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Front Wheel Bearing Failure?

2K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  ROCKLAND VALLEY 
#1 · (Edited)
OK, I replaced my front wheel bearings back in Dec 2022. I only used her once since then, just because I was lazy and didn't feel like shoveling the 2" of snow we got in Dec. Other than that, we haven't gotten any real snow fall, so she has been sitting in the garage since then. Well today I had to get rid of about 6" of the stuff. I was going pretty good and I looked down and noticed the left side front wheel was wobbling a bit, like it did before I replaced the bearings. I didn't think much of it and finished up. As I was heading back to the garage the left front wheel fell off. This is the aftermath:

Automotive tire Fluid Wood Automotive wheel system Circle
Automotive tire Fluid Rim Automotive wheel system Gas
Grey Wood Silver Font Circle
Automotive tire Bicycle part Grey Rim Auto part
Office supplies Tool Table Wood Blade


The wheel shaft looks ok. The one bearing outer casing is broken. I could not find the other bearing race. Did I just get a bad bearing?

I am hoping it is just a bearing failure as I just want to get this fixed before Friday's next storm rolls in. All winter and nothing, and now this. Go figure !
 
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#2 ·
Might want to check the ID of the wheel and the OD of the shaft and make sure they're right for the bearing. Those bearings look like they aren't rated for a bunch of axial force so maybe some slop in the movement cause them to fall apart quickly. Also could've gotten unlucky with chinesium bearings and they just bought the farm, doesn't hurt to do a sanity check though...
 
#8 ·
Hydro, get in touch with me by eMail and we'll get you set up with replacements.

Never seen a failure like that on this bearing.

Only thing I can imagine is if they got over pressurized during greasing, but I don't know how that could happen if it was greased in the wheel (it should just run through the bearing). If done on a grease tool, maybe it would. In some cases though, we have seen new bearings that would build a fair amount of pressure before seeping grease through the bearing.

Happy to help get it resolved quickly.

Brian
 
#12 ·
Kept in the garage, which I do at the start of every snow season. She doesn't see freezing temps in there. Plus, not only did I hand pack the new bearings, but I also filled the wheel hub with grease before I mounted the bearings on the wheel, then after. I also put two pumps each side after the wheels were mounted to make sure there was enough grease in there (messy !!).

The right side has the same bearings and is still good, wheel spins as it should. I am going to monitor that one carefully to see if the bearings hold up (I think they will be ok).

I think it was just a weird, one off fluke occurrence. Even new parts fail.
 
#15 ·
I've seen this happen in several cases and it's almost always due to the installation procedure, although not insinuating that was the case here. Just reminding folks that are installing the bearings with a good 'ole hammer rather than a press to be sure to only drive against the very outer edge of the bearing. With the brittle material of the current C44499 OEM bearing, it doesn't take much of a tap on the inner race to cause the problem shown in the photos.

Bob
 
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