01-06 Chevy Front Wheel Bearing Assemblies

[ybnaford]

It started last year right before my Nov 09 hunting trip to NE. During daily driving I would hear a very faint noise that sounded like a brake pad indicator rub but it was only when turning slightly. When I got around to rotating the tires for the trip, I found the Left Front Wheel Bearing Assembly was bad on my 04' 1500 Silverado Extcab 4x4 with 84.5K miles. Told my buddy who has an 06' 2500 HD Crewcab to check his. His mileage 84K, LFWB assembly was bad also. Called my dad in NM who has a 06' 2500 HD crewcab with 88K miles. His LFWB assembly was bad as well. Called my father in law in NE with 4 Silverados on the family farm ranging from 01 to 03 and compared notes on LFWB and RFWB assemblies. They also had to replace both units between 80K and 100K. At the end on Jun 2010, my buddy with the 06' 2500 HD Crewcab, called me and told me he finally had to replace his RFWB assembly at 89K miles. So it seems that between 80K and 100K the Front Wheel Bearing assemblies need to be checked on 01' -06' Silveardo's that are 1500 and 2500 4x4's. This is just what I and my family and friends have experienced with these trucks and hopefully it will help. The assembly prices range from $159 to $230. The unit warranties seemed to be anywhere from 1yr, 2yr & lifetime warranty. My buddy used Temken assemblies which were at the upper end of cost.I used the PEPBOYS 2yr warranty unit. It had the rounded tip studs (similar to stock) and not the squared off tip studs which was the 1yr warranty one. The PEP cost was around $199. NAPA's price was around $159 but I believe that was a 1yr warranty. Change out time was between 1.75 and 2.5 hours per assembly. It does save you some money if you can do it yourself. Just takes a little sweat to do it.