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What would cause repeated wheel bearing failure?

Y

YOOOO

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
809
Location
Norfolk, VA
Hey guys,

I've been having trouble with my driver's side front wheel bearing. The previous owner replaced it 3 times in the 15k miles he drove the car, and I've had to replace it once. That was about 3000 miles ago. Now I have a loud noise coming from the same area again. I must admit I did check the bearing doing the oclock test a month ago (before the noise) and there was no play, and I haven't checked since the I've heard the noise. I'm 99% sure it's the wheel bearing though. You should also know that I replaced it last with an OEM bearing straight from Ford, and the work was done by an extremely reputable shop. So what would cause it to keep failing? Should I replace the hub?
 
if the bearing was not correctly torqued that could lead to a wheel bearing failure. Or the bearing could have been pressed in wrong.

Chances are the hub is shot and needs to be replaced.
 
Yeah, if you roast a wheel bearing too long it can damage the hub and will therefore damage any new bearing very fast that is installed in that hub.
 
projectSHO89 said:
Re-using an old hub is a pretty good way to waste multiple bearings.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't completely agree with that. If the bearing is repalced promptly and correctly re-using the hub should not be an issue. On my 95 we only repalced wheel bearings 3 times over 228k miles.
 
BrApple said:
I wouldn't completely agree with that. If the bearing is repalced promptly and correctly re-using the hub should not be an issue. On my 95 we only repalced wheel bearings 3 times over 228k miles.
Click to expand...

I agree with you. I let a OEM bearing go to long before I repalced it and the replacement bearing only lasted a year. When I did this the second time I got a hub from a pick-n-pull and used that one with my new bearing. It's still going with no problems. Now that you can buy new aftermarket hubs I might consider a new hub rather then a used one. But as has been said if you change the bearing out soon enough you should be able to reuse your hub. And torqueing of the hub nut is the last but most important step in getting a front wheel bearing to last. 200 lbs is not excessive on the hub nut.

I road race a VW and I go as high as 250 lbs on those hub nuts to keep the front end together.
 
YOOOO said:
So what would cause it to keep failing?
Click to expand...

has the subframe been down ? was it properly aligned after ?

has the car been in an accident ? is the suspension leg 'set back' ?

is the driveshaft bent or CV joint worn ?

do the tires show signs of unusual wear ?

.......... G.
 
Don't know. Not since I have owned it. It drives straight and true though

I will be replacing the axles and lower control arms as well, since I believe they are original. (my car has ~105k on it)
 
when the wheel bearing went on my car, i replaced the hub .... not had any issues since.

105k doesn't seem a lot .... depends on the condition of the roads you drive on i guess .... G.
 
Well I have the lovely clicking from the CV joints when I turn the wheel sharply. My car is extremely low, so there is more stress on them. Axles are cheap these days, so I don't think it's a bad idea.
 
lots of negative camber can stress the wheel bearings too .....G
 
Well I'm only at -1.8 in the front, so I think I'm ok. Previous owner had it at -3.0! Chewed up those tires quickly, lol
 
i'm not sure if that's enough to take out wheel bearings .... but there are guys on the forum who do know
..... G.
 
Definitely replace the hub. I went through this 4-5 years ago. I had 3 bearings installed and new axle nuts installed each time. The nut kept spinning loose and the bearing kept failing. No matter how many times it was tightened to proper spec, it would spin loose.

A replacement used hub and a new bearing finally did the trick.
 
Thanks Tony. Yep I got a new OEM hub, bearing, and control arms on the way from Tousley, as well as GCK axles. Already has new pads and rotors. My car should be weird noise free now, except for that damn Spec clutch chatter, lol
 
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