Noise coming from front right wheel.

[richard wysong]

were you able to determine what is loose on the other wheel?

[2009_Suburban]

Yes, it is the upper ball joint. I think the upper ball joint is also faulty on the wheel with the broken bearing.

[richard wysong]

uppers are easier than lowers anyway. it's usually the lowers that wear out first as they carry the load, the uppers are just a pivot point

[2009_Suburban]

When I take the hub off, Brendan recommended to take an old brake rotor, screw it on, and wack it with a hammer to get the bearing off. I do not have an old brake rotor, so can I just put the tire back on, and hit it with a rubber mallet?

[richard wysong]

that probably won't work. try just hammering on the flange the lugs are on or put the pipe wrench on that. if the bearings coming apart it may not come off in 1 piece and you may have to get in there with a hammer and chisel to get the housing off. I have had some success using longer bolts in the 3 holes and driving the housing out. DO NOT use the bolts that you took out as they will be ruined. did you watch any of the u tube stuff?

[Brenden Burnham]

11 hours ago, 2009_Suburban said:

When I take the hub off, Brendan recommended to take an old brake rotor, screw it on, and wack it with a hammer to get the bearing off. I do not have an old brake rotor, so can I just put the tire back on, and hit it with a rubber mallet?

If your brakes are in need of service now would be the time since it will all be off anyway.  Also not too expensive to swap the rotors.  I usually just get the autozone brand ones and are not that expensive(never had an issue with the autozone rotors).  Figure since you are doing all that swap wouldn't hurt.  You may not need go that extreme with getting the hub off but just going worst case scenario and the rotor trick from what I have seen is easiest way to get even the most stubborn ones off.  You may be able to get the hub off by just banging the back of the hub with a hammer as was shown in one of the videos I posted.  If it is not budging though other measures are needed.

[2009_Suburban]

I got all the bolts, off, however the torx one that holds the brake rotor on doesn't come off.  I have broke/deformed like 3 t30 bits already, and the head of the torx screw is getting stripped. How do I get it out?

[richard wysong]

are you using a hand impact driver? that's the prefered tool for that. if it's too stripped out break out the drill. you may want to try a little heat if you can still get a tool on it. if you can't get it off just leave it on and get a new 1

[2009_Suburban]

I was able to get it out eventually. I also go the hub out. Virtually everything is covered in PB-Blaster. Aside from the rotor, what needs the PB-Blaster cleaned off of it? Would it cause nuts or bolts to come loose after I tighten them? Also, which bolts should I put anti-seize on? All of them?

 

Also, the brake caliper bolts looked like this. What is on it? If I just clean the yellow and white stuff, and put some anti-seize on it, it should be fine right?

[Brenden Burnham]

11 hours ago, 2009_Suburban said:

What is on it

That would be a certain kind of loctite(yellow).  Seems to be a light to medium locking.  Typically the blue is used for Caliper bolts to ensure that rattling does not loosen them.  Blue is always what I use.  You do not want to use anti seize on the caliper bolts as you want to be sure they are on there good(anti seize and loctite different things), anti seize is used on things like spark plugs.  Good deal on getting off the hub assembly.  For the Caliper pins make sure and use a Silicone paste.  Reason being is that is rubber on metal and need to ensure those do not seize up, using regular brake lubricant on the caliper pins can cause issues and locking up.   Before putting brake system back on ensure the Caliper pins can slide freely.  Also do not forget to grease the axle spindle before installing new hub.  And yes it is ok to use loctite on the axle nut and the 3 axle bolts.  Do not use higher than blue.  NEVER use red as you will never ever get off if you do.  

[richard wysong]

thats loctite. only never seize the axle splines. clean the blaster off as best you can, brake cleaner will help. make sure  you clean and lube where the bearing goes, you can re-loctite if you want but getting everything torqued properly is more important

[Brenden Burnham]

One more thing.  Make sure that the axle nut, the 3 bolts and your caliper bolts are torqued down to spec.  Axle nut 177 Lb. ft.  The back bearing hub bolts 133 Lb ft.  Caliper mount bolts 129 Lb. ft.  Caliper slide pins 80 Lb. Ft. These should be in your manual.  

Edited April 13, 2022 by Brenden Burnham

[2009_Suburban]

1 hour ago, Brenden Burnham said:

For the Caliper pins make sure and use a Silicone paste.

Since I didn't take the brake assembly apart, and only removed the bolts holding it on, there is no reason to lube the pins as they were never taken apart right?

 

Also, can I put anti-seize on the t-30 torx bolt that holds the brake rotor on as it was very hard to get off?

 

1 hour ago, Brenden Burnham said:

Seems to be a light to medium locking.  Typically the blue is used for Caliper bolts to ensure that rattling does not loosen them.  Blue is always what I use.

 

This car is subject to a lot of rattling since it is frequently driven on dirt roads. Since the auto parts store closest to me doesn't have blue thread locker, is it fine if I don't use it?

 

 

 

[Brenden Burnham]

1 hour ago, 2009_Suburban said:

Since I didn't take the brake assembly apart, and only removed the bolts holding it on, there is no reason to lube the pins as they were never taken apart right?

 

Also, can I put anti-seize on the t-30 torx bolt that holds the brake rotor on as it was very hard to get off?

 

 

This car is subject to a lot of rattling since it is frequently driven on dirt roads. Since the auto parts store closest to me doesn't have blue thread locker, is it fine if I don't use it?

 

 

 

As stated by Richard you will be fine as long as you torque to spec, still though I would put blue on the caliper bolts(not caliper pins).  Can get the blue loctite at hardware store(like home depot) As far as the caliper pins it is recommended to check and ensure they have movement.  Those caliper pins are what allow the brake pads to slide on the rotors from the caliper pistons.  If there is very little or no movement it will end up damaging the caliper pistons causing quick and uneven brake pad wear and having to replace the calipers down the road.  You will have to compress the caliper pistons at least a little to get it to fit back over the rotor.  So just make sure the pins have movement.  Especially being in a rust prone area something to check.  Sometimes those caliper pin rubber boots swell and can collect containments and the pins end up getting stuck.  Better be safe than sorry.

 

No need to use seize or anti seize for the torx rotor bolt.  Once the wheel is torqued back on the rotor will not be moving anyway.  Really was added on later years as my 2000 gmc sierra does not have a rotor torx bolt.  So that bolt does not need to be super tight.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Brenden Burnham

[richard wysong]

 agreed. I always put a dab of anti seize on that torx screw but its just there to ease assembly, they used to use a tin washer like thing before they had that. I suspect it's used more on the assembly line to keep the rotors in place