Wheel bearing time bomb: will it go off?

[Snowman]

Hey everybody.

I am now positive that I need new right front wheel bearings, so I ordered a set that should arrive in a week. The only issue is that before that week is up, I need to drive nearly 800 miles. Until recently, the bearings only made noise, sort of a fast-pulsing humming kind of thing. After a 1600 mile round trip last week, there is now some noticable slop as well. I can grab the wheel with the car on the ground and shake it back and fourth really hard and hear as well as feel it clunk back and fourth a tiny bit. It's not much play, but there is definitely some, and it's gotten worse.

 

This brings up several questions: Should it be okay for another 800 miles? If not, what sort of failure might I expect, siezing at high speed or just a lot of slop? What else could get fubared if they do decide to take a dump on me at 75mph? And finally, there probably isn't anything I can do to prevent the bearings from self-destructing if they decide to, is there?

 

Any insight would be most appreciated, as I would like for my car and my self to get there in one piece.

Thanks.

[TheSubaruJunkie]

The bearings have a 20% chance of making it. Thats if you live in the Lower 48 where the freeways are straight and cruise a constant 60mph. There in Alaska, on your roads... there's a 5% chance you'll make it that 800th mile. Do you have a parts car? It might only be one bearing, and if thats the case you can remove the entire lower steering hub, and install that on the sube to limp it along. I had to do that with a brat.

 

If the bearing fails, your looking at a siezure. It wont do much harm to anything but the bearing, but it will leave you stranded and the car un-drivable. Also, at that point, when the bearing is that bad and destroyed, it makes it a pain in the rump roast to remove.

 

-Brian

[All_talk]

As the bearing gets worse it will be less willing to roll and it will impart more load on the outer race, at some point it will spin the outer race in the hub... the hub will then be junk (well there is a shadetree trick if its not to bad). In fact if you have noticeable play it may have already done this. 800 miles is a long way to go waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Gary

[northguy]

By the time you hear it howl like a banshee, it's too late. I've seen the hub so hot that the car had to be parked for hours before it could be worked on, and then, as others have said, the mess of getting the fused conglomerate parts out of the hub is more problem than its worth. Sit tight and enjoy your time off until it comes. You can always use my garage to work in if UAA has shut down by then.

[ezapar]

They won't necessarily seize. They will go out randomly. I've had two go on me. The first was as I was leaving Evans Creek in my old green hatch, had to drive 75 miles at 25 mph as it went CLACKITY BANG CLACKITY BANG! the whole way. Never did seize, but I expected it to and so gripped the steering wheel like crazy. (Arms hurt bigtime the next day)

 

 

The ones on my current hatch just went. Drove it for almost a year with the slop you describe and the loud grinding noise. Drove it to Portland at least 2 times, several hard core 4X trips. Finally went about 2 blocks from my house. Again, didn't seize, just that loud clacking and banging all the way home.

 

You got AAA?

 

EZ

[northguy]

AAA in Alaska means we'll get a tow truck to you sometime before the plow truck pushes you completely off the road, or just after the bears clean up the carcass, or about the time the mosquittoes draw the last drop of blood... Some stretches are so desolate a guy could sit there for a day without seeing someone go by, and then to get someone to stop in the middle of nowhere in a state with the most guns and alcoholics per capita than anywhere else in America?

[GeneralDisorder]

The bearings are pretty easy to get in and out - last two sets I've done, I did with the hub still on the car. A brass punch helps a lot. If you have to, get a grease needle, and squirt fresh grease in the bearings (remove the seal to get better access). Or just pull them out, grease them good, and put them back. I just grease needled the ones in my wagon, as the grease in there looked pretty munched. The bearings aren't making noise yet, but it sure gives me a little peice of mind to know there's decent grease in there. And I was changing an axle anyway, so it was a natural thing to do.

 

If you had to do it, changing them on the side of the road isn't out of the question, as long as you have a copper or brass hammer, and a brass punch to drift the old ones out, and pound the new ones in. And all the other usual tools

to change an axle....

 

Used ones from the JY wouldn't be a bad idea to have as spares for your trip....

 

GD

[Snowman]

Hey Matt,

 

If I picked up a set of bearings, could we swap 'em out in your garage this saturday while we're working on your brat?

[northguy]

Sure thing. If you need any specialty tools, I may not have them, but I've got the basics covered. Give me a call this afternoon/evening.