Wheel bearings help

"ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability" (italianjobr53)
12/28/2019 at 15:01 • Filed to: None

3 out of 4 wheel bearings are like that. I had replaced em about 3000 miles ago, they are the normal SKF bearings bought from rockauto. I did do 2 3 autocross event with them but I don’t think they should die after that many... Any idea as to why my car is eating through the bearings ?

DISCUSSION (31)

Boxer_4 > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 15:22

Unit bearings or press-in type? I had a bad Timken unit bearing from Rock A uto before that lasted ~30k of normal driving.

VincentMalamute-Kim > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 15:22

Is your car modified? Lowered? Spacers? Wide wheels? Wrong offset?

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Boxer_4
12/28/2019 at 15:24

Unit bearings, I did not have to press them in.

The Vette still drove but the whole rear end would hop side to side under acceleration

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > VincentMalamute-Kim
12/28/2019 at 15:24

Its a stock C5 Z06 apart from a transmission brace. Not lowered, no spacers, stock wheels with stock width tires.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 15:26

Tires all balanced?

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
12/28/2019 at 15:35

Tires have not been balanced since I bought the car, no :|

But I hadn’t felt any telltale unbalanced wheel vibration either (I had a lot of those in the Mini so my bum is well versed in picking up them vibes)

VincentMalamute-Kim > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 15:44

I can’t calculate the statistics for getting three bad bearings in a row. It’s gotta be really low but still possible. M aybe it was a bad manufacturing batch. Try another brand?

I don’t have anything else.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > VincentMalamute-Kim
12/28/2019 at 15:49

I can get them replaced under warranty from rockauto which is what i’ll probably end up doing but then they would be SKF bearings again...

Boxer_4 > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 15:55

Based on the info you posted throughout this thread, that does seem like quite an early failure. SKF is a respected name, but nobody is immune to bad products on occasion. ( 3 at the same time does seem odd though) . Still, my Timken failure led me to put an OEM NTN bearing back i n its place.

I could possibly see these taking some damage if they required some force to get into place. It would take quite a bit to do that though.

brianbrannon > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 16:25

Most likely incorrect torque on the axle nuts

VincentMalamute-Kim > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 16:26

Yeah, I think I’d go with another brand. Your time is probably worth more than the cost of the bearings. Although y ou’re probably really good at replacing them. I’d rather not be doing that every other weekend.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Boxer_4
12/28/2019 at 16:30

Yeah, I did not have to use any force to change em....and I did torque em to spec

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > VincentMalamute-Kim
12/28/2019 at 16:31

I would rather not either but since its not my DD I think i’ll give SKF another chance, it is quite a reputable brand after all...

I can live with replacing them twice again time-wise too

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > brianbrannon
12/28/2019 at 16:32

Well, I did buy new nuts and torque them to spec according to the repair manual + one of the bad bearings is from the front which has no axle nut.

Boxer_4 > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 16:48

On or off the ground? With Subaru, they want you to torque the axle nut with the car off the ground.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Boxer_4
12/28/2019 at 17:33

Off the ground

RacinBob > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 18:35

I’ve had OEM Dodge Omni GLH bearings fail after a single autocross, then fail again after replaced. They were ball bearings and I had to go with Timkin roller bearings to get something that lasted. Are the stock bearings roller or ball?

Something that confuses me is that those appear to be the type where the CV axle stub goes through. If true, why are they used on the front and rear? I would expect a convenitonal spindle on the front..... Did you misspeak?

If they are of the right type, I wonder if they are counterfit?

RacinBob > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 18:43

Is your model a C4? Here’s an interesting string . https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/autocrossing-and-roadracing/4019037-timken-wheel-bearings-my-opinion-2.html

Kinja'd!!!

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > RacinBob
12/28/2019 at 18:48

Im not sure if these SKF bearings are ball or roller, i’ll look it up.

The CV does not go through the one in the video, it is for the front. I guess they could be counterfeit however they were bought from rockauto

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > RacinBob
12/28/2019 at 18:49

Mine’s a C5. The bearing seems to be the press-in type for the C4 where as its a hub assembly for mine.

RacinBob > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 18:57

Are the bearings the same front and rear? By the way, if they are sealed, I would run whatever the forums say that works.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > RacinBob
12/28/2019 at 19:02

The forums seems to be fine with these SKFs so thats thats why im im perplexed...

Te rear ones have the splined hole for the CV and the front don't

RacinBob > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 19:17

If that is the case, then the axle torque is a non issue. It looks like you overloaded them and they failed.

It appears SKF have a g ood reputation, so you might send them to SKF on the odd chance that they would tear them down or advise you if they were counterfeit.

sn4cktimes > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/28/2019 at 19:41

Angular contact bearings would probably hold up better as they can be pre-loaded and handle “ moment” loading really well and the pre-load takes out both axial and radial slop. Even better if you can use 2 in a back-to-back configuration. But I’ve never seen them used that way as wheel bearings before. I’ve only ever destroyed the entire hub and changed the entire “unit” out.

Roller bearings tend to handle radial loads quite well but can be sloppy for axial loads (along shaft). Ball style (6000 series) handle axial loads really well, but can have play radially. SKF, NTN, Timken, FAG are all generally really good bearings. But if they’re stock equivalent they might not be up to what you’re asking out of them for autocross. I’m not sure which would be better in your scenario.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > sn4cktimes
12/28/2019 at 20:48

I’ll get these replaced under warranty assuming that this was a bad batch...

Long_Voyager94 > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/30/2019 at 07:02

Honest answer.

All replacement wheel bearings are junk.

I’ve had SKF, Timken, National, etc all go to hell on my daily drivers in under 5k miles. The last time I bought wheel bearings at a parts store 5 out of the 6 they had were bad right out of the box!

I’ve since switched to the cheapies off Rockauto. So far I’m over 25k miles and haven’t had an issue.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Long_Voyager94
12/30/2019 at 08:16

Lol!

Long_Voyager94 > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/30/2019 at 10:00

I didn’t find replacing wheel bearings every 1-3k miles very funny.....

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Long_Voyager94
12/30/2019 at 10:10

Ooh I bet.... I'll buy cheapo parts if the warranty replacements die as well

Long_Voyager94 > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/30/2019 at 12:05

I have L&S Automotive in my van currently, $18/each for the hub assembly. They had a 1 year warranty, never needed it.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Long_Voyager94
12/30/2019 at 12:39

I’ll see if I can find some for the Vette

Thanks!