Has anyone changed their wheel bearings?

[robk2009]

As per the title.

I'm pretty sure one of the wheel bearings is on the way out on my lcr. Not 100% sure which one it is though, any ideas how to confirm it?

Also is it an easy job to do? Any wheel bearing brand preference? also can anyone shed any light on how much average joe garage would charge, or has anyone paid a garage to do it?

Thanks in advance,

Rob.

 

[Willie]

I've had mine done. It was a real PITA.
This was done by a garage for me but involved much heat and hammering.
To pin point which one it is get a quiet part of road, switch off all noises (fan, stereo, etc) get car up to about 50MPH and weave to see if the noise gets more on a particular turn.
The most load is when your turning in the direction of that wheel

 

[LEE69]

As for price
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=229619&highlight=bearing

 

[Havok316]

Had mine done as i had horrible vibration and grinding noise coming from the driver side front. I think in total parts and labour was £100, but I had a complete new joint, cv boot etc.

 

[CupraMVR]

They are a real pita to change over few hours work taking the hub off and pressing the old bearing out pressing the new one in.

Probs would advise having wheel alignment done after, with having the front hub off

 

[CHRIS87]

i changed both my front bearings a week ago. easy job really, but i did use a press to remove the bearing from the hub and press the new one in. i paid about £30 a side for the bearing kit from VW.

 

[james walker]

care to stick a guide up for this?

 

[MarkWales]

did you manage to do a guide - need this doint on mine - any idea how long a worn bearing can last as I need to use the car to commute to work and at 100 miles a day do not want the car getting stuck started to make noise last saturday so 3 work days ago

 

[csd_19]

Is it a front or rear?

Rears can be easier to check, just jack up the rear of the car (making sure the fronts are securely chocked) release the handbrake then give a wheel a spin. The one with the shot bearing will spin a lot more freely and for longer than the good one. If you get it spinning fast enough you'll hear it too.

I had a whine that only showed up on long left hand bends at motorway speeds, turned out to be the offside rear bearing gone. So I just replaced both of them, around the 70k mile mark. Now on 99k (!) and still smooth

 

[MarkWales]

front drivers I believe

Thought maybe tyre - replaced both fronts today still there

Tyre guys span front drivers wheel and said if I hadnt asked for them to look they would never have heard the sound so faint

 

[NickT]

As per the title.

I'm pretty sure one of the wheel bearings is on the way out on my lcr. Not 100% sure which one it is though, any ideas how to confirm it?

...

Rob.

When my front nearside was on it's way it was more noticeable on gentle right turns at about 30mph.
When turning the outside wheels are the most loaded so if it's noisy on a right turn then it's the nearside bearing and vice versa.

 

[heatfan8]

Or jack the car up, grab hold of the wheel and try 'wobble' it to and fro. (holding the wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock) There shouldn't be any movement in the wheel.

 

[Muttley]

The wobble test doesn't show up bearing failure on modern fwd cars very well. The bearings are heavy-duty twin ballraces (may be twin rollers, not entirely sure) and have bugger-all play even when they're worn enough to make a horrible noise on driving.

That's how it was for me on my old Ibiza TDI, at any rate - sound like a mobile scrapyard, no noticable play when jacked up and wobbled. And I was looking for it, too. The weave test showed up the problem straight away.

 

[heatfan8]

Aah ok then. Its all that tinkering with Minis that got me thinking that!

 

[MarkWales]

just dropped car of at local VW dealership to get it sorted


£123.00 labour plus part aroind £30

I know this is not cheap but it is going to be done correctly and straight away

Other local garages where quoting ove £100 anyway

 

[techie]

Good way to check them is to jack the wheel up so it can spin. One hand on the spring and then spin the wheel. When a bearing has gone you can usually feel the rumbling as a vibration in the spring.

 

[schnipps]

Had my front passenger side done, back street charged 50 quid.

 

[MarkWales]

had the car done today and it now turns out to be both bearings at fault so they are having the car back on monday not happy

 

[LEE69]

Can't see that mis-diagnosis gets my vote.

 

[MarkWales]

they are going to replace other bearing and only charge for wheel bearing - so I have had both replqaced for the price of one due to their error