2003 Vue rear wheel bearing

[SLMike]

Hi all,

This is my first post - have been lurking on the S series tech pages for a few weeks (my car is a '94SL) - you have a great forum here.

I'm jumping in with a question about my wife's 2003 Vue. It's a 4-Cyl 5-Spd with about 75K.
The passenger side rear wheel bearings are making horrible unhappy sounds.

The dealer (over the phone) said they would replace just the bearings, but I notice here that someone has replaced the entire hub assembly. The dealer wants $380 to fix it ($200 for the bearings!) I can buy the hub assembly at Napa locally for about $139.

Seems like the obvious best choice is to install the Napa hub myself, but wanted to get the opinion of the group here - plus ask if there is anything difficult or any special tools required to change out the assembly. I'm more experienced with working on cars with rear axles.

Also, we just had the car aligned - will replacing the hub mess up the alignment?

Thanks much,
Mike

[Chazberry]

Geez - almost time for a separate Wheel Bearing Forum!
You can't replace just the bearings. That's about the going price to have a dealer replace the hub ass'y. It takes about an hour to change one of the rears - no special tools required. Plenty of instructions if you search this forum. No wheel alignment necessary.

[SLMike]

Chazberry,

I appreciate the info - will swap it out this weekend.

I see now that since I registered, the search function is much more helpful.

Thanks!
Mike