Ive just had my rear wheel bearing replaced as it was making humming noises. However, its my 3rd wheel bearing (OSR) in 18-20 months.
Could there be an underlying problem?
the first bearing lasted about 16ish months (was very noisy), second one lasted 1 month (noise only heard when car was jacked up and wheel was spun by hand)
Any ideas?
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Not fitted properly? Stub damaged? Obviously something is very wrong.
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Couple of thoughts: were the replacement wheel bearings genuine parts or aftermarket (usually not a lot of difference and I doubt even an aftermarket one would fail after a month although....). Who fitted them garage or DIY? Finally I'd go with aprilla's suggestion that the initial bearing failure has damaged the stub axle.
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The first one was carried out by a VW independent, second by a local garage, and the one the other day by another VW independent. I'm not too sure if the parts were genuine, but i kind of doubt it. Although I would have expected the two VW independents to use good quality parts.
Would a damaged stub axle have any other symptoms? Im thinking uneven tyre wear, strange handling?
Also, how easy/hard is it to replace a stub axle if it is indeed the problem?
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Golf VR6 stub axle replacement: I haven't done one on that specific car but looking at the Porter Manual it appears to be similar to all Golfs in that it is held on by four bolts only: fairly straightforward job once you've removed the brake disc.
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How would i go about seeing if it is the stub axle? If i remove it will i be able to 'tell' if its damaged, as from the above, it doesnt sound too difficult a job to remove & inspect.
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I'd start by looking for obvious scores in the stub axle. Compare/contrast with the stub axle on the other side. I'd also check that the garages that did the job didn't take the easy way out (which I doubt but it's not unknown) which is to replace the ball race and leave the actual bearing surface in situ. That would definitely explain subsequent quick failures!
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Have you got the standard alloys or something like 17"?
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I've got standard 15" BBS alloys on it, with a standard suspension setup.
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One possibility, which Aprilia hinted at, is for the stub axle to be bent. This would cause misalignment of the bearings which would result in rapid failure.
Some kinds of rolling element bearings can be so susceptible to misalignment that you have to consider the misalignment due to operational material elastic strain at design time; i.e. tiny misalignments can have large effects on bearing life.
If you have the rear hub stripped down, it may be worth taking the stub along to a local engineering jobbing shop, and asking them to check its straightness. Most ordinary garages won't have the necessary measuring equipment.
Number_Cruncher
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>>One possibility, which Aprilia hinted at, is for the stub axle to be bent.
Yes I agree.Though would go for incorrectly fitted bearing rather than stub axle being bent..I have only come across this once.ie bent stub/axle.. On a ford.Caused the bearing to overheat and sieze.needed new hub assembly after that.Price wise very expensive
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Steve
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Thanks for all the replies. I guess i have a few things to check. If I find nothing wrong with the stub axle, I'm going to assume a defective/poorly fitted bearing and hope for the best. Fingers crossed this new bearing will last longer than 12 months.
Would it be worth having the geomerty checked at the back? I've been told that it may be a wise move, but I'm not too sure as the tyres / handling seem fine.
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Don't forget to come back and tell us how you've solved the problem. I'm printing out this thread for my mechanic to view in relation to my VR6.
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Assuming the disc is not blue due to a sticking calipier and overheating the disc and bearing, I would pop into a look tyre tracking place and have the rear of the car checked out carefully even a 1 thou bend in a stub axle, which I doubt, till show up as either camber or tracking error in theat one wheel. Correct fitting and initial adjustment is important but 1 month to kill a bearing must have been relly overtightened. Good Luck, Come Back. Regards Peter
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