I just put new wheel bearings in the front of my 87 GTA about 1 1/2 years ago and now I am thinking that I might have problem with the driver side wheel. I acted a little funny on the way to work, and after I got here, I got out and put my boot on the top of the wheel and gave a shove and what do ya know? The darn thing made that little "chunck" sound. What is the average life of these things? I know it is not hard to do and they dont run alot, maybe $15 bucks. What I want to know is how often does everyone here go through this. I have had this car for 2 years, and this is the second time for wheel bearing. What's up?

I also have to say thank you to everyone at this sight. I went through a bunch of the old posts and figured out the problem I was having with my O2 sensor. It works fine now, long story, but THANK YOU all just the same.

THANKS
CHRIS

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1987 GTA 350,rebuilt in 1998. new heads, headers w/y-pipe, 45,000coil, accel plug wires and cap&rotor, k&n, b&m shift kit and trans cooler, modified mass airflow sensor, manual fans switch. No time slip.

1993 Bonneville SSE ALL STOCK. 95,xxx miles and stil counting...

 

You should be getting more life from those bearings. Are the races seated properly? If they are not tightened properly (too loose or too tight) peoblems will result. Look for heat and wear patterns when you get it apart.

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91 Formula 305 TPI Stock
88 Formula 350 TPI Stock

 

another thing to consider is were the bearings packed right? it's easy to do, but alos easy to mess up if you don't know how to do it. did you use wheel bearing grease?

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ICON Motorsports
1st & 3rd

 

Chris,

1½ years might be just about right. Considering the way most of us use our cars, the Severe Service schedules generally apply. Which means you should have noticed the looseness when you cleaned and repacked the bearings after one year or 12,000 miles of service, right? That being the case, the bearings shouldn't be loose in the ½ year since you've done that.

Proper torque, relaxing, and preloading the bearings is also necessary to get the best life out of them.

I don't mean to be a complete smartass, but you really should repack annually if you drive like I do. The other benefits are that you keep a good handle on brake wear and general suspension/steering condition.

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Later,
Vader
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"No matter how hard you try you can't stop us now"
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0

 

I replace mine every 1 1/2-2 years.Make sure you replace the races also.I have seen people buy bearings and use the old races,it wont work.and dont tighten the nut to much.

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~mike~
1 superclean 86IROC-Z

 

I don't think replacing is necessary very often, but the repack is a good idea, or at least re-tightening. I'm pretty sure mine are original, and have 199,500 miles on them! I'll probably replace them next time I replace the rotors. I still need to find some good cross-drilled rotors!

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Working on:
'84 Z28 LG4 305
Added dual elec fans.
145 MPH IROC Speedo
Building 430 HP 350
using primarily GMPP parts.
Block is in shop!

Awaiting results from all 8 ASE tests.

Starting to look like the Kicker poster child!

 

The bearings might still be good they probably loosened up. Check the bearings visually for excessive wear or scoring. If still good clean and repack them before installing.

 

I'd agree that regular (I do mine every 2 yrs) removal, CLEANING (man they gotta be clean), inspection and repacking is the only way to go. Right now the vehicle I've got on the road and owned the longest has had the same wheel bearings in it for 12 years. I don't know if the bearings in the 81Z are original or not, but I work it pretty hard (I get about 12 to 14 mpg most of the time). The daily trip to work sees speeds of 75 to 80 mph and those 50 series tires gotta be turning pretty fast.

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Z's r Best