Front Hubs

mkccmc · November 10, 2007

Took my truck in for an oil change at my local Chevy dealership.Got a call a few hours later by the service department saying my front hubs needed to be replaced.They told me the were so bad that it would be extremely hazardous to drive if not replaced.So i told them to do the work and it cost me 1300.00 dollars for parts and labor.My question is,is it common for the front hubs to go bad on a 2004 3500SRW with only 50000 miles.If so that sounds like an issue that GM should look into?I have had 2 other chevy's before this one and never had this trouble?Any info on this issue would be great.Thanks.

Matt

mooreapi · November 11, 2007

mkccmc,

I have a 2000 Silverado ECSB 5.3l 2wd. I drove it for 225K before I needed to replace the front wheel hubs. My Impala had one go bad at around 200K, but then the replacement went bad in about 3 weeks.

Personally, I would have went in and had the dealership show me what was wrong before authorizing the work. When you pick it up, make sure they give you the old part(s) (not sure about the legal where you live, in MI the garages have to provide the owner the old part unless it's really big or required for a core). Of course, how can you make sure that the part they give you is the one from your truck? That's why I do most of my own work, I replaced the hubs myself, so they only cost me $225 per side (Timken). I don't know how much difference there is in cost between the 00 2wd 1500 and an 04 3500 (is that 2wd or 4wd?)

The one that failed on my truck was very loose, and I'd been feeling something not right in the steering for a while. When I jacked up the front end, I could wiggle the front wheel up and down quite a bit (side to side wiggle could be loose tie-rods). I could have only replaced the one that was loose, but decided it was a good insurance to replace both at once since they both had high mileage. I am not easy on my equipment, I am surprised I got as many miles as I did, but was hoping for more.

It is entirely possible that one hub could fail at 50K, as many parts are outsourced to the lowest bidder. I think both would be highly unlikely, but maybe it's required to replace both at once?

It can also be caused by potholes and such other traumatic shocks. Think about how much weight is being carried by the hubs and the stresses when you turn or hit bumps.

Matt (we're everywhere )