When to replace wheel bearings?

Kurt Sunday

Kurt Sunday

SCCoA Member
The SC I am rebuilding/restoring has 180+K miles on it. How long do the wheel bearings usually last? Should I replace them now that I have the car taken apart? Replacing the front means replacing the hub?

Thanks for your help?
 
Kurt Sunday said:
The SC I am rebuilding/restoring has 180+K miles on it. How long do the wheel bearings usually last? Should I replace them now that I have the car taken apart? Replacing the front means replacing the hub?

Thanks for your help?
Click to expand...
Personally, if I already had the suspension apart anyway, I would replace them.

When I had to replace the spindles on my car for the big brake upgrade, I rebuilt the entire front suspension and my car had less than 90k on it at the time.
 
With the wheel off spin the the hub. If it sounds and feels like an old fashioned roller skate wheel, replace it.:D That's actually what my old original 90 wheel bearings felt like. The replacements from a 94 with less than 100k felt really smooth.
 
If they spin freely and upon inspection the races and bearings look good, you could just repack them with grease.

frtbrng1.jpg


There is a clip that holds the two races together that is a little tough to remove. It looks like a "U" in cross section and must be lifted up at the split and then removed from between the two races. It is a little hard to see in all the grease. Be careful removing the grease seal on the inner part of the hub, since you will need to reuse your original one or try to find a replacement one (I have not looked for one) if it is damaged or you damage it upon removal.

Picture description, going clockwise starting with paper bowl.

Outer race and bearings (race towards spindle nut)
Cleaned hub
Inner race (race next to spindle)
Inner race bearings in cage
Grease seal (next to spindle)
Clip holding races together (This is the part that must be pried up from holding the two races together, so all this can come out of the hub. A small screwdriver can be used to get under the end and pry it out of the groove on the end of the races.)

I may have the races backwards, it has been several years since I had the hub apart. This was on an early (1989) style hub. I assume (always dangerous) that later years were similar.
 
gldiii said:
If they spin freely and upon inspection the races and bearings look good, you could just repack them with grease.

frtbrng1.jpg


There is a clip that holds the two races together that is a little tough to remove. It looks like a "U" in cross section and must be lifted up at the split and then removed from between the two races. It is a little hard to see in all the grease. Be careful removing the grease seal on the inner part of the hub, since you will need to reuse your original one or try to find a replacement one (I have not looked for one) if it is damaged or you damage it upon removal.
Click to expand...

Wow. I had heard rumors that the front hubs could be opened, but had never seen it before. I am still not sure how to accomplish what you show here, but it's interesting. Thanks for the picture!
 
Kurt Sunday said:
The SC I am rebuilding/restoring has 180+K miles on it. How long do the wheel bearings usually last? Should I replace them now that I have the car taken apart? Replacing the front means replacing the hub?

Thanks for your help?
Click to expand...

The front wheel bearings on my '95 are still original with 193,000 miles. I had to replace both rear wheel bearings 2 - 3 years ago. Left side went out first, and then right side went out within 10,000 miles of it. The car had 170,000 to 180,000 miles on it then.
 
Sounds like inspecting them is the way to go. ;) Unless you just want to replace them. Of course, the new ones may not even last as long as the replaced ones.
 
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