Wheel bearing/hub life expectancy??
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Wheel bearing/hub life expectancy??
hi gang, title says it all.
what kinda of life do we "normally" get from the stock units?
fronts: ____?
rears: ____?
thanks a bunch.
what kinda of life do we "normally" get from the stock units?
fronts: ____?
rears: ____?
thanks a bunch.
#2
Le Mans Master
Wheel Bearings
Originally Posted by usd2sing
hi gang, title says it all.
what kinda of life do we "normally" get from the stock units?
fronts: ____?
rears: ____?
thanks a bunch.
what kinda of life do we "normally" get from the stock units?
fronts: ____?
rears: ____?
thanks a bunch.
I changed mine at a little over 100,000 miles.
Some guys that Auto Cross, change them every year
I met a guy who had 197,000 miles on the original
Don't do them until they let you know it's time
#4
Team Owner
Member Since: Sep 2003
Location: Raleigh / Rolesville NC
Posts: 43,084
Likes: 0
Received 25 Likes
on
25 Posts
If one bearing goes out change the other side at the same time.
The bearings are made by Timken. You can get these bearings from Autozone for abour $180 each. Same bearing the chevy sells for much much more.
good luck
The bearings are made by Timken. You can get these bearings from Autozone for abour $180 each. Same bearing the chevy sells for much much more.
good luck
#7
Team Owner
My fronts went 55,000 with hard track use. You will feel free play in the wheel or hear a growling noise on corners to start with. They were 130 at Autozone. I dumped the rears at 58,000 but they seemed OK. Didn't want to ruin another track day.
#9
Burning Brakes
Member Since: Aug 2000
Location: Morganton, NC, USA
Posts: 1,132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I've been a bearing engineer for over 30 years and can tell you that bearings have a very wide life dispersion, so for a street driven only car, keep the bearings as long as they are quiet. For a "track days" car, increased load from cornering can dramatically reduce the life expectancy. But the biggest factor that can reduce wheel bearing life to 4 wheel uniformity is heat, such as from very hot brakes on a sportscar track. These bearings are "greased for life", and as soon as the life of the grease is used up by high temperature oxidation, the bearing life ends.
#10
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Oct 2005
Location: Metro Detroit Michigan
Posts: 7,077
Received 1,817 Likes
on
1,085 Posts
Originally Posted by AU N EGL
If one bearing goes out change the other side at the same time.
#12
Team Owner
Member Since: Sep 2003
Location: Raleigh / Rolesville NC
Posts: 43,084
Likes: 0
Received 25 Likes
on
25 Posts
If your stressing one wheel bearing dont you think that the opposit bearing would be stressed too?? Normally would be. They may not go at the same time but they will go soon enough.
Originally Posted by 2kbluestreak
But the biggest factor that can reduce wheel bearing life to 4 wheel uniformity is heat, such as from very hot brakes on a sportscar track. These bearings are "greased for life", and as soon as the life of the grease is used up by high temperature oxidation, the bearing life ends.
#13
Le Mans Master
Originally Posted by AU N EGL
If your stressing one wheel bearing dont you think that the opposit bearing would be stressed too?? Normally would be. They may not go at the same time but they will go soon enough.
#14
Melting Slicks
Member Since: Sep 2005
Location: Crofton MD
Posts: 2,066
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by rws.1
How do they let you know when its time?
Grab the wheel, push in on the top of the wheel and pull out on the bottom of the wheel. Then reverse, pulling the top and pushing the bottom. Do this back and forth seeing if you get any play. Then try it with the left and right sides of the wheel, looking for play. You should not have ANY play in rears, and should have minimal, if that, in the fronts (slight play while the steering wheel is locked will be evident I'm sure). If you have play, suspect worn suspension parts or a bad wheel bearing/hub. Sometimes you can see these early and catch them before they ruin your hub. Anyway if the car's up, it's a 30 second check on each wheel. Not a bad idea to know where you stand.
#17
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Oct 2005
Location: Metro Detroit Michigan
Posts: 7,077
Received 1,817 Likes
on
1,085 Posts
Originally Posted by AU N EGL
If one bearing goes out change the other side at the same time.
Originally Posted by Warp Factor
Why?
Originally Posted by John Shiels
Odds are the other isn't far behind.
And as "2kbluestreak" the bearing engineer stated,
"bearings have a very wide life dispersion", which I take to mean that longevity tends to be all over the map.
My wife also works for a bearing manufacturing company, and they can take two bearings, same part number, and one might last 10 times as long as another in testing. As long as the lower life one meets the minimum testing specs of the customer (like GM), it's done it's job. Then, of course, some are just defective or out of tolerance in some way to begin with, or are screwed up when installed incorrectly by the automobile manufacturer.
On one of my cars, I've replace the hub assembly twice on one side. The other side is still fine at over 100 thousand miles.
Sorry, but I've never had wheel bearings go bad in pairs.
Not to say that it couldn't happen by chance.
Last edited by Warp Factor; 01-04-2006 at 04:37 PM.
#18
Team Owner
Member Since: Mar 2001
Location: Virginia Beach
Posts: 25,889
Likes: 0
Received 5 Likes
on
5 Posts
CI 3-5-6-7-8 Veteran
I had a rear one go bad from hitting a bump at high speed on the highway on the way back from Cruise-In V... I got off the highway and started to hear to roaring, not real loud but there. Now with 52,xxx miles my fronts have some vertical play to them but no noise, I'm going to replace them soon. I have 6 track weekends on this car.
#19
Team Owner
Originally Posted by Warp Factor
Not sure I agree with this. I've replaced a wheel bearing, and had the one on the other side last for another 75k miles or more.
And as "2kbluestreak" the bearing engineer stated,
"bearings have a very wide life dispersion", which I take to mean that longevity tends to be all over the map.
My wife also works for a bearing manufacturing company, and they can take two bearings, same part number, and one might last 10 times as long as another in testing. As long as the lower life one meets the minimum testing specs of the customer (like GM), it's done it's job. Then, of course, some are just defective or out of tolerance in some way to begin with, or are screwed up when installed incorrectly by the automobile manufacturer.
On one of my cars, I've replace the hub assembly twice on one side. The other side is still fine at over 100 thousand miles.
Sorry, but I've never had wheel bearings go bad in pairs.
Not to say that it couldn't happen by chance.
And as "2kbluestreak" the bearing engineer stated,
"bearings have a very wide life dispersion", which I take to mean that longevity tends to be all over the map.
My wife also works for a bearing manufacturing company, and they can take two bearings, same part number, and one might last 10 times as long as another in testing. As long as the lower life one meets the minimum testing specs of the customer (like GM), it's done it's job. Then, of course, some are just defective or out of tolerance in some way to begin with, or are screwed up when installed incorrectly by the automobile manufacturer.
On one of my cars, I've replace the hub assembly twice on one side. The other side is still fine at over 100 thousand miles.
Sorry, but I've never had wheel bearings go bad in pairs.
Not to say that it couldn't happen by chance.
#20
Team Owner
And then there's the other extreme on some bearings. I'm at 115K on my OEM's.