Front Wheel Bearing Upgrade Options?

[PickleRick93]

My new (to me) 2022 black diamond came with a small lift, 35x12.5x20 wheels and a good bit of offset that would make it illegal in most states without some huge fender flares/mud flaps

I took possession at 45,xxx miles. Within the first 1000 miles the wheel bearing on the RF went out. A month later its has gone out again. It was replaced under warranty by the dealership. No off roading. The signifant other says i drive like a grandpa so abusive/aggressive driving is out.

I'm currently awaiting some supreme/BTX line mvotech wheel bearings from rock auto to arrive. Some of you guys are rocking 37's-40's. If these fail i'm going to give Timken wheel bearings a try.

Its possible maybe the dealer tech installed the bearing with an impact or even got a bad wheel bearing but not getting 2k out of a wheel bearing is a little obscured. It is still under warranty but I dont want to deal with the 5-7 day down time to get it replaced again. Then they balk at getting it covered.

So if you're a bronco supplier, i'm interested in purchasing some HD wheel hubs if you can source them. If youre another bronco owner please post up what other brands you've ran and what your experinece has been.

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[PWillette]

My new (to me) 2022 black diamond came with a small lift, 35x12.5x20 wheels and a good bit of offset that would make it illegal in most states without some huge fender flares/mud flaps

I took possession at 45,xxx miles. Within the first 1000 miles the wheel bearing on the RF went out. A month later its has gone out again. It was replaced under warranty by the dealership. No off roading. The signifant other says i drive like a grandpa so abusive/aggressive driving is out.

I'm currently awaiting some supreme/BTX line mvotech wheel bearings from rock auto to arrive. Some of you guys are rocking 37's-40's. If these fail i'm going to give Timken wheel bearings a try.

Its possible maybe the dealer