What the heck do these things cost installed? I got quoted a price of north of 600 bucks! Why?

 

Because when you don't do it yourself your at the mercy of the mechanics. They also might of priced it high because they really don't want to deal with it. However, if you decide to spend that much, they'll do it.

 

idk how the toro is set up but some FWD cars need to have the bearing pressed out and in which may require removal of the spindle, in addition those kind usually cost more for the bearing as weell

 

Except he's got a Cutlass...




I've bought wheel bearings for as little as about $4 at the parts store within the past 5 years, if I recall.

A quick check of NAPA shows inners for $7.20 to $11.25 and outers for $7.45 to $9.45, plus seals from $4.05 to $12.15.

You can probably do better at RockAuto or on eBay.

It's a 1-hour job: Remove wheels, (remove calipers if disk brakes), remove caps, cotter pins and spindle nuts, remove drums / disks, drive out races, tap in new races, pack wheel bearings, reinstall.

- Eric

 

I just did this on my 72 Cutlass.

Parts for one side sourced from local parts house:

Disc rotor $60 each
National wheel bearings/races $10 outer and $14 inner
Seal $5
Wheel bearing grease $5 a small tub. Will do many jobs.

That gives you an idea of the parts. If you are just changing the bearings/race/seal the cost is pretty cheap. I have a lift and necessary tools and it took me less than 2 hours to do both sides.

 

... Except changing rotors / pads / disks is an "extra" "MAW," and not a normal part of a "regular" wheel bearing job.

- Eric

 

Pretty sure the quote is for his Toro.

 

I dunno. His pictures are of a '68 Cutlass, and he didn't say anything about it being any other car, but I guess it could be. We can play guessing games all day.

RockAuto has '68 Toro front wheel bearings for $75 each. Others are probably similar.

These guys were discussing wheel bearing availability a few years ago.

And here are some instructions for changing them - seems a bit more involved than the A-body, but not extremely difficult.

Either way, $600 is too much.

- Eric

 

He did post in the toro section

 

D'oh.

I always look at all the new posts - I never look at the section. :embarrassed:

- Eric

 

I think I'm in the process of getting screwed. That's why I posted this up. I'm going to call the mechanic and pointedly ask him why it is so expensive. He told me they were hard to find. I don't think so. I'll do it myself. I thought there was some kind of press involved or some voodoo. Argh!

 

Looking at the instructions in the CSM, it looks like the hub is a press fit in the bearing, and the bearing is a press fit in the knuckle, which could be accomplished with a press or with screw-leverage tools, including ones you could make yourself.
It also looks like the process could be facilitated by the judicious application of heat and cold.

I can't judge the appropriateness of the price, but I would say that this is the sort of thing you could do yourself with a bit of ingenuity.

- Eric

 

I spoke with a guy who works at the shop today. He's a buddy so I know he's being straight up. Yeah, he said it is a fairly involved process involving some serious labor hours. Disassembly/reassembly, spindle off, press, etc. They are way better set up than I am for this kind of thing so I'll pay the freight. The only thing that still puzzles me is that the owner of the shop said they were hard to find/get. I didn't find that to be the case. He has done some work for me in the past for very reasonable prices and I like working with him. One time they went and got my Caddy from a warehouse on a flatbed, put a battery in it and checked some minor issues for very cheap. Like as cheap as the flatbed should have cost to transport the car to the shop. I was very happy. I hope I am next Friday. That's when the Toro is supposed to be done. The car was at another shop with a delivery date of 5/1/2013. You read that correctly. I flatbedded it out of there in February of 2016 and started to work on it myself. Now I have reached the limit of my skills. Wish me luck! And thanks for the input. It is much appreciated.

Interior shot.



The whole deal.

 

One more thing. I had the wiper motor rebuilt and they rebuilt it alright but they somehow didn't get the polarity right or something and it made the motor stop with the wipers in the upright position. It has to go back to be fixed. Ouch. I asked the mechanic about the ETA as I figured it would take weeks. He said no, it would be shipped out Friday (last) and be back midweek next. Like I said, I like working with these guys because I feel they are straight with me. They are in Frankfort, Illinois and are called Frankfort Family Auto care. Good guys.

 

I can look up the part numbers if you like. If I remember there was something different about the 66-67 bearings and they are extremely expensive compared to the average car. Maybe that's why rock auto does not list them?

 

Rock says they have them for $75 but don't be surprised if they don't work. I still think they often list stuff generically but are real happy to let you send them back when wrong.

 

Fusick has the bearing at $229 each. That's about what I remember them at and they are fair in pricing so my guess is it is a special set up to handle the front. Good luck, let us know where they get the bearing if it does work and costs way less. Thanks

 

Many of the front hub bearings are foreign made and do not last long. Finding a brand name bearing like timken is fairly tough and the price is going to be on the high side. I think I paid $600.00 for the pair I have 10 to 15 years ago.

