So I'm fairly new with my Infiniti G35xS but I'm loving it! One thing I noticed is an audible 'grinding or rubbing noise' when I reach speeds 15mph and above. When I turn the wheel even the slightest to the right I can hear the noise get louder. I'm very familiar with wheel bearing noise coming from a 01 B5 Audi S4 and this noise is a bit different sounding but has very similar symptoms.

The noise can be heard and slightly felt through the pedals on my feet especially when turning hard right and the pressure is put on the drivers side wheel. The noise can easily be drowned out by turning the radio up a few notches, unlike my Audi which sounded unbearable after 30mph.

I've checked for rubbing etc and just had brand new tires put on + alignment so I know they are fine. I'm almost 100% sure it's the wheel bearing just reading posts from other people about it. One question I have regarding it. I'm not sure which is the cheapest/best option to go with? Do I need to go 100% OEM with this part or can I get a Beck Arnley or Timkin Hub/Bearing assembly? I have done extensive work to my previous cars so this doesn't look like too hard of a job on the DIYs. I'm just curious where/what brand of hub assembly I should go with? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

This Beck Arnley one is $84 from Rock Auto.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...887&cc=1442056

Suggestions?

 

I can't speak from direct experience on that particular part, but as a whole, Beck Arnley parts have always been pretty good from what I've seen. That being said, if they weren't too far apart in cost, I'd still give a nod to the factory part. Once you've got the part number, some aggresive web shopping/searching can often turn up far better pricing on factory parts than you'd expect from the typical sticker shock you'll encounter walking into a dealership parts dept.

 

So I decided to go with the PRO Hub Assembly/Wheel Bearing on Rockauto's website.



It's the top one highlighted in red, yes it's cheap but from the pictures looks like a quality part.
Either way, I do about 7-8k miles of driving a year and for $60 shipped you can't really go wrong.
I'll let everyone know once it's changed out if it lasts a while though I don't see why it would be 100% necessary for me to go OEM on this part. I'm willing to bet (hope) this part serves it's purpose for the remainder of the vehicles life; at least in my possession.

 

you should make a write up/DIY when you do it... my car is giving me similar issues but Infiniti wants like $150 to diagnose the problem..

 

^^ It's already been done: https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-sed...aring-diy.html

 

Hey how did your change out go? I've been having the same issues for some time now and will be tackling the job this Sunday. I ordered the Timkin parts from Rock I was going to get the proparts ones but I'm going to pass the car onto a relative in a couple of years and want to ensure longevity...If its not too late for you (and for others considering the job), with respect to the choice of brands check this out:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=800397

not sure if it helps but the variations in the manufacturing of more generic parts might be something to look out for like in the link as at the very least it may affect the fitting process...other quality issues...lol...I have no idea

 

If your G is still under powertrain warranty, Infiniti will fix this for free.

 

I'm actually getting the part today via FedEx (seems like it was shipped horseback.. took about 6 business days from AZ to Maine). I am tackling the job tomorrow morning, hopefully without hiccups. It really doesn't look like too hard of a job for me and my trusty DeWalt 18v 1/2" cordless impact gun.
I'll take some good pics of the part and let you know how it goes/holds up.

Unfortunately my G was purchased second hand from the dealer without a warranty. The 3 month warranty is up. It has 97k miles and the only problems I have with it are this wheel bearing and a failing passenger side cat. I'll be going HFCs hopefully this summer.

 

I wish I had known sooner...but I left that warranty about 15000 miles ago

 

lol at Rock being slow...they split my shipment on a couple of other parts (Spark plugs and serpentine belt) I hope mine doesn't get delayed too bad...good thing they have crazy prices...I'll post pics of my hubs too so ppl can compare...

 

Ok so I just got the hub in the mail finally while I was on my lunch break so I snapped a few pics. One thing I noticed right off when I opened the box within a box was the gold abs plate thingy was dented down in one small area. No biggie I suppose, I used some needle nose and bent it back up.. luckily that gold piece just sits in there and keeps the abs sensor aligned, it doesn't spin or anything like that so I should be all set. I suppose I could probably swap the one off my OEM unit since it just pops off. With that aside, it looks like a pretty quality piece and fitment will hopefully be fine, we'll see tomorrow.

 

So everything went smooth today, got the old hub out and the new one in pretty easily. It helps to have an impact gun for sure. A couple things we got snagged on: The rotor took awhile to get off the old hub because it was literally welded to it. I hit the rotor about 50 times with the deadblow to no avail. I got a pry bar and was able to wedge it behind the rotor and hub and it just popped right off. My particular rotor did not have a hole to run a screw through to pop it off so we had to get creative.

Another thing is it's a bit tricky to get the four screws threaded into the new hub/hold the rotor guard on/make sure the axle is lined up. This couldn't have been done with just one person. With a helper it took about 15mins to get everything perfect and bolted up evenly. Just follow the DIY to a T and you'll be all set.

Getting the old hub out takes a little time. I sprayed the thing down with PB and went at it from the back with a big punch and hammer to pop it forward and out. It took quite a few solid hits on each side to get it to unseat from the inside of the upright but it eventually came out.
Just watch out you don't maul the metal splash guard with hitting the hub. That's where the punch came in handy.

Also, you may think the splash shield is all set but I took the wheel off twice after I was done to make adjustments to it because it was rubbing on the rotor. Triple check you got that thing pulled a GOOD distance from the rotor back. Unless you wanna spend 20mins taking the wheel off a second or third time.


It was a pretty simple process and took about 2 hours from start to finish. My car rides silent now, it's great. Here's a couple of crappy pics showing my old vs new hub assembly.
Let me know if you guys have any questions. Hopefully my Proparts hub assembly will last a good long time! I may just do the other side to have them both done, for $60 you can't go wrong.

 

So I did my bearing yesterday ...one thing I will mention is that mine is the AWD so some of the DIY's I've seen show a technique for popping out the old assemblies that may not work on the AWD B/c of the extra bits behind the knuckle....I got a 4.5 inch gear puller and used that to push the shaft in and it made removal a lot easier... I did both sides at once with a buddy helping in about 2 hours as well ..the hardest part was lining up the four bolts at the back during reassembly and accessing them during removal...I think this is again b/c the AWD model has more going on back there...I had to do two of the four bolts (top and bottom) with the steering at full lock and then turn to full opposite lock to do the other two to gain access

EDIT: Pics uploaded

 

Did you forget the pics?