I have put 2 wheel bearings in the front passenger knuckle recently, and the last time i did the hub and lower ball joint too. everything was aligned and the car drove great, but almost immediately, the bearing was making a slight squeaking noise and now there is play. last time it looked like the bearing was trying to push it's way out of the knuckle, past the retaining clip. so i cleaned everything up and made sure the 2nd bearing went in perfectly.
has anyone else had this problem?? i'm guessing maybe my knuckle is damaged or my axle is too long, but really i have no clue. i haven't even changed the oil since the bearing, yes less than 3000 miles. i'm not pulling it apart just yet, but when i do i'll post pics. the driver side has been fine for 2 years, but the passenger side is eating these suckers. any insight would be great, thanks.

 

Are you using OEM or aftermarket bearings? It could be that the diameter of the bearing is incorrect.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wiZCo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you using OEM or aftermarket bearings? It could be that the diameter of the bearing is incorrect.</TD></TR></TABLE> Also installing them wrong will nuke them fast.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ***$nyper &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Also installing them wrong will nuke them fast.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was also thinking that they may not have been pressed in properly, or that the seat is screwed up from an inproper install.

 

using SKF bearings from advance (partsamerica.com), have a lifetime warranty, so i'm going to take advantage of that. good brand name i've used on the job. pretty sure it's the correct part # and diameter, unless my knuckles have been swapped out. but i'm running the Si brake calipers, ball joint, hub, etc.
my nephew drove the car a little while before all of this and had bent the LCA. it was replaced, but i'm wondering if he damaged the knuckle too. but would that even cause this? when i installed the last bearing, it went pretty smooth, and everything spun nice on the bench and on the car.

 

It was probably pressed in wrong, honda tools cost $200 for just the ones to do the wheel bearing. was it pressed in on the center or did you use the old bearing to press the new one in?

 

How are the hubs, are they within spec?

 

if it started making noise almost instantly i can almost promise its the pre-load. this means the torque of the cv axle nut.

if you dont tighten it to specs (or atleast tight as hell) it will allow runout of the bearings on the race. what i do if im doing one at the house without air tools is torque the nut down as tight as i can, drive it a few miles, torque it down again, and repeat a few times and finally use a long cheater pipe on the breaker bar to torque the hell out of it, and stake the nut.

on the other hand, if you over-torque the nut the pre-load is too great and the bearing will burn up quickly. this is much harder to do than under torqueing though.

to check axle lenght jack the car up and put a jackstand under the control arm to load the suspension, make sure you can move the axle a hair. my sedan is sitting ON bumpstops and its not a problem, so unless you are very very low or got some cheap axles that werent built to specs it shouldnt be your problem.

 

i torqued the nut to 134ft/lbs, or whatever the manual said. i've checked it and it's still tight, still to spec. i know it's not rocket science, but if the honda dealership has special tools for it i may just take the parts to them next time.

anyone else have an idea why my car is eating wheel bearings??

 

FYI guys, my nephew just told me that when he had the car there was an incident with the front right wheel and a brick chimney in the snow. i believe the knuckle is bent slightly, with the knuckle ID on the wheel bearing being pinched a bit. i'm going to remove everything and 'relieve' some metal with a BFH and my dremel tool. should have progress pics tonight

 

knuckles are cheap, might as well put in a good one.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xci_ed6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">knuckles are cheap, might as well put in a good one.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would recommend this as well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zrickety &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my nephew just told me that when he had the car there was an incident with the front right wheel and a brick chimney in the snow. </TD></TR></TABLE>

wait.. how did your nephew hit a chimney with his car..

 

i have the same deal, i'm using an advanced auto bearing that i replaced once in february and i started hearing noise a week ago? i had the bearing pressed in at a machine shop so i dont know if it was done wrong or not. but it spun fine when i got it back and on the car too. i drive a total of maybe 10 miles a day and on a rare occassion take it out of town, 50 - 100 miles depending on where i'm going, nothing crazy.

 

did you hit anything? a bad pot hole? any reason it went bad in february or just alot of miles?

 

the roads here are extremely shitty, especially for a lowered car with stiff suspension. i havn't hit any curbs, cars, small animals,pedestrians or anything rediculous. as for the bearing going bad in the first place. i bought it with no engine for the swap so it hasnt been driven in three years and could have been the first time it has ever been done.

 

fwiw, i cleaned my knuckle up real good and dremeled the 'high' spots i found when putting the last bearing in. it's been a few weeks and so far so good. sounds like your first bearing failed from sitting so long. the current one could be from the install. i'd take the old bearing or current bearing back and try to get it replaced under warranty

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sanimalp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

wait.. how did your nephew hit a chimney with his car..</TD></TR></TABLE>

roflcopters. I'd like to know as well.

 

LOL...
here's the thing. the car had BFG comp ta kdw tires, which suck ***** in the snow. he was pulling into the unplowed, shared driveway at 'mach speed' so he wouldn't get stuck. it was late, and apparently he had been drinking too. the chimney is on the side of house by the driveway, and he caught it. i was 'renting' the car to him, but he lost his job soon after that and i basically took the car back.
best decision EVER!!