 

And the dimensions on the inner race for the foreign bearings are just a little tight for the hub. So one would need to machine the hub to fit correctly. I sent the crap foreign ones back.

 

Can you post the bearing number of the Timkens you've got?

It's etched into the side of the bearing, and is a universal number, so z1137 can search for it regardless of the listed application.

- Eric

 

The bearings are installed so that won't work and I'm looking for the paperwork from about 15 years ago. If I find the # i will post.

 

Oh, okay. It was worth a try anyway.

For those who are watching out in TV Land, in general, very few bearings are entirely "custom" or "purpose-built" - most are just selected for the application from among existing specifications.
Because of this, you can usually get the right bearing far cheaper from a bearing house that just sells them by their generic numbers than from a secondary supplier that is selling it as "the bearing" for your specific car.

- Eric

 

Check this place out, they don't appear to have a website. I have never used them but they have been recommended on many forums and in print articles as one of the best sources for hard to find bearings:


http://www.yellowpages.com/southern-...g-co-488947315

 

Well, this explains a lot. He said the bearing was very expensive. Hence my original post. He said the bearing was like 6 or 700 hundred dollars. Wow!

 

Looks like you were close. But no cigar.

 

I would have never dreamed... I've done a lot 4wd's and I would have thought it would have been comparable. Live and learn.

 

I bought the bearings from Rockauto, they were Timken bearings.
I had a local shop r & r the bearings with new seals and assemble the whole thing into the spindles (1970 disk brake spindles)
They charged me $100 for the labor, but $30 for one of the seals that had gone missing between the time I bought the parts and had the stuff put together.
I don't know if the early drum brake spindles are dimensionally different but the basic procedure is the same I think.
I resorted to this approach after reading about the special tools required on the GMC motorhome sites. The motorhomes use the same knuckles and bearings
Some of the diehard motorhome enthusiasts had made their own wheel bearing removal tools so that they could r & r wheel bearings on the road.
I'm not sure that my local independent shop really has the special tool or if they used some other barbaric method, but at least the knuckles are back together, waiting for me to measure them for wheel studs and assemble the front end.

 

This sounds about right to me, for a shop that knows what they're doing and is comfortable with this sort of work, and where you hand them the parts instead of the whole car.

As with most "specialized" pullers and installation tools, it looks like the tools to do this job are essentially a bunch of collars and sleeves, of which there are generic sized versions, and which can be improvised, so this should be no problem for someone with a well equipped shop or a good imagination.

- Eric

 

My imagination is that it is above my skill level.

 

The 1966 - 1967 TORONADO uses a 907770 DELCO - NEW DEPARTURE HYATT Bearing which --- IS ----- OBSOLETE by every company -- and WAS very very expensive -- until it was reproduced.....
The 1968 - 1978 TORONADO uses a 907777 DELCO - NEW DEPARTURE HYATT Bearing -- which is an A23 BCA or SET # 23 TIMKEN -- which is still very very available......


If you have a 1966 - 1967 TORONADO -- give me a call -- I can find out
what I can sell the repro to you.............


Give me a call -- Craig -- 516 - 485 - 1935 ... New York.....

 

Let me see if he's found the bearing yet. I will contact you tomorrow regardless. Thanks for your help.

 

Mechanic says he's found the bearing and it will be there tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I called Craig twice though to let him know what's happening. Anyone who's willing to post their phone number on a website like this deserves some kudos and at least a phone call. Craig, thanks for your help all the same.

 

Craig is a good guy, and ferrets out a lot of high quality stuff that's really hard to find.

- Eric

 

Well, my guy thinks he has the right bearing ordered. Craig said they have begun repopping these bearings. The high price was reflected in the fact they were not being repopped but it should be lower now because of supply. I just hope he has the right bearing and not the 68 to 78 which is more common according to Craig. The guy knows his stuff, that's obvious.

 

Craig, here, and I really do appreciate your comments!!!!
I ALWAYS AM willing to help -- while this is my "business" -- I try to keep the prices "hobby - like" and of course, with some of the items that I have obtained through doing this for 45 years ----
My Price is LESS than the going rate!!!!!!!!!!!! Gotta' love it!!!!!!!!
And yes -- I will always give you my phone number -- which is home and office -- so you can reach me 24 - 7 .... and I ALWAYS will callyou back!!!!


And let me take this opportunity to say, once more, that Eric (MDchanic)
is the most knowledgable person on this website -- particularly when it is in relation to working on cars.... Everyone should ALWAYS heed his advice!!!
Yours, always, Craig ..............

 

Thanks, Craig.

Which reminds me: I forgot to post up your latest flyer from Englishtown.

I'll put it in the For Sale section in a little while.

- Eric

edit: 11x14 paper? Makes for a tough scan. I'll have to cut it off a bit. Sorry.

edit again: Here's a link to his Spring 2016 flyer:

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...tml#post917779