HELP!!!!

I was driving the car a couple of weeks ago and made the turn to get on the on-ramp to the freeway....crunch!

It sounded as if something had came loose form the engine...or dragging the ground. I pulled over and checked it all out...nothing loose, engine good. Took back off again and the crunching sound is back...sounded like it was comming from the rear. I babied her home and jack up the rear. The driver side tire was very hard to rotate and there is the crunching sound. I looked at all the u-joints and they appear to be fine. My local corvette shop said that it was probably the wheel bearings, but also said that I should just replace the entire trailing arm assembly beacuse that would be easier. He wants $350.00 each for them and 4 hrs per side at $85.00 per hour.
My question is...is that necessary?
How hard is it to change the wheel bearings?
Should I try to attempt this (never done it before) or leave it up to the pro's?
Does anyone know of any other shops in the St. Louis area that work on corvettes?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The rear bearings can be a pig. There are special tools help. It can be done with the trailing arms in the car. If you remove the trailing arms, the bearings can be changed with a press, which is a bit easier. This also give you a chance to replace the bushings.

Or you can remove the trailing arms and send them out to be rebuilt. Or just have you local shop install new bearings.

There are many options. It depends on your comfort level regarding how much of the work you can do yourself, and what you budget allows.

I always cringe at the thought of those high hourly rates! I've done them on and off the car. I agree it's doable if your comfortable with your own abilities. Just be sure to do it "by the book".

I hate to create more work and cost for you, but, while you're down there, or your mechanic is down there, you might as well replace the entire trailing arm assembly.

If you go that route, you can do the job in your garage, or driveway, at your own pace. You won't have to mess with special tools, or bearing pre loads.

I needed to replace my rear bearings several years ago, and it turned into a pandora's box of problems. I ended up replacing everything down there. That is a HUGE safety issue, and you don't want to skimp in that area.

Good luck with your baby. I hope the job goes easy for you.

Alan

I just changed out my T-Arms at Van Steel and highly recommend them (see other post for photo). Since you are too far to travel there, you could find a local shop or yourself remove the old and send to them for refurbishing, then re-install. Also, 4 hrs per side seems like too much time for a pro to do. I would think that closer to 2 hrs per side would be more in line.

FLA VETTE said: I just changed out my T-Arms at Van Steel and highly recommend them ... Since you are too far to travel there, you could find a local shop or yourself remove the old and send to them for refurbishing, then re-install. Also, 4 hrs per side seems like too much time for a pro to do. I would think that closer to 2 hrs per side would be more in line.

I'm in New Jersey and that is exactly what I did. I removed them myself and shipped them off to Van Steel to have them rebuilt. While I was at it, I did the same with the differential.

As was mentioned... a season mechanic wanting 4 hours per side... somethings wrong with that.