Really, really dead wheel bearing

by **The Roadie** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:28 pm

More pics as I take it apart, but I just had to catch a flatbed ride (free from AAA Premier) the last 125 miles or so back from SEMA. Wheel bearing had been noisy, and it got worse along the way to Vegas, but my experience is they just continue to make noise, and don't fall apart. By the time I made Victorville last night, it was wobbly. Snow and cold wind convinced me to not change it then, with the Timken spare I carry, but to spend the night, see what's up this morning, and then decide to use up my one 200-mile tow of the year.

It was not only wobbling, but the brakes were failing, and I could see in the light that it was tilting!

After the tow, I limped up my long driveway where I told the tow driver it wasn't necessary for him to venture.

by **fishsticks** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:35 pm

I lost a bearing on a Ford cargo van I owned a few years ago. The wheel looked just like that and it ended up welding the inner race to the spindle!

Anyone who's out there wheeling without AAA premier needs to do some serious budgetary review. One tow could eat up a year's worth of mod budget without it.

by **The Roadie** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 4:19 pm

Borrego is just over 100 miles from home, so it was an easy choice for me and Greg.

by **The Roadie** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 6:22 pm

How the wheel moved

Bearing failed internally - will send it back to the vendor for analysis, whether or not they give me a credit. It has a one-year warranty, but let's see if they weasel out of it.

Wheel was kept from falling off the vehicle by the rotor scraping against the inside of the brake caliper - it took about 1/4" of metal off one inside edge. Very similar to the way my broken rear axle was retained by the rear caliper when the c-clip failed in the Montrose, CO incident. Aluminum transferred from the caliper to the rotor and then to the brake pad, so even if I had changed the hub on the trail, it still wouldn't have braked well.

Spacer pushed up into caliper

First hint at where the damage was:

Rotor:

Floating part of caliper:

by **Mudwheelin** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 6:56 pm

OUCH! That is really really dead. How long till the beast is rolling again?

by **The Roadie** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 7:40 pm

I have all the spares necessary to roll tonight if I was wheeling tomorrow. But I came home early from SEMA so Mrs. Roadie glommed onto my time to do some repairs for her. I have another DD driver now so I can take the rest of the week on the Roadiemobile and maybe change struts as well.

by **Mudwheelin** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:19 pm

Id like to get another DD soon. Right now Im trying to figure out my 4wd problems. Thanks for helping with that btw.

YouTube Videos · by **Trail X** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:35 am

Dang Bill! How fast did it degrade from first noise to that? I think my last one went about 600 miles before I replaced it, but it never looked like that.

by **The Roadie** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:24 pm

JamesDowning wrote:... How fast did it degrade from first noise to that? ...

I was letting it go as an experiment. That's my story, anyway...

About 300 miles offroading in the Sierra Nevadas and Saline Valley, and about 700 miles pavement. Only been on a few months.

by **fishsticks** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:59 pm

The Roadie wrote:
JamesDowning wrote:... How fast did it degrade from first noise to that? ...
I was letting it go as an experiment. That's my story, anyway...

About 300 miles offroading in the Sierra Nevadas and Saline Valley, and about 700 miles pavement. Only been on a few months.

An experiment in what level of inconvenience it would take you to actually call a tow truck? :finger:

by **The Roadie** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 2:03 pm

fishsticks wrote:An experiment in what level of inconvenience it would take you to actually call a tow truck?

That's not far off, you know. I had to exercise judgement a couple of times to abandon any idea of hitting the Mojave Trail on the way home, even if I did start down it at two different points before thinking better of it. Also exploring my threshold of low temperature tenting with no firewood versus a $40 Motel 6 with heat and a shower. The sleeping's no problem. I just hate getting up in the cold and doing things. In the desert even if it freezes overnight, just wait until the sun comes up and you're back to 60 degrees in minutes.

by **TBNewbie** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 11:27 am

I just changed my front left wheel bearing. It was making allot of noise and vibrating above 70 kmh 45mphbut I put around 7000km/4500 miles on it since it started making noise.

by **The Roadie** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:40 pm

TBNewbie wrote:... I put around 7000km/4500 miles on it since it started making noise.

1) How much of that was pavement and how much was aggressive trail riding?

2) Whatever made you wait THAT long? :shock:

by **TBNewbie** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:03 pm

I waited because it started out barely audible and slowly got worse over a 5 week period and I have had noisey bearings that lasted alot longer than that. It got really loud in just one day Friday and I changed it Sat. It was about 6950km on road and 50km rough back road and easy trails.

by **v7guy** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:48 am

Bill, do you have a rough idea how many miles you had on the bearing before the noise?

by **The Roadie** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:09 am

Only 3-4000. I've gotta pack them off to the vendor for analysis. I may be rating them unacceptable depending on their behavior.

MY Youtube Channel · by **TBYODA** » Sun Oct 27, 2013 8:37 pm

The Roadie wrote:How the wheel moved

Bearing failed internally - will send it back to the vendor for analysis, whether or not they give me a credit. It has a one-year warranty, but let's see if they weasel out of it.

Wheel was kept from falling off the vehicle by the rotor scraping against the inside of the brake caliper - it took about 1/4" of metal off one inside edge. Very similar to the way my broken rear axle was retained by the rear caliper when the c-clip failed in the Montrose, CO incident. Aluminum transferred from the caliper to the rotor and then to the brake pad, so even if I had changed the hub on the trail, it still wouldn't have braked well.

Spacer pushed up into caliper
SEMA-11-120[1].jpg

First hint at where the damage was:
SEMA-11-121[1].jpg

Rotor:
SEMA-11-101[1].jpg

Floating part of caliper:
SEMA-11-126[1].jpg

This remind me of how much Matt's bearing was moving when we changed it on the way to Tecore IX. Matt you have other damage like Bill?

Offroad Trailblazers and Envoys