[PajeroNewbie]

Good Afternoon

Vehicle type: 2001 Pajero 3.2 DiD

whilst driving during the past 2 days, i have heard / felt a vibration form the left front wheel, i thought it might be the brakes but they have been checked to be OK.

it now seems that there is play in the wheel, up on a ramp the wheel can be moved by hand. The wheel has been taken off and everything seems tight, no loose nuts etc. I have been told that the wheel bearing needs to be replaced. who can tell me the following;

can just the bearing be replaced or do i need to replace the whole hub? where is the best place to get these parts at a reasonable price? i am in JHB.

would it be OK to drive like this to Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape?

I would appreciate feedback, thanks

Mark

[Nick Gibson]

Hi Mark

I had rear wheel bearings pack up on me, there was no play, only a rumble that got gradually louder...

If you have play on the wheel, it should generally point to play in the suspension setup/linkage. If a bearing has enough play that you can pick it up by hand, it would fail and/or disintegrate very quickly and quite catastrophically.

Look at your control arm (wish-bone) upper and lower ball joints, jack the car up on car stands and lie under the pajero and while someone is moving the wheel back and forth see if you can see where the play is?

Also look at wheel balancing for the vibration. Try rotating your wheels around and see if the vibration moves. Sometimes tyres wear off unevenly (like my Dueller D694's did on my old hilux) which also leads to noise and vibration especially on higher KM.

The Gen 3 pajero has sealed hubs all round, you need to replace the whole unit (if it is to blame), quite pricy at agents at R2k each... Masterparts sometimes has stock at a fraction of the price?

I would not chance any play on my suspension personally, have it looked at by someone else (specialist suspension centre) for an alternate opinion.

[PajeroNewbie]

Hello Nick

Thanks for your feedback.

it seems that it could be a few different parts causing this, i have just read another thread which mention the exact same symptoms that i am having and the shocks were to blame.

Regards
Mark

[MThompson]

Hi PajeroNewbie

Last year around this time, I also had a humming noise issue. Turned out to be the front wheel bearings. I had both front wheel bearings replaced by the stealers in Dec last year at just over R7k. Cost of the wheel bearings was around R3k each. Labor wasn't to much.

If possible, see if you can get parts from masterparts. If I remember correctly, the were just over R2k for a set. I didn't have enough time to go this route so had to go to the stealers or our holiday would have been cancelled. Probably could have got them here in time, but all the indies I knew was fully booked.

I will not take any chances with wheel bearings...failure while travelling could be nasty. Try to sort this out asap before you land in the same boat I was in......only option left.....was the stealers.

Good luck.

[Nev]

I also have the same model DiD. Front left wheel bearing also went at about 200,000km. I fist started hearing a slight noise and also thought it may be the brakes. It was so slight I never really bothered about it. I then drove all the way from Cape Town via Kgalakgadi into Botswana. Once in Bots, I could hear a definite grinding every time I took a right turn (never heard it through the sand, only on tar). It rapidly got worse and I was still 200km from nearest town. At this stage I still could not feel much play on the front wheel and everything looked OK when I took the wheel off. Anyway, it sounded so bad I was afraid to drive the vehicle. I phoned a mechanic friend and he said that I wouldn't do too much more damage and that I could still drive the remaining 50km to town, which I did. Got generic bearings for around P4000.00 and had them fitted by local mechanic in Bots. That was about 2 years ago. No problems since.

[PajeroNewbie]

Hello Guys

got the front left bearing replaced, it was tight that it could be moved by hand, i am sure my consumption has improved

my mecahnic in Centurion got me a bearing for R950 ex Vat, good deal. they are R2750 from the Stealers. i am glad i did it before my long trip

Thanks for your feedback

Regards
Mark

[eloffmare]

Hi PajeroNewbie, who is the mechanic and his details please. Eloff Mare

[JohanV]

This is what my front wheel bearing sounded link on Saturday.
Ordered the Part yesterday mid day from Masterparts in Capetown, This morning at 8am the part landed on my desk in Rustenburg. R1313 (including courier cost) (Steelers R3300 each)

[BBvideo 425,350]http://youtu.be/ArAmY3B4ahI[/BBvideo]

[JohanV]

This is the remains of the wheel bearing hub.

got replacement part from masterparts

[andrew.ashton]

This is the remains of the wheel bearing hub.

got replacement part from masterparts

IMG-20140128-00414.jpg

IMG-20140128-00413.jpg

Hi Johan, Interesting that this was your right wheel - it seems to be that generally the left ones gives up first.

How easy was it to change the bearing assembly?