My rear wheel bearing keeps going out!

[VinhPham]

Can someone please help explain why my wheel bearing keep on breaking. I though these bearings are suppose to be packed and sealed...I don't get why they keep breaking. I replaced the right rear about 30k - 35k ago and now the left rear is out. I have 140k on the car total. I don't think it's because of the axle nut because I torque it down according to the new spec. Could there be a chance somehow it worked its way loose. I stake it when I torque them down last time I rebuilt my diff. SOS.

regards,

Vinh

[Stratocaster]

What kind of Rim are you running?
Is the car lowered?
Do you track the car?

So you got 105K out of the right rear, and now you have 140 on the left rear?

[VinhPham]

Stock wheels...it's lowered on H&R sport springs. which is about 1/2" in the back and 3/4" in the front. I do not track the car. I take it up to redline on occasion but not all the time and I am not a maniac driver.

PS: I'll probaly an alighment after I remove the hub and replace the bearings huh? Just had one done about 10K ago

[Stratocaster]

So you just had this side replaced 10K ago?

[VinhPham]

I had the passenger replace about 30k ago and the driver side is shot now....the car has 140k total. No accident what so ever...im the 2nd own at 68k and I haven't even curb it.

[JonBoy]

That sounds reasonable. Bearings generally fail fairly close together. If one went out at 130K, I'd expect the other to go out fairly quickly as well.

[Chris S]

My first S2000 had a rear wheel bearing go bad at around 30K miles, and I had stock suspension (but it was driven hard).

[lane_viper]

OK, stupid question, but how do you know if your rear bearings are going out? I'm wondering if mine's going out.

[VinhPham]

OK, stupid question, but how do you know if your rear bearings are going out? I'm wondering if mine's going out.

jack it up and hold your wheel/tire by 2 hands 180 deg apart from each other and shake it in different direction. If there's play in the vertical and horizonal axis...chances are...you've got a bad wheel bearing. Not to mention some noice associated when you drive.

[VinhPham]

I don't get why these wheel bearing go bad so quickly...I've had other hondas that make it to 200k or even 250k without an incident on the wheel bearing. I'm just curious if something is causing it fail prematurely or that's just the way they're design

[JonBoy]

140K on a set of bearings in a RWD sports car is pretty good. My Accord had bearings go out at 135K and they'd been bad for at least 30K miles (I just didn't know what it was, and neither did the Honda techs at first).

[VinhPham]

Do I need an alignment after the bearing replacement? I called the dealer and they said I don't need an alignment since it's in the rear wheel. What do you guys think?

[JonBoy]

Rear wheels need an alignment just as much as the front. I don't know what you do and don't have to pull to change out those bearings, though, so I can't say if you'd need one or not. If you're changing (or loosening) anything that controls camber/toe, you'll need to realign the car...

[VinhPham]

Rear wheels need an alignment just as much as the front. I don't know what you do and don't have to pull to change out those bearings, though, so I can't say if you'd need one or not. If you're changing (or loosening) anything that controls camber/toe, you'll need to realign the car...

I though so too. I basically have to pull the entire hub assembly off the car to press out the bearing. The catch here is that all the alignment adjustment points are at the chasis and subframe, not the hub. The hub basically gets bolted to the control arms tie rods. I have no Idea. I guess I'll just have to do it and see if the car pulls to one side or not. Or act funny in any way.

[repiv]

What torque are you actually using and are you using a reliable torque wrench? I have witnessed a couple of cars that came with the proper new torque and they still needed tightening. This would indicate that the style of driving has been responsible for applying extreme forces on the axle hubs. This has resulted in the axle hub and hub nut threads getting stretched. Re-torquing may work once or twice but ultimately, new 1/2 shaft ends and new hub nuts may be the only answer. However, on a car with that kind of mileage, I don't think the old parts owe you anything.

[VinhPham]

If I remember correctly...I think I torque my alxel nut at 220 foot pound. I'm pretty sure the torque wrench is calibrated at the time as CNC shop I was working for at the time had people come in to calibrate our on tools at the company's expense

[repiv]

At least that eliminates one source of error. The other error is the way the stake is done. The indentation must be made to hold the nut from unscrewing. That is to say, if the nut begins to move, the dent must be against that side of the axle slot. If it's farthest away from the slot, the nut can still move a couple of mm. This can translate into a loss of as much as 30% of the torque if the nut moves.

[VinhPham]

That's an interesting point you made there. I've always stake the axle nut smack dab in the center of the grove. That's propably something I should do when I put the new bearing in.

On a side note,

I'm at work right now so I don't have the service manual with me but do you need a bearing separator to press the bearing or is there a way to get around that. I have one but its mostly for use on smaller bearing such as the diff. No where as big as wheel bearing application. So i'm wondering if there's a way around this?

[repiv]

You need a bearing press to take the old one out and to put the new one in.

[KLN]

OK, how about this:
I bought my 2001 S2000 with 28k miles on it. Now it has 34k miles on it and this is the 3rd set of wheel bearings that have failed. WTF.