2004 Toyota Prius Wheel Bearing Repair 

Well explained, your voice is well suited for the videos

Weekend warriers like us need to earn our tools. You certainly earned a few more tools with this job, good work! I'd start with a good set of jack stands, it's a scotty kilmer job with only a jack.

Great video! Very useful for me & my adventure replacing the wheel bearing on my '09 Prius. A couple pf things that this video does not cover: 1. The shield around the speed sensor in the back of the bearing. I removed this with only a little trouble by first removing the entire yolk/knuckle assembly, then gripping the shield with a pair of Vice-Grips and whacking on the yolk while holding the Vice-Grips. 2. I found this bearing was very, very hard to remove. My Prius grew up in Upstate NY State where there are awful road conditions for a few months a year. Salt, sand, snow, cold temperatures, etc. This puppy was STUCK, and hammering on it was pretty useless. Ultimately, I took the entire yoke/knuckle off & was able to put the assembly in my vice, pointing down. Being careful, the jaws of my vice would fit just between the bearing assembly and the knuckle. I didn't clamp down with the vice, just used it to hold the yolk, while beating on the bearing. I put the four bolts in most of the way then, using an impact socket to buffer the hammer blows, I whacked the heck out of the socket, one at a time on each bolt. This ultimately did the trick. This bearing was far and away, the most stuck thing I have ever liberated. It was glued (corroded) in the yolk like nothing I have encountered. I practically soaked the thing in penetrating oil ahead of time and, after I got it apart, I could tell that the penetrating oil didn't touch the corrosion. It was super-stuck. I tried heat and pressure, using a propane torch and fitting a small hydraulic jack between the hub bolts and the frame. These may have loosened the bearing assembly, but I'm not sure. 3. One thing I learned from this was to use some non-hardening sealant, and anti-seize compound to reassemble this puppy. I think that this was the fifth front-end wheel bearing I have replaced on my '09 Prius (220K miles) and I hope the next time is easier.

Thank you gothard Schiller for this video it will help me to do my own car when future wheel bearings needs replacement.most appreciated.

Thank you for uploading the video. This will help me out when I need to replace mine.

Thanks a lot! It made me decide to do this myself in stead of taking it to a shop.

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

For anyone doing this be sure to check for sticky front brake pads and assure your tires aren’t contributing to noise. I did mine recently and it helped but the other influencing factor was cupped tires due to worn struts.

Decent job! Very inspiring. However, everyone ! Please be sure to torque the bolts on the new hub and use jack stands so you dont have a nasty accident while beating on things.

Punch out the wheel studs, you can use a longer bolt with a nut to pry out the bearing, On my case it split the bearing in 2 which allowed me to lay it on top of a couple of 4x4 boards and hammer out the bearing. It would be more stable than holding onto the assembly and beating on it, In my case the bearing was really seized and it took a considerable amount of beating to remove, Good video,

Good job. A suggestion next time, instead of whacking the wheel bearing with a sledge hammer, why not leave the cap bolts loosely in (unthreaded say about 1/4 inch) and then strike at the bolt heads with a drift punch. By alternating from one side to the other, you can then "walk" the bearing assembly out of the spindle hub assembly. You might also be able to do this while the spindle is still attached to the strut. This way you don't have to do an wheel alignment at the end. Cheers!

@2:29 "wow thats very loose, just how like it!" lmao

Very thorough, thank you, gotta do my gals "pretty lil" Prius. Keep her happy, and my wallet not so slim. Times is a gitting 'ruff out there..... Thanx guy..... You from up Jersey way?

Just did mine, I had to resort to a 6 ton press, but it is all corroded like that because that's what aluminum does when it contacts steel.

At 38:30 you showed the ring. What is that ring for?

Getting that bearing out is a SOB isn't it? Good work sticking with it. Thanks for sharing your experience.

wheel bearing ez, dont take the hub off like he did, take the 2 thick bolts out and hammer out the axle then unbolt and hammer the bearing out, its E Z, dont take off the bottom castle nut or steering thing

Good job in diagnosing & tackling problems with front wheels; some observations: - you are a MONSTER & a force to recon with the mini sledge hammer!!! whack... whack... ; ) - dust shields mangled and all - i normally liberally spray brake clean lubricant also helps in cleaning metal parts. - normally liberally Spray lubricant to help loosen metal parts to unscrew - are you ready to upgrade to a work bench & vice assembly? - I noticed that you didn't use a jack stand to suspend your car; its only a problem when there IS a problem. - Loose front wheel causes can be of various causes: - BEARING HUB. this is definitely the MAIN cause of your road noise, speed, pull. - LOOSE AXLE NUT, you noticed that loose nut immediately off the bat when you unscrewed it off the axle. It normally is ~170lbs torque, you took it off with about 30lbs of effort. I assess that you did some work on that axle as of recent that caused it to relax its tension. Probably need lock tight the nut back to seat in. - BALL JOINT. this also may cause your wheel to click - nice looking Prius - thanks for sharing your project

Machine that hub assembly seat face 3 thousandths over!

Does it matter which brand bearing you buy

Smash that cast aluminum!

I don’t think it should’ve been that easy to get the axle nut off

Did you ever get a metallic taste in your mouth after doing this job? Because I did. I used a simple dust mask. Should of used a better mask for the job.

You remind me of Donald Trump working on his constituents viewpoint. Great job