Front Wheel Bearing Failure

[bikermike]

On the last couple of drives I heard some intermittent noise that I was trying to isolate. It would occur when rolling, but not always. When it did happen it made no difference if the car was in gear or not. Engine rpms made no difference, I even rolled downhill with the engine off to confirm. Braking had no impact the noise either. Sometimes steering the car left and right would trigger it, but not every time. The noise was a cross between a bunch of bolts rattling in a coffee can and a far away screeching bird - not super loud.

I went out for a 30 mile drive yesterday and didn't hear a thing. I couldn't make the noise appear. I tried aggressive cornering, abrupt braking, quick steering at high and low speeds...Nada, Zip, Nothing...until the last 5 miles or so. It just showed up coming downhill towards home. I suspected it was a wheel bearing.

I got home and removed the center cap on the driver's side hub and saw a bunch of gummed up grease and some metal pieces from a mangled outer bearing. I'll be taking it apart this evening. I'll post some pics.

I replaced the bearings and races a bit over a year ago and have logged less than 4000 miles.

I'll be looking for input on what could have gone wrong.
1. Did I just get a bad bearing?
2. Did I tighten it too much or too little? - I followed the torque specs in the wiki and backed off a bit to install the cotter pin.
3. Did I use too much or too little grease? - I used a Lisle Handy Packer http://www.lislecorp.com/divisions/prod ... roduct=192
with Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/Mot ... rease.aspx

Is there is difference in "30204" bearings depending on intended use? I noticed that the same p/n is listed as both a wheel bearing and a transmission bearing by different manufacturers.

The passenger side seems to be behaving ok. All 4 front bearings were replaced at the same time.

Time to get greasy...More to come...

[Linda]

Kind of sounds like the noise my car was making too. I know the right rear bearing needs replacing, but I never knew what a bad bearing really sounded like or when it could happen. Thanks for providing some clarity. Do you think the screeching was the race getting loose?
Linda

[pebbles]

When you get it apart and clean, check to see if that race is seated in the drum completely. Race and bearing are matched, so do not interchange them, but that could just be folklore.
Could have been a mismatched bearing and race.
May have been dropped at some point as well.

[dbrick]

Even though I've done it at least a hundred times, I always sweat the bearing adjustment, thinking was it too tight, too loose etc. Sounds like you did it right.
IMHO, unless you REALLY screwed up the race or packing or adjusting the bearing, it was most likely a part issue, bad part or wrong part or a bad or mis-seated race. Overtightening the lugs can distort the hub, but I doubt you did that.
Loose bearings will usually be clunky, like a bad ball joint, but tight bearings feel fine then fail fast. Usual symptom on the road is a growling or rumble that changes as you turn the wheels left and right. Rear bearing is similar, but more subtle. when they really get bad, not so subtle.

I found that unless there is a very specific procedure in the manual, the simplest way to get the feel for the bearing adjustment is to bolt on a wheel and tire with no center cap and do the adjustment. You can tighten the nut to about 20 ftlbs or so while spinning the wheel to seat everything, then loosen it. As you tighten it again, move/shake the wheel to feel the play, adjust until there is none, then back off a flat.

[Toptech360]

.. . Race and bearing are matched, so do not interchange them, but that could just be folklore.
Could have been a mismatched bearing and race.
May have been dropped at some point as well.

I think that is folklore. However once a bearing and race have been installed they should stay together.

I would guess that bearing was either faulty, slightly crooked, or over tight or under greased. In my opinion a loose bearing would have grumbled and growled and probably (maybe) lasted longer... This thread makes me think I should inspect the bearings in my car!

[bikermike]

The fun continues. The driver side outer bearing is totally trashed. So much so that I can't get the hub and rotor off since the inner part of bearing is stuck on the spindle. I put the wheel back on with the lug nuts loose to use it as a slide hammer - no dice. I am going to track down a large pulley puller and see if that does the trick. Any other ideas? It spins (harshly) but I get no axial movement at all.

[Nissanman]

The angle grinder is your friend

[notoptoy]

Heat and cool with the pulley puller.
A torch is your friend!

[spaul]

Try putting your spare tire on the hub get a big hammer and carefully hit the tire hopefully loosening the stuck bearing.
I hope the spindle is not trashed.

Paul

[GeoffM]

You probably cant get an angle grinder in there. I'd try heat and force. If it's trapped in a worn groove on the spindle it's fubar anyway.

Edit: although the more intact the bearing is, the better we can diagnose the failure mode.

[Gregs672000]

I just remember from auto shop that you tighten the bearing nut until it is tight, spin it, then back the nut off to the first cotter pin slot and pin it. I have new bearings etc for the front but have not done them yet as I had no way of pressing out/in the race as I recall. It became one of those "guess I'll do this later" projects since there were no problems with what was in there other than being old. Hope you get this sorted out.

[Skyman]

I have some spare spindles if needed.

[bikermike]

Thanks for the advice... I know what I'll be doing this afternoon.

Some pics of the offending driver's side outer bearing:

bearing 1.jpg

bearing 2.jpg

[Gregs672000]

oh that's fuggly! I may have a spare spindle to two as well...

[bikermike]

Thanks. I have a spare set of spindles too. I am hoping I don't need to use one.