Wheel bearing: how long do they last and when to replace them?

The wheel bearings on your car can last a lifetime or may not last very long.  It all depends on several aspects that we will discuss below.
Before talking about replacing wheel bearing, let’s take a quick look at what can cause it to fail.

What causes wheel bearing to go bad?

The main reasons that a wheel bearing fail are:

1. Quality. There are always different levels of quality when buying a car wheel bearing, choosing the correct one is very important. The bearings have a stressed life and to be able to last a long time, they need to be made of good quality materials that can stand the heat of the situation without suffering too much.
2. Installation. As said previously, using the wrong tools, or using the tools incorrectly can damage the bearing during the installation, causing a premature performance decrease and shortening the lifespan of the bearing.
3. Driving conditions. The bearing needs to be correctly greased, anything that modifies this will cause premature wear of the bearing. So, driving with the wheel underwater too much time can cause water to penetrate into the bearing, other contaminants such as salt (road salt or marine salt if the car lives near the beach), sand, mud or dust can make their way through the seal and into the bearing rolling balls, if this happens, the contamination will make the lifespan of the bearing decrease extremely fast.
4. Road conditions. Strong impacts derived from a bumpy road, or a pothole passed way too fast can cause the car wheel bearing to be harmed, also, Also, a lateral impact can cause them to go bad, so careful with hitting the curbs.
5. Car setup. If you modify the suspension of the car, or install bigger rims, or tires with lower wall threads you are modifying the specifications of the manufacturer. The manufacturer had calculated the wheel bearings need under their specs, but if they have been changed, they may not be appropriate and wear out faster. The recommendation here is to stick to the wheel dimensions and suspensions specs that are specified by the car manufacturer.

How long does wheel bearings last?

How can I make my wheel bearings last longer?

There are ways to keep your wheel bearings in good shape. Here are some recommendations to extend the service life of wheel bearings.

Mainly, the best you can do for them is having a relaxed driving style. Extreme driving will help getting your cars wheel bearing (and other mechanical parts) worn faster, so try not to drive fast through bumpy roads (for example). 

Also how was the wheel bearing fitted into your car will influence a good or bad performance. If they get fitted exceeding the specified torque the bearing will very likely get damaged, therefore it will last less time. 

Also, there are specific wheel bearing removal tool to unfit and fit bearings into the car. Not using them or using them incorrectly can also damage it. That’s why our recommendation is to always rely on professionals.

How to change a wheel bearing?

In order to understand the process of fitting a wheel bearing replacement into your car, we first need to know there are two main kinds of bearings, the old generation bearings, and the new gen bearings. Old ones are a bit more complicated to mount, but technology always comes in handy to solve this kind of difficulties. In this case, the new gen SKF wheel bearing kits are much easier to install on a car. 

Only few have the guts to disassemble their cars and get their hands dirty working on it, also, its recommended that if you are going to do that, you should have the knowledge to do so, as there are chances of breaking something else if we do in an incorrect way putting in risk our security. So, with this said, our recommendation is that the job is done by a professional. 

Watch this video to see how to do the replacement.

FAQS

How long does a wheel bearing take to change?

If the bearings are not broken into pieces, 2/3 hours will be might be enough for a professional to take out the old one and mount the new one, if they are broken down to pieces, more time will be needed. 

Should I repair wheel bearings in pairs?

It depends on the reasons for the car wheel bearing to be worn out. If the reason is that it was already too old, or that the car has been sitting still for a long time, then probably the other car wheel bearings will be in a very similar state and will soon break down. In this case it would be good to make a full change.
If for example, you were driving the road and passed fast a big pothole, probably only that wheel bearing will be affected, so no need to change it in pairs. Normally, the professional who will make the change will be able to identify if there is any need to change other bearings.