wheel bearing 2011 1500 5.7 4x4

Hi!
I drove from Costa RIca to Panama to do some diving there and ripped the sidewall of my almost new Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ a tire on a rebar in a hole on a rural bridge.
I went and changed all tires as they are substantial cheaper in Panama as in Costa Rica and wanted to have the wheels aligned.
The drivers side wheel has a slight play rocking the wheel back and forth and this is usually a sign of a worn wheel bearing.
They refused to do the alignment as it is not accurate and said that i have to change the bearing.
I checked with the dealership and they sent me the exploded view showing the whole assembly (a round plate with the 5 wheel studs attached) for 450$.
As it seems the bearing is inside and they sell the whole assembly and not only the bearing.
Is there a way to get only the wheel bearing and use a press to pry it out and push a new bearing in (as in all other cars i had)?
Main problem is now that i have to drive back 400 miles and this play in the wheel bearing makes me a bit nervous ...

Thanks
Chris

haven't heard of any one replacing just the bearing. since your on the road, i doubt you would b able to do it.

Thanks huntergreen,
but i probably are used that mechanics are used to find cheaper ways to fix things.
This because i live in countries where money is a issue and there mechanics change just the max 50$ bearing instead of changing a assembly for 450$.
Every mechanic here has a hydraulic press and will press the old bearing out and press the new one in.
I don't mind to pay 450$ for the whole asembly, my problem is that it takes a week to have it in Panama and i have to be back in Costa Rica in 2 days.
So just changing the bearing would be a quick fix to reach at least Costa Rica with a new bearing in a old whateveritscalled.
Chris

P.S. Youtube has a lot videos how to save you 400$: https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube+wheelbearing+change&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

These are often referred to as unit bearings for a reason - they are one unit. See here for one taken apart, note that the races are part of the housing and spindle. OEM Front Wheel Unit Bearing Study - JeepForum.com

The unit bearings go for $90-$190 online depending on brand.

Difficult to say if your bearing will survive 400 miles, if it had play for a while then it should be able to. If the play is the result of your recent incident then it might deteriorate quickly.

Well then,
obviously changing the wheel bearing is uncommon in the US, while it is very common in Europe and Latin America (and i guess in some other countries as well).
Every car parts shop has about 20-30 different bearings in stock and hey fit 80% of the cars in the country.
I did this x of times on my or customers cars when i worked in a car and boat repair shop and they last as long as the original bearing if it's a quality (SKF for example) bearing and installed without damaging it.
different countries - different practices ...

Whatever, i found the complete part at AllMoparParts.com for 202$ so i guess i will but it there and have it shipped to Costa Rica what will add about another 150$ to the bill....
Chris

CostaRam said:

Well then,
obviously changing the wheel bearing is uncommon in the US, while it is very common in Europe and Latin America (and i guess in some other countries as well).
Every car parts shop has about 20-30 different bearings in stock and hey fit 80% of the cars in the country.
I did this x of times on my or customers cars when i worked in a car and boat repair shop and they last as long as the original bearing if it's a quality (SKF for example) bearing and installed without damaging it.
different countries - different practices ...

Whatever, i found the complete part at AllMoparParts.com for 202$ so i guess i will but it there and have it shipped to Costa Rica what will add about another 150$ to the bill....
Chris

Click to expand...

its not that its uncommon in the US. its just most newer cars are like this now, and trucks have been like this for a long time. years ago it was a different story. its faster to change the whole assembly then it is to press in/out the races and seal. what you pay for in the part, you save on labor.

in theory, you could re-build your old one with new bearings and seal, but you would have cross reference the part numbers off the old bearings and hope you can easily/cheaply find a match.

The Assembly is Relatively easy to change. I have done it twice on my truck. Tricky parts for me were getting the axel unseated from the axel stub on the differential and then my bearings were corroded onto the knuckle so we had to beat the crap out of them to pop them off. But it is very doable provided you have the basic tools.

The hub was removable on my '14 1500, four bolts in the back of the hub hold it on (13 or 15mm, don't remember). Course, you have to pull the front driveshaft bolt if 4x4, take off brake caliper, rotor too, helps to push driveshaft back to get at bolts, also remove abs sensor (10mm bolt). It will probably be stuck in there, just pop off the tie rod and use that to push it out (turn the steering wheel to that side, use it like a hydrulic press to push the hub out). Easy parking lot fix if you have the tools.