although not very loud). I guess I'll replace it over the next few months. If so, I'll generate another procedure for this replacement as well and post it.

It's very embarrasing when you tell your friends that your $45k corvette needs wheel bearings replaced. :cry It's even more embarrasing when they ride in it and give you an alien look when they hear the LOUD noise from inside the cockpit. I love my car, and I'm gonna keep it forever, but I must say that I'm VERY dissapointed to be plagued by this problem. :( Thankfully, I have a very understanding wife! :)


:flag

 

Guys,

I apologize, but my homepage (hosted by macintosh) has been shut down, because they are demanding $50 a year to continue the service.
That was thoughtful of them. :mad

I personally think it should be free after spending $2500 on a mac laptop, but nonetheless, I haven't decided whether I'll reup w/ mac, or get another company to host my website.

If you guys need a copy of the bearing replacement procedure, just email me, and I'll email to you until I get my site back up.

Sorry!

:flag

 

I have a light whine coming from the rear at 50 - 67 mph. Any other speed it goes away or I don't hear it. Let off the accelator and it goes away. Haven't tried the sway test, will do that tonight.

 

I finally got my website up this week! :cool:

You can now find my rear bearing replacement procedure at:

http://www.c5corvette-diy.com

I'd like to make this a central source of DIY(Do-It-Yourself) articles, websites, etc,
for C5 corvettes. So if you know of any helpful links for C5rs out there, lemme'
know and I'll add it.

It'll be a work in progress for several weeks. :yesnod:

-Jason (aka C5Boy)

:flag

 

didn't work for me, thanks

 

John,

What specifically didn't work? The website, or the link to the bearing procedure?
What browser are you using?

Thanks for the feedback!

Jason

 

Jason,

It worked fine for me. You have to be a little patient as you are downloading a complete Microsft Word file with lots of pictures so it takes time (even with a cable modem) and there is nothing to indicate progress.
Well done documentation! It's great that you found this source for bearings as it is 25% of GM!

 

Yeah, Rich is correct, the bearing replacement procedure will take some time to download
because it's 1.8MB in size, however, I'm not sure why a download dialog and progress bar doesn't pop up. I'm investigating why.

I tried to zip the document down to a smaller size, but due to the jpegs inside, it only
went from 1.8MB to 1.7MB, so I said, what's the use.

I added an extra link to another page that displays the procedure, in case you just want
to peruse it w/o downloading it. Of course, it'll still take time to download all of the pics.

Thanks for everybody's help getting my page up and going.

Later!

Jason

:flag