Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewwynn
Bearings can last forever. I wouldn't preemptively replace them.
Recently I've discovered the main cause of bearing failure is impact. Not time or miles. Pot holes basically...
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That fits with my experience as well.
But moreso than potholes, I think the use of hammers when working on suspension components damages bearings. Standard practice industrywide though ... creates more work down the line. Do it all the time, nothing to worry about, the hammers make it so easy and fast, 'nuff said ... Easy to think that way if you only work on other peoples cars where you don't see failures down the line, or if you don't keep you own cars long enough to see the longer term consequences of the impact damage.
I always think of bearing surfaces as being made of glass - i.e., hard, strong, but brittle, when working around them. I'll use pry bars, pullers, and light hammer taps on the right spots - making sure the force is not transmitted through the bearing surfaces.
And I've never ever had a wheel bearing fail on any of my cars (now with an average mileage of around 150k miles in my fleet). And only once about 20 years ago had CV joints fail. Keep bearings greased, clean, and avoid impact and they will outlive most things on any car.
EDIT - but I'm not talking about things like alternator bearings that get hot, lose their grease, do wear out, and are worth replacing based on mileage if the alternator is already apart. Similar with pulleys - once they lose their grease ...