Just wanted to say thanks to PriusChat and those who have posted about front wheel bearings. My right front wheel started making noise, and using the information from this forum, managed to change the bearing out without too much difficulty. Although I did have to remove the knuckle. That bearing and housing were really rusted into place! A special thanks to Patrick Wong for his tip of using champion toyota in houston for parts and all others who posted their experiences doing this job. And getting a good view of the front strut let me see it is leaking a bit, so that is the next job! 2006 Prius, 163,000 miles. Brian
Congratulations to you. I haven't had occasion to do this yet so I am curious: - What was your method to remove the axle nut? - After removing the four bolts holding the front axle hub to the steering knuckle, how did you remove the hub? Did you have to whack it to pop it out of the knuckle, or what? You'll probably think the front strut job is easy compared to what you just did. I posted my experiences on that here, BTW. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ts-regarding-replacement-2g-front-struts.html
Raising the indented portion of the nut was not real easy, I used a screwdriver and used a lot of hammering. Then a 30 mm 12 point socket with a long breaker bar. Yes, that hub took a lot of hammering also to break it free. I admire any that can remove that hub with the knuckle in place. I already found your info on strut replacement, thanks! But a question; I see Tire Rack sells the struts now, but the same struts for 05s and 06s, while Champion Toyota differentiates the struts needed based on when the vehicle was made, before or after 3/05 I believe. Any thoughts on this? Brian
Hi Brian, I don't know why the Toyota part number changes during 2005. I believe that other posters have successfully installed the KYB aftermarket struts. Certainly the Tire Rack price of $54 each is quite attractive, while their top strut mount price of $56 is also good. The Tire Rack price for rear shocks seems high though, while the photo on their website does not look like the actual part.
