lurk520

Does a 2WD 2002 Grand have cv joints or just the hub/bearing assembly in the front? I'm getting a squeal/squeak sound at around 40-45 mph, seems to be getting worse. I believe it's coming from the driver side front wheel. There has been a lot of rain here so something might have gotten wet. I was kinda thinking a bad cv boot but upon my investigation it looks like I don't have cv joint, not sure because I could not get off my brake caliper due to very tight bolts. The sound does not appear to be a belt squeal either.

lurk520

Wish I could narrow it down to which wheel better before I drop cash on a new hub assembly. It's obviously not going to make the noise turning it by hand because I can not turn the wheel 40 mph, lol. I've read there is a way to test the assembly by testing for play, but how much play are we talking about? Even if there was no play the bearing could still be bad right? Any way do I have CV joints or what? Thanks.

lurk520

I believe I have narrowed it down to the front driver side, by using my windows while driving down the road. I'm probably just going to throw a new hub/bearing assembly on it tomorrow and hopefully that does the trick.

tiwvr1

Check the rotor good for rub marks, sounds like a backing plate may be rubbing... Wheel bearings usally growl not squeak.

You wont have cv cause you are only 2 wheel drive.

Make sure the brake pads can move freely in there holders. The caliper to bracket bolts should break free fairly easy, if the sliders are siezed that could be your problem.

lurk520

This all started when the rain season hit, maybe coincidental though. Hope I'm not wasting100$ on a hub.

ol"blue

As stated above, check the brakes first. Hub bearings make a roaring, or growling sound.
When driving, if it makes more noise on a left turn it's the right hub bearing because weight gets transferred to the right side. If the noise gets louder on a right turn, it's the left hub bearing.

lurk520

Got the new hub installed finally ....Only took me about 6 hours holy cow what a pain in the ***, made about 5-6 trips to the parts store...Not having much experience working on brakes really worked against me...But so far the noise I was hearing is gone, and the old hub did look pretty ratty. So here's a list of things you will need if you do this, which will save you a lot of time:
24" breaker bar with 1/2" drive
36MM socket for hub nut
18MM socket and 3" extension for caliper bolts (mine were almost impossible to get off, had to use breaker bar)
Disc brake pad spreader tool
Bearing grease
New cotter pin
And all your other regular hand tools
And one helper on stand by, I had to have some one step on the brake while I removed/replaced hub nut, also helps to have two people if breaker bar is needed on caliper bolts.

Man what a day.....

lurk520

So I replaced the hub bearing assembly a little over a year ago, and never heard the sound again.....That is until a couple days ago, after driving through a little rain water. And it sounds like it's on the same side again
:furi ous:: furious::furio us::f urious::furiou s:

I've only had time to inspect the brakes on the front driver side so far and the pads still have lots of meat, I also greased the slide pins but the sound is still there. Luckily the part has a 3 year warranty, but the job was a pain in the ***. WTF?

dave1123

Check the other side. Chances are it's bad now. It's got more mileage on it as the one you replaced. Something like that should be done in pairs.

lurk520

My mind wants to believe that it's on the passenger side where the old one is, that would make more sense. But my ears are telling me it's on the drivers side where the new one is. Then everything I read on the internet says hub bearings won't squeak, they will make a growling or humming noise. But yet when this happened last time, replacing the assembly got rid of the noise. So it kind of makes me wonder if it was something else I did in the process, that inadvertently took care of the noise. Sheesh. Nothings ever straight forward on a Jeep!

lurk520

Got the new hub assembly installed again, and so far so good, the sound is gone. Pretty disappointed it only lasted 1 year and 3 months, especially since I purchased the higher quality version. I did the job this time in 2.5 hours, with only one trip to the auto store to get the new hub. The only hang up I had was taking off the caliper assembly before I loosened the hub nut, you gotta use the brakes to hold the wheel while you loosen the nut, you can't do it through the rim like the book suggests because the 36MM socket is too big to fit through. I actually used my tool box to hold the brake pedal down while I loosened it . And boy I must of tightened that sucker good last time, because I literally had to jump on the 17" breaker bar to get it off.

dave1123

I think the torque spec for the axle nut is 175 lb/ft.

lurk520

Well I weigh 150 and I had to jump on it so it must of been close to 175, lol, just joking. I have no idea how much that is. Is it a lot?

dave1123

To put it in perspective, the main bearings bolts on a Chrysler 426 Hemi are torqued to 150 lb/ft.

I've watched mechanics put a screwdriver into the rotor vent slot and hold it against the caliper bracket, breaking it loose before removing the bracket.

lurk520

Yep 175 is right. Don't know why it would need to be so tight though, it only holds on the abs tone wheel. There are 3 other bolts that hold the hub onto the steering knuckle, those only require 75.