Wheel Bearings

"Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again." (sir-stig)
10/31/2018 at 12:26 • Filed to: Repairs

Just had three (3!) wheel bearings replaced under warranty on the Fiesta this past week, which is insane to me. Has anyone ever heard of this happening? I run stock wheels, and stock spare size for the winter wheels/tires.

I’ve never tracked the car, at most I take on/off ramps spiritedly but that’s about it.

DISCUSSION (25)

Chariotoflove > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 12:35

I had them replaced on one wheel of the K900 under warranty. Three seems improbable. Something must be going on there.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 12:41

Kinja'd!!!

i got nothing

but yeah... bearings shouldnt fail on a car new enough to still have warranty

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 12:43

Mine were going at 60k but I rallycrossed and tracked and generally beat the piss out of mine. Never heard of a babied one having it happen.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 12:44

How many miles?

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Chariotoflove
10/31/2018 at 12:45

Technically I brought it in for the front right, as it was super loud. I had my studded tires on so they couldn’t diagnose it, brought in my summer wheels in, they took it for a test drive and 3 were apparently lou der than they should be. It’s a 2014 that I bought new approximately 4.5 years ago, thankfully within drive train warranty still.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
10/31/2018 at 12:46

4.5 years old approximately , all I can think of is that the person who built my car fucked them up while installing them and they have just slowly gotten bad enough to notice.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
10/31/2018 at 12:47

just under 60,000 km

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
10/31/2018 at 12:49

I mean I’ve hit some bad potholes, but my wheels are still true I think so I wouldn’t imagine the bearing would be the first point of failure...

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 12:52

either that or ford cheaped out on the bearings

boxrocket > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 12:53

What size stock and winter tires are you running?

Urambo Tauro > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 12:57

Makes me wonder about the fourth bearing...

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > boxrocket
10/31/2018 at 12:58

The default sizes, 205/40/R 17 , 185/60/ R15. It comes with a full size spare with those dimensions, so that’s what I used for the winters.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Urambo Tauro
10/31/2018 at 12:59

Yeah, they did use some sort of remote listening device to catch the other 3, so I imagine it must not be making undue noise.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 13:01

How often do you get an alignment? I had mine done twice a year but I think you’re supposed to do one ever 20-25k miles, right? Maybe some poor alignments caused unnecessary stress on the bearings?

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
10/31/2018 at 13:04

They checked the alignment and it wasn’t perfectly balanced but still within acceptable parameters.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 13:08

Only thing I can figure is you got base fiesta/focus bearings or something ins tead of a higher spec one designed to handle the power of the ST? Final assembly of all fiestas in the US is the same plant.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
10/31/2018 at 13:13

Possibly. I guess I’ll hope for the best.

LongbowMkII > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 13:24

AFAIK it’s a ford thing. C1 based Mazda’s (particularly 5’s ) have bad bearings

CalzoneGolem > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 13:44

My PT would eat from bearings

RacinBob > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 13:48

They could be underspecified. I would lose the front bearings on my Dodge Omni GLH at every autocross until I replaced them with Timkin roller bearings.

Or else, I wonder what quality seals they use. If the bearings came out rusty, its the seals.

RacinBob > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 13:49

One other thought. Ford may have cheaped out on supply chain and are using some sketchy supplier for hub assemblies who didn’t exactly care where their bearings came from......

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 16:20

Idk, I’ve had “good” aftermarket bearings go to hell in 5k, it really doesn’t surprise me that a new car’s bearings would fail quickly, parts just don’t seem to last like they used to.......

Goes back to yelling at cloud...

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
10/31/2018 at 20:34

yeah thats low. I had wheel bearing go at 60k miles and then the other go about 15k later, but I think that was mostly to one rim getting banged, and never balanced properly.

Have you ever had an alignment and had one or more wheels be really off?

boxrocket > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
11/01/2018 at 00:56

Yeah, that’s less than 1% difference in circumference and diameter, so as long as the wheels and tires are round and balanced, I’d agree that you can rule those out.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
11/01/2018 at 09:06

When I first got the car I noticed my alignment was off, but I got it realigned pretty soon after that.