To Gamble or Not to Gamble on Wheel Bearing Remaining Life

[Rickstah]

Greetings, all, haven't been around in awhile but nothing has been breaking and busier than ever with work and such. Anyway, going to do a front-end kit for the 2002 NB (LCAs, tie-rods, stab bar link...MIGHT replace strut assemblies) and I have been reading a lot about wheel bearings seemingly going out at fairly low mileage. 2002 with 158k on it, mileage doesn't sound like much but the years...however no noise or bad behavior that I can tell. I am dithering on whether to just get two new spindles/bearings and put on but my stupid thought is if there is no noise how quickly could it suddenly appear? And I just now jinxed it so it will probably show up 3 minutes after I finally get in bed after finishing all that, lol. Thanks for any perspective. I could just decide to replace the both assemblies but it really has been awhile and is good to be back in here fiddling around

 

[GlowBugTDI]

My 01 beetle had 265k up here in the rust belt and still had the original front bearings. Not saying yours won't go out, but...

They usually start whining/howling then progress as time goes on. You have a couple weeks to get a new one and install it (depending how much you drive). A few years back my dad (drives ~100mi a day) drove for over 3 months on a bad bearing in his 05 ford focus. Never did let loose lol. No, i wouldn't recommend trying that. I thought it was terrible.

 

[P2B]

I ran for a year with a whiny front wheel bearing because I wasn't sure which one was bad, didn't replace it until I could actually feel some play. It never got annoyingly loud.

I never fix things that aren't broken unless it's obvious failure is imminent...

 

[Fahrvegnugen]

I went for 8 months with a very loud original bearing at 170k and decided to change it when the car suddenly would veer off course. I got used to such a loud noise I didn't even notice it, just figured the car was loud and turned up the radio. Probably better to just replace bearings now and you can avoid needing spindles. I thought spindles would be easier but they're too much more expensive.

 

[jmodge]

Let it ride Clyde

 

[Genesis]

My kid's 03 (originally mine) has the original bearing in it and is pushing 300k miles.

It's to a material degree how badly you treat it but also to a large degree blind luck. Usually the seals go first, then the bearings. I have a truck out in my driveway that has a leaking pinion seal I now need to replace -- it has under 100k on the clock. Lose a seal on one of those bearings and pretty quickly the bearing gets destroyed. Don't and it will run just fine for a VERY long time.

 

[Andyinchville1]

I bought my car when it had about 210000 or so miles on it

I don't recall the previous owner saying anything about wheel bearings and I don't remember seeing any paperwork on it but I drove the car close to the three hundred thousand mile mark before I head to change out wheel bearings because one was making noise.

The fag brand wheel bearing i user lasted probably 80000 miles and then it had to be replaced again.

Sadly the replacement is showing signs of noise after only 40,000 miles.

I'm not sure why the first one's lasted so long and I've been having bad luck wheel bearing wise more recently.

I am going to buy wheel bearings from I think Cascadia Auto or one of those places that has a lifetime replacement warranty on any parts you buy from them. ...they guarantee all parts you get from them for life ....even wear items ( well I guess technically everything is a wear item but their parts guaranteed for life ? .... that's beyond cool ... purchase once abd never worry about the part again other than just labor and maybe some shipping ...

When the original wheel bearing was going bad I admittedly drove on it for a good number of miles after the noise started .... I would dare say thousands and thousands of miles...

It started getting really bad though .... howling to the point where I thought about wearing earplugs and I knew I had to make a change ..... I was just so busy working I didn't have time but then again I didn't want to break down in the middle of the road on the middle of a run so I got it done.

Looking back I was probably a stupid thing to do letting it go for so long I'll probably order a set of bearings today because one of the bearings is going bad in the front end and I guess I'll just have to get them replaced again....

I may just try a set of OEM vw wheel bearings if they're available .... I want something that lasts as well as my first set did

 

[jmodge]

Fcpeuro has the lifetime warranties I believe

 

[oilhammer]

Wheel bearings fail from stress typically, not mileage (at least, not "non-severe" high mileage). You can smack a pothole on a car with 15k miles on it and by 20k the bearing is howling. Or you could not smack into potholes and drive 300k+ miles and never have an issue.

Some cars have unusually weak wheel bearings (like Subaru) that fail frequently, as it must not take much to take one out. We maintain a fleet of Foresters (awful, AWFUL, pieces of crap) for a medical courier company, and they tear through the rears like a fat guy through cookies. But the same company also has a bunch of fake Jeeps (Patriots), some Nissan Rogues, and some Focuses, and none of those eat wheel bearings like the Foresters do.

 

[burpod]

i probably wouldn't bother, unless the spindle/wheel bearing housing is horribly rusty and looks like complete garbage. unless you're driving it a ton, it could easily last another 5 yrs. like oil hammer said, you could put new ones in, hit a pothole, or make a user error, or get a crappy new bearing, and end up doing the job again soon after. leave it be

 

[Ovrhill]

Have a front passenger side bearing that needs to be replaced on an 06 Golf with 146K. Was thinking that I should probably do both fronts at the same time. Now I'm not so sure.
Any thoughts?

 

[benshaw]

spin the wheel

 

[Ovrhill]

Driver side seems ok for now. Maybe I should just leave it alone.

 

[akjdouglass]

Fix_Until_Broke

 

[csstevej]

^^^^^^what he said. Don’t look for problems that aren’t there. I changed three rh wheel bearings due to potholes before I changed one on the drivers side. My Car currently has 440,xxxish miles on it......

 

[Ovrhill]

^^^^^^what he said. Don’t look for problems that aren’t there. I changed three rh wheel bearings due to potholes before I changed one on the drivers side. My Car currently has 440,xxxish miles on it......

Yep. Over thinking things again.

 

[akjdouglass]

Nothing wrong with thinking. You're not alone in wanting to keep everything in tip-top shape, it's just that some are better at knowing which parts require regular attention and which parts can be "ignored" until repair/replacement is needed.

Fix_Until_Broke is a username of another member here on TDIClub .

 

[BobnOH]

Those bearings could go another 200k miles. Never having been in there, on many cars it's awfully convenient to change them whilst doing anything with the spindle.

 

[Zak99b5]

To jump on the pile, drive them until they fail. They go sloooooowly and give plenty of advance warning. When they are growling loudly on turns, order the bearings (no CRAP!) and get the Harbor Freight wheel bearing tool kit. Replace at your leisure.

Once they allow rocking, I'd change them toot sweet, though. When I just did my rear suspension (yesterday), I noticed that the left wheel rocked a good bit—like half an inch. Replaced it today in about an hour, from tools out of the shed to tools all back in. Fronts, of course, take longer.

 

[Ovrhill]

Have done the rear bearings on Mk4 in the past. Not too bad. Never attempted the fronts. Looks like a couple of different methods on Youtube.

 

[csstevej]

Get the harbor freight tool and lube the jack screw with some grease…. It works well.
Also get the 5 LB slide hammer kit…..three wacks and it’s off……
You can also rent/borrow form most auto parts stores , for me I’ve got 5 Mk iv’s so it was worth it to me to buy the tools

 

[Ovrhill]

I'll give it a go. Appreciate the input.

 

[Zak99b5]

Having specialty tools is handy. For the rear wheel bearing, I used an impact screwdriver, cold chisel (not THAT special), HF rear disk brake retractor tool, and a three/two-jaw puller.

Without these, it would’ve been a MUCH more difficult job. As it was, it took more time to get the tools out and put them away than to replace the bearing.

 

[Rickstah]

Great comments, thanks! I have a downhill street close by and I made a couple of trips coasting down it with the engine off, can't hear any untoward noise to save my life even when turning the wheels so I am going to let it ride for now. I may change my mind if I get it all pulled apart for the brake job/front-end bits and it looks pretty horrific, lol, hopefully it won't. Just out of curiosity, anyone sourced the whole knuckle assembly? I get my stuff mostly from ID or Rock Auto, probably the Moogs at some point...thanks again for the comments.

More Information for MOOG LK007

www.rockauto.com

 

[akjdouglass]

Tires can make one think a wheel bearing is bad, too. I reluctantly replaced tires on a 1-ton farm truck because I was commuting to a jobsite 70 miles away. Ride improved drastically and all the weird growling noises went away. One front tire had a busted sidewall I'd been ignoring because it was never driven off the farm until I used it for that particular job.

 

[Retired Vet]

FWIW, I have an 02 Jetta with 158000 and my right rear bearing just went. Moved from west coast to NY and the rust here has taken a nasty toll. Seems to me that, unless $ is the driving factor, might as well replace while doing the rest of the front end work if there's any question.

 

[Rickstah]

FWIW, I have an 02 Jetta with 158000 and my right rear bearing just went. Moved from west coast to NY and the rust here has taken a nasty toll. Seems to me that, unless $ is the driving factor, might as well replace while doing the rest of the front end work if there's any question.

Curse your Jedi mind tricks! Just when I had decided...

 

[Zak99b5]

Curse your Jedi mind tricks! Just when I had decided...

If your bearings are silent as you said, then they aren’t questionable. I would never consider replacing a known-good wheel bearing just because “I’m in there.”

 

[Rickstah]

If your bearings are silent as you said, then they aren’t questionable. I would never consider replacing a known-good wheel bearing just because “I’m in there.”

Valid point. We travel a lot to New Mexico and my wife shows dogs all over so she is on the road a lot and I can't afford to slack off on maintenance, even though this is my car...which I use to pull my motorbike to far-off places, etc, so for me strategic replacement in a situation like this has its appeal because although I'm no genius I have been around enough to know bearings don't always go out slowly given sketchy road conditions and not having to repeat the teardown process also has its appeal since my hands are a bit beaten up from 43 years of computer/graphics careers, lol. I also hate pressing in bearings and the like. Installing the whole assembly is a massive timesaver, too. Will know more by Wednesday when I start the teardown. Thanks.

 

[Stupendous60]

I

Great comments, thanks! I have a downhill street close by and I made a couple of trips coasting down it with the engine off, can't hear any untoward noise to save my life even when turning the wheels so I am going to let it ride for now. I may change my mind if I get it all pulled apart for the brake job/front-end bits and it looks pretty horrific, lol, hopefully it won't. Just out of curiosity, anyone sourced the whole knuckle assembly? I get my stuff mostly from ID or Rock Auto, probably the Moogs at some point...thanks again for the comments.

More Information for MOOG LK007

www.rockauto.com

I put the Moogs LK007 from carid on my NB automatic and found the rotors do not seat correctly on the hubs. The rotor holding screw can't be used...And I immediately got/get a woo woo woo @around 45mph...........For the next one, I bought a bearing hub install kit on ebay and put new bearings on the spindles I had taken off .