So for as long as I can remember my Sunfire has had problems with the wheel bearings. I constantly had to replace the wheel bearings because they were always going bad. So my question to you guys is what could be causing this problem? Is there some other part that may be bad (cv joint perhaps?) thats causing the problem? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
93 LT1 T/A 6 Speed
98 Sunfire GT (put to shame by the T/A)
Are you torquing the axle nut to the correct torque?
What brand are u using? If you are buying cheap, china crap they wont last long. You need to buy come BCA or some National wheel bearings, they are twice the price but they will actually last.
http://www.overkillengineeringmotorsports.com/
I am torquing them correctly yes. As far as cheap goes I'm not exactly buying the best of the best but the last one i got was literally dead within 2.5 weeks. So im thinking its not just the brand, its gotta be something more in depth than that.
93 LT1 T/A 6 Speed
98 Sunfire GT (put to shame by the T/A)
I have been told either use GM, or the cheap ones at AutoZone.
FU Tuning
Timken bearings all the way round here from autozone, going on 3 years. Still going strong.
"sometimes the respect is more important..."
If you have too much negative camber it can cause them to wear out faster. I run -2 deg. of camber on my car and have to replace my bearings regularly. I have had better success with the cheap ones from Advance and by also not installing that stamped gasket that goes in the back of the spindle.
Timken are prob the best bearings around never had any problems with them, watch out at autozone though there reman parts arent exactly up to specs sometimes.
are you making sure to replace the rear wheel seal???
Use the inner seal and I have been using Timken bearings or BCA National myself. Then 185ft/lbs on the CV shaft nut.
Cheap of the Cheap Murrays special and @!#$ons of torque and not one damn problem with them yet. The damn O-ring doesnt eve do anything.
Hmm I think i need more beer...............................yep sure do.
Thats the name, Timken. Ive been using those. As far as the camber, could my car being out of alignment have something to do with the problem? Because I think it is, but the thing is every time i went for an alignment they couldnt do it because i had @!#$ty wheel bearings lol.
93 LT1 T/A 6 Speed
98 Sunfire GT (put to shame by the T/A)
schmidty4343 wrote:Timken bearings all the way round here from autozone, going on 3 years. Still going strong.
I can't say this for certain without hard numbers, but there aren't too many people on this forum that have replaced more wheel bearings than I. I'm at a number well over 30 and 98% of those were the fronts.
Like (Zach) said, negative camber kills them quicker than anything. Run zero camber and a cheap one will last almost as long as a factory part if it's torqued to correct spec. If you need to run negative camber (for track, or autocross) like I do, then a factory part is your only option. Of the brands I've used Timken (a respected name in the industry) is the worst for a J-body. I've used two of them and one lasted less than 100 miles. The other Chinese made ones (Advance once carried them) were actually better, but they no longer carry that brand (can't remember the name).
Since I replace mine so often and can only use the factory part, I actually buy them from a local u-pull-it salavage yard. The price is $10 each vs. $150 for new one from GMPD.
FWIW, the GM hub problem is not only on the J-body. I run track with several C5 owners and their rear hubs have the same issue. The design which uses ball bearings just doesn't hold up to the heat generated. Other cars which use tapered roller bearings last 10X as long.
-Vincent K.
1998 Z-24
www.thscc.com
http://www.j-body.org/members/vkz24/
"Racecar spelled backwards is still Racecar"
I'm still on all four originals here...close to 9 years and almost 200,000km.
What am I doing wrong?
14.330 @ 96.37mph
Both fronts are Timken bearings on my 99 and have been for about 50,000.
PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO
What I’m saying is the Timken bearing will be fine if you do mainly street driving or run zero camber. In my experience (I have a lot of it as several members can attest) if you use a Timken bearing, add 2.5 degrees of negative camber, throw on a set of DOT race tires, and go to race track…they won’t last more than a couple of hours. The factory bearings I use, even used (I bring about 4 to the track each time just in case) will last three or four track weekends plus my daily street driving with 2.5 degrees of negative camber.
-Vincent K.
1998 Z-24
www.thscc.com
http://www.j-body.org/members/vkz24/
"Racecar spelled backwards is still Racecar"
BlownBlackZ wrote:I'm still on all four originals here...close to 9 years and almost 200,000km.
What am I doing wrong?
Well, in all fairness the sunfire did do quite well up until the wheel bearings. So far it has 240,000 miles on it and thats the ONLY major problem its had.....if you can even call that major. As far as the camber/alignment, i guess ill have to look into that. I'll get back to you guys when i get some work done on it. Could be a while though, being at college sucks.
93 LT1 T/A 6 Speed
98 Sunfire GT (put to shame by the T/A)
I had both front wheel bearing die at around 40k miles. Turns out the assclowns on the assembly line didn't install the axle seals. Typical GM quality...
I have bought 2 sets of 3rd gen spindle/hub combos (of wrecked/parted cars), neither had axle seals attached to the spindle like my 2nd gen did...
so maybe they just don't have them for some years?
VKZ24 wrote:What I’m saying is the Timken bearing will be fine if you do mainly street driving or run zero camber. In my experience (I have a lot of it as several members can attest) if you use a Timken bearing, add 2.5 degrees of negative camber, throw on a set of DOT race tires, and go to race track…they won’t last more than a couple of hours. The factory bearings I use, even used (I bring about 4 to the track each time just in case) will last three or four track weekends plus my daily street driving with 2.5 degrees of negative camber.
I can also confirm this. I was lucky if I could get two track days out of a set of Timken's before they died. The manager at my Autozone quit letting me exchange them as defective after about the 4th one
. I haven't been through nearly 30 bearings, but I've got to be pushing 18-20.
Mine are original on my 97 z24. only 87k on it but ive had engines, transmissions and cradles removed plenty of times axles pulled and retourqe the nuts. Done suspension work and everything. but maybe I dont drive it that hard. oh well.
