wheel bearing wears out way too fast!

jakes97gs · Jun 18, 2013

Hi guys, I replaced my front passenger hub assembly about a year ago because the bearing was bad, so I got on ebay and bought a hub assembly for like 60 bucks. the bearing was worn out already just a few weeks ago so I figured that's what I get for buying a cheap garbage part, and I dropped more money to get a moog hub assembly. about three weeks later that one was bad so I replaced it with a hub from advanced auto (their house brand) and now not even a week later this bearing is bad. I'm positive it has to be the car and I recently had/did a bunch of suspension work and I do need an alignment but for the most part everything is good. except (this is gonna sound horribly bad) I noticed when installing the moog hub my axle does not tighten fully on my passenger side, when I would go to torque the axle nut I couldn't torque it to nearly what it was spec'd at, it would go pretty tight and then skip the threads and loosen back up, so I just tightened it as much as I could and figured I'd buy an axle after I had a little more money. I discussed it with my dad and we came to the conclusion that a reasonably tight axle shouldn't destroy a wheel bearing as long as it's not slopping around or anything, but since the moog was trashed in a couple weeks and this advance auto hub in a matter of days I'm wondering if the axle is what caused it. Any input would be greatly appreciated, could the axle be my problem? other things to look for? thanks guys

WES_393 · Jun 18, 2013

The problem is the hub assemblies- They're just crap. I replaced both front hubs with Master Pro units from Oreilly and they both failed within 1k miles. They gained so much play that the caliper brackets ate into the brake rotors.

It sounds like you may have stripped your axle nut pretty good, so you might want to replace it in the near future. But there is no logical reason for that much torque on that nut. It's just to keep their Chinese junk in one piece. If you notice on Oreilly's Site they only suggest torquing that nut to hell with the cheap Master Pro bearings. The higher quality Precision and Beck Arnley hubs don't require it. :hmm:

So I would suggest getting a set of Precision hubs instead. Mine are still perfect after thousands of very bumpy miles. And when it comes time for an axle, avoid Oreilly like the plague. Many members including myself have had great success using GSP/ToughOne axles from Advanced.

jakes97gs · Jun 18, 2013

Ok awesome, after another lengthy discussion and attempting to understand the role of the axle nut with the hub assembly we came to the conclusion that there is no way I should have worn out that wheel bearing, especially in 5 days! I would have thought moog would have been better quality. come to think of it one of the guys that we bought a car from a while ago was talking about measuring bearings from the factory and it took 3 or 4 tries before he even got one with acceptable tolerances to install in his car. thanks!

Jeff99GS · Jun 18, 2013

Try a Timken bearing they always worked well for me.

On that center axle nut, can you add another washer on the axle to bring you back on to the good part of the threads? Or is there no good threads left?

Also how much psi in your tires? Running high psi can cause a lot of harshness to be transferred into the Hub assembly.
Sometimes contributing to premature wear. However in your case they are going bad too fast. I have to agree that most wheel bearings made today are all China Crap. Its hit or miss. I go to Federated Auto and get the bearing with a 3 year warranty for top dollar and they seem to last at least 3 years haha.

TSiAWD666 · Jun 18, 2013

You could also consider ceramic bearings, but I suspect those are out of your price range for this. I will have them on my track car shortly partially for the reduction in drivetrain loss but mainly for the alleged long term durability. If interested PM me and I'll point you to a place that can do them for our cars, but be prepared for some sticker shock

I would just order OEM otherwise. The quality of oem replicas is so bad I personally prefer to shell out the extra bucks for oem wherever possible... they just last a hell of a lot longer and are much less likely to fail prematurely.

RWD4G63 · Jun 18, 2013

This happens sometimes in the Nissan world, which I am more familiar with. Our solution? Put an impact gun on the axle nut and don't stop till the nut does. Works like a dream.

Wheel bearings HATE being undertorqued.

Lou98GSX · Jun 18, 2013

if your not getting the nut tight enough it will cause the bearing to fail . i put 2 moog bearings in the rear of my sons car and they are still going fine with no issuese .

jakes97gs · Jun 19, 2013

So i went and purchased a precision bearing from oreilly yesterday and went on a test drive of literally a mile and got back and the bearing was loose as can be. So out of curiosity I took a nut and bolt and a bunch of washers and torqued them so that they clamp on the bearing like axle would, and without getting much further than say 80 ft. lbs. looseness in the bearing pressed back in and it was as good as new. Therefore I am 100% positive that my stripped axle was my problem and the bearings do need pressure from the axle to stay together and healthy (at least the $100 and less hub assemblies) I am working on rethreading my current axle and if that is too big of a hassle I'll just get a new one. thanks again for all your help everybody!

Colt4G63 also · Jun 19, 2013

Yeah no kidding. This is news how?

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wheel bearing wears out way too fast!

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