Sealed Wheel Bearings: How Long Should They Last?

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How long should sealed wheel bearings last?

Wheel bearing cartridges and hubs are sealed and lubed for life so no maintenance is required. But if a vehicle is driven though hub deep water or mud, contaminants may get past the seals and enter the bearing.

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By Larry Carley
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A. Original equipment wheel bearings are engineered for a service life of more than 100,000 miles, and many are capable of going twice that distance. Even so, average bearing life can range from 80,000 to 120,000 miles depending on how a vehicle is driven and what the bearings are exposed to.

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Wheel bearing cartridges and hubs are sealed and lubed for life so no maintenance is required. But if a vehicle is driven though hub deep water or mud, contaminants may get past the seals and enter the bearing. Once this happens, the bearing is doomed to premature failure. Water breaks down grease, and abrasives scour away at the highly polished bearing surfaces. Eventually, lubrication breakdown and/or wear cause the bearing to fail.

Hard driving, specifically hard cornering, can also shorten the life of front wheel bearings. The ball bearings that are used in many passenger car applications can handle normal driving but not the extreme side forces that can be generated by racing or overly aggressive driving. Police cars and taxis are notorious for eating front wheel bearings depending on how they are driven.

In high-mileage wheel bearings, “fatigue spalling” may result in bearing failure. Fatigue spalling produces tiny cracks in the surface of the rollers and races and allow flakes of metal to break loose. The same type of cracking can also be caused by severe overloading or misalignment in the bearing assembly.

If a wheel bearing has developed looseness or is making noise, it needs to be replaced — the sooner the better, because a catastrophic wheel bearing failure increases the risk of losing a wheel. The same goes for rear axle bearings on rear-wheel drive cars and trucks.

A common symptom of a pending wheel bearing failure is noise from the vicinity of the wheel. The sound may be a whine, hum, rumble, growl, chirp or cyclic squeal that increases in frequency with vehicle speed.

But sometimes, wheel bearings can fail without making a squeak. Any noise that appears to be coming from a wheel should be investigated without delay.

Wheel bearing noise is usually proportional to vehicle speed, and may change when turning, or become louder or even disappear at certain speeds.

A dragging brake pad that’s rubbing against a rotor can often make the same sound, but it usually goes away when the brakes are applied.

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Customer Service: How It’s Done

Customer service should be your number one priority, and it all starts with the greeting.

Eric Garbe
By Eric Garbe
Eric Garbe is a graduate of Columbus State Community College with a degree in Automotive Maintenance Technology. He has extensive independent and dealership field experience as a technician and shop owner and is an ASE Certified Master Technician and former Adjunct Automotive Professor. He has been professionally writing automotive technical articles and documents for many years and in his free time enjoys restoring old cars and creating custom interiors and upholstery.
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This is always an important topic to discuss, because I consider excellent customer service one of the most important tools you can have to earn trust, respect and repeat business from the customers that come through your door. Whether that customer is do-it-yourselfer from across town or the professional repair shop across the street, your business depends on a solid relationship.It’s a subject that I am passionate about, and it’s one that many people are losing touch with. Whether you are communicating to someone in person, on the phone or using some type of social media, good customer service and bad can both exist. You can’t afford the latter, so this is the first in a series of topics which can and should be shared from the front of the shop to the back. No matter which role you hold, you represent the shop and yourself. Customer service should be your number one priority.First on the list is the greeting. From the second a customer walks in the door, they need to know you appreciate them coming in and how important they are to your business. First impressions are everything and here’s the correct way to do it each and every time: look them directly in the eye, smile and say hello!Of course, you can say “Good morning” or “Welcome to Joe’s Autocare,” but it should be a formal greeting and the most important thing is that you have smiled, looked them in the eye and recognized that they have walked through the door.You should always retain a formal greeting until you are on a first-name basis with a customer. Only once you have established that level of relationship is it OK to use the less formal greeting of “Hi,” followed by the person’s name.This greeting does more than just indicate respect and appreciation for someone walking through the door. Most likely there are customers both new and old who are in earshot of your conversation. For newer customers, this continues to build rapport and reinforce their positive view of your shop; they see that you demonstrate respect and treat everyone in the same manner. For repeat customers, even ones that have been coming for years, the greeting is important because the way you treat them is the reason they continue to come.And when a long-time customer comes in and you greet them with “Hi [First Name],” this indicates your appreciation for them and that you’re glad to see them as a person, more than just a customer. New customers that witness this will see that your repeat customers are comfortable enough to be on a first-name basis, another indication of the trust they have in you.

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