Wheel bearing keeps on collapsing! Help!

[anonymous-user]

Hi, basically the front right wheel bearing on my 51 Yaris was worn out and needed changing. As my normal mechanic was busy I went to the local garage but I was quoted a silly price (£170, 50 for the bearing and 120 for labour) so decided to wait for my own mechanic, the guy has a full time job as a engineer but he restores classic cars as a hobby at his own workshop, so he's really pro and knows what he's doing and naturally he charges much less than elsewhere.

Anyway I made a call to the local Toyota dealer and ordered the wheel bearing and a few other bits and bobs but after being told the wheel bearing was £94 I decided to source it from elsewhere, I ended up on eurocar parts .com and ordered a SKF wheel as I knew they ware a decent brand and was also the most expensive bearing for £60.

Eventually got the wheel bearing fitted by my mechanic and made my way home, everything seemed fine until the next day where I heard a really loud crunch while parking and I couldn't break nor could I turn the wheel and with a loud noise coming from the new bearing as I drove off.

Took the car to my mechanic and he confirmed the new wheel bearing had failed and it was the first time he has seen such a thing, so he said it must be the part, as I needed the car urgently we deiced to go to the nearest place to his workshop which happened to be eurocar parts and to my luck they only had the SKF bearing I had ordered the first time round. While I was there I explained the situation to the guy over the counter and he pretty much said it would be impossible to get my money back as they would blame it on my mechanic and bearings don't usually fail.

Anyway got the new bearing and got it changed but the day after to my horror I started hearing a humming noise from the new bearing and again another fking collapsed wheel bearing.


Right now I don't have a fking clue what to do, I'm not sure if it's either the mechanics fault or faulty batch of skf wheel bearings, although my mechanic is a top guy and he really does know his stuff and is currently restoring a classic M6, Lotus Elan and a Corvette. I've spent so much money and I'm totally broke, Eurocar parts have given me a retarded claim form to fill out for the first faulty bearing and the second one I have to go back to the showroom. I have no choice to pay the £94 for the genuine Toyota part and get the car fixed.

would appreciate some advice.

Cheers

Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 23 November 03:58

[dabofoppo]

It's possible that the original failed bearing has damaged the hub.

[Riley Blue]

But a real pro who knows what he's doing would spot that, wouldn't he?

[Manicminer]

I take it your mechanic is remembering to peen over the new hub nut to stop it loosening? Using the correct torque figure?

Wheel bearings on older cars can be a pig to remove, maybe the hub is knackered.

[heebeegeetee]

Go back to garage 1 and let them supply and fit the bearing. At least that way if anything goes wrong they are responsible for the whole job and you're not placed in the position of being caught between supplier and fitter.

I would also rule out the possibility of you receiving two faulty bearings, unless the supplier has been inundated with similar complaints, in which case they will deal with you properly.

[cheesesliceking]

heebeegeetee said:

Go back to garage 1 and let them supply and fit the bearing. At least that way if anything goes wrong they are responsible for the whole job and you're not placed in the position of being caught between supplier and fitter.

This.


However...
If it were me I'd pick up a hub with bearing fitted already from a breaker and swap the entire thing.

[DrDeAtH]

Buy a genuine TOYOTA bearing. It makes sense in the long rung. Pattern parts seem to be degrading in quality nowadays...

[richb77]

SKF are good bearings. But I echo other comments that the hub could be knackered.

I am no mechanic but have changed wheel bearings before and its not rocket science and to have two failed could be a bad batch but that is unlikely.

A Toyota branded bearing will be something like an SKF or NSK in a Toyota box nothing more.

I needed a sprag clutch (one way bearing) for my triumph speed triple. Triumph quoted £130. I took it to a local bearing supplier who opened the new Triumph box to find a SKF bearing which he matched off shelf for £12. I took the Triumph one back!

[jamieduff1981]

Did your mechanic actually say what had physically happened to the first bearing that failed? What actually happened to it? Once it's all in place it can't exactly go anywhere unless the inner races separate because the balls would need to get a lot smaller to allow it to happen any other way. I assume it's a double race ball bearing like most modern ones?

Unless it's to supply and fit at a garage, I'd resist spending any more money on bearings, SKF (top quality internationally known and respected brand within industry), Toyota or otherwise until you establish how it's collapsing. Is the hub itself or the carrier cracked? Is your mechanic pressing the bearing into the hub carrier wrong, or pressing the hub into the bearing wrong?

[marksbike]

is your mechanic banging them in or pressing them in?

[G600]

DrDeAtH said:

Buy a genuine TOYOTA bearing. It makes sense in the long rung. Pattern parts seem to be degrading in quality nowadays...

Chances are SKF make them for Toyota, I've fitted loads of SKF bearings to aircraft so they are top quality.

[OdramaSwimLaden]

I think you can rule out 2 x faulty bearings; the odds, taking into account different makes, are too high to take into account.

Mechanic error or hub damage (either from the first one going pop or mechanic damage).

[jamieduff1981]

SKF are pretty much the world authority on bearings so you can safely assume you haven't had 2 dud bearings from a batch. Your problem is how this guy is fitting them or your hub and/or hub carrier.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for the replies. The thing is my mechanic is a independent guy so I have to supply the parts and both times the work has been done I've been present. He uses a press machine to press the bearing in but both times he has removed the bearing from the hub by hammering it out.

The only reason I bought SKF was because I knew it was a quality brand as I could easily get a Yaris bearing for £20 on ebay. I kinda regret not getting the work done by a proper garage as it would save me all this hassle and they would have provided the parts.

Think I'm gonna go get a hub from a salvage yard and get the Toyota bearing!

[jamieduff1981]

So what had actually happened to the new bearing he removed? How many bits did it come out in? Which bits? The first one doesn't matter. It would be useful to understand what state the first SKF bearing came back out in in order to understand why it collapsed. Were there strange witness marks on the races or ball bearings?? Surely you didn't just remove a brand new failed bearing and bin it without looking to see what had gone wrong???