Premature (front) wheel bearing failure on my 1989 Camry... WHY?

Hello,

I have a 1989 Camry 4 cylinder and am having to replace my front drivers side wheel bearing for the 5th time since May 2005.:banghead: the passenger side bearing is the original with 219,000 miles on the odometer.

I don't know what I am doing wrong that is making this bearing wear out on me so soon. the last wheel bearing replacement only lasted 2 months.:confused: :disappoin

any advice would be great. Thank You.

Regards,
JOET/CAMRY

i don't know what the torque value is for the axle nut. but if it is too loose or tight you will toast the bearing. have you had your torque wrench calibrated to ensure accurate torquing? also use well known bearing hubs like timken, federal module or toyota. avoid no-name e-bay knock offs and other no name fly by night parts!

A couple of things besides over/under tightening that can destroy a hub bearing:

Out-of-round steering knuckle
Out-of-round axle hub
Rolling the vehicle when the drive shaft is removed from the car.

Brian, how does rolling the vehicle without the driveshaft hurt the bearing?

I replaced the bearing on mine couple years ago on an 88 Camry. After I replaced the bearing, the car still chatters due to that same wheel. What happened was that the hub that went into the bearing was worn and damaged the original bearing. And even with the new bearing, it couldn't function right. So, replacing the bearing only didn't really fix the problem and could got the new bearing damaged again. I then replaced the hub and problem fixed. Hope this helps.

Brian, how does rolling the vehicle without the driveshaft hurt the bearing? I'm not sure, but I think the driveshaft stabilizes/supports the hub. Without the driveshaft, the bearing has to support the load normally supported by the driveshaft. Roller bearings are only capable of supporting loads in certain directions. So maybe that's it....????

Thank You all for your replys.

Today I went to Advanced Auto and got a replacement bearing. The old bearing had a 1 year warranty on it so I only have to pay to have it pressed in. I can't remember the brand name but the bearing part # is 514002 an is made in Japan :biggrin: so it should be a good quality bearing.

I replaced the axle hub the 3rd time the bearing failed because the inner race was spinning on it so I know the part you are talking about proman.

The steering knuckle and the axle hub were in good shape when the bearing was pressed in last time or the mechanic would of let me know.he does transmission repair so he knows what he is doing and does great quality work.

The last time I had the bearing replaced an Advanced Auto employee told me to tighten the axle nut as much as I could with a wrench and then loosen the axle nut and tighten it back up as much as I could by hand and this would set the bearing preload. Maybe this info doesn't apply to this style of bearing.:confused:

Do these wheel bearings need to be greased more then they are from the factory or is the grease they come packed with sufficient enough?:confused:

The third time I had the bearing replaced I loaded/packed the bearing with a green synthetic high temperature grease that I bought at Advanced Auto but it didn't make much difference in the life of the bearing. I was told I should not use standard wheel bearing grease on this type of bearing.:confused: I asked 4 different people about what type of bearing grease to be used on this bearing and if the bearing needed more grease added to it (pack it) before it was installed and I recieved 4 different answers.:frown: :banghead:

I believe this wheel bearing (4th one) failed prematurely because the axle nut was way too loose like 2000izusu mentioned. I do not own a torqe wrench so I have no way to measure the bearing preload.:frown: The mechanic that is pressing the bearing in today told me he tightens the axle nut with a 300 pound tourqe impact wrench. he said that it's ok.:confused: Thanks for the help everyone.

Regards,
JOET/CAMRY

Too low a bearing preload won't seat the bearing properly, inviting a misaligned bearing. Too high a preload can cause the bearing's rollers to indent the race surface and/or cause misshapen rollers...leading to eventual failure through spalling and surface fatigue. I wouldn't recommend the use of an impact wrench for this reason...the torque is not applied in a controlled, smooth manner versus a standard wrench. The impacts from the wrench could be causing the initial damage, dooming the bearing from the start.

[retracted by writer...not relevant]
I've never received a pre-greased wheel bearing...usually just sealed in a bag with some anticorrosive oil. Unless you get it and it is covered with it (gobs of it), it needs to be packed. Any high-temp wheel bearing grease should be sufficient, but avoid the gimmicky "Slick 50" types...they're not worth the extra $$$. Clean the bearing in solvent and pack it good. A wheel bearing packer makes the job easy and less messy, but repeatedly pressing the bearing edge (not the outer roller surface) into a good gob in the palm of your hand will do just as good...get it in between the rollers until it squeezes out the other edge of the bearing. Continue this all the way around...usually abt 10 minutes of work for each bearing. Don't be stingy with the grease. Good luck!

These bearings should not need any repacking.
Some grease to facilitate pressing only.
Did you replace all of the seals?
They should have some grease applied when installing.
The torgue spec is 137 ft lbs for the axle nut of an 89.
Borrow a torque wrench. Do not follow any of the other torque instructions such as tighten as much as possible or use an impact wrench.
Some of the advice, as you guessed, does not apply to this type of bearing.

I stand corrected. I retracted my writing abt bearing packing, but the process of proper torquing is still relevant.

told me he tightens the axle nut with a 300 pound tourqe impact wrench. he said that it's ok.:confused: Thanks for the help everyone.

Regards,
JOET/CAMRY i think you found your problem!!! 300 is way to tight. and second off the axle nut should never be tightened with an impact. sounds like some research is needed. someone above mentioned the axle nut needs 137 ft pounds. which sounds right. but any manual even a haynes manual from autozone will supply with the correct torque value! mike

p.s. your not alone! alot of garages zip those axle nuts on with an impact. it is not right. they do it because it is quick and easy (especially on flat rate pay). if you find somebody with some experience and caring to do the job you will be better off.

i think you found your problem!!! 300 is way to tight. and second off the axle nut should never be tightened with an impact. sounds like some research is needed. someone above mentioned the axle nut needs 137 ft pounds. which sounds right. but any manual even a haynes manual from autozone will supply with the correct torque value! mike

p.s. your not alone! alot of garages zip those axle nuts on with an impact. it is not right. they do it because it is quick and easy (especially on flat rate pay). if you find somebody with some experience and caring to do the job you will be better off.

Thanks for the advice 2000izusu.

I have done this front left wheel bearing replacement on my Camry myself the last 5 times. The only time I needed a mechanics help was to press in the wheel bearing as I can not do that myself. :frown: the axle nut was never tightened with a impact wrench. The mechanic that pressed in the wheel bearing this time said he tightens axle nuts with a impact wrench himself and has never had a problem doing it this way. :nono: Sorry for the confusion.

I replaced it again myself but could not get my hands on a torque wrench :banghead: ......so I had to guess on the right tightness of the axle nut.:disappoin I will probrally have to replace it again in the future but hopefully not until the summer when the weather is warmer.

300+ Yes, the seals were replaced every time a new bearing was pressed in.

I now realize the next time the wheel bearing needs to be replaced that.....

1... The axle nut needs to be tightened to 137 pounds of torque. (note to myself........BUY A TORQUE WRENCH)

2... The bearing does not need more grease added to it. the grease that the bearing comes with is fine.

3... Buy a good quality bearing and it should last longer than a cheap brand name bearing.

4... Hand tightening the axle nut to set the bearing preload does not apply to this type of wheel bearing setup.:nono:

Thanks to all for the help/advice.:)

Regards,
JOET/CAMRY

RE: Torque Wrench

Best bang for the buck:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00944595000P?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00944595000

RE: Torque Wrench

Best bang for the buck:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00944595000P?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00944595000


Agreed.
Same one I've had for all my axles and such for many years.

Recently I got their smaller one when I rebuilt my auto tranny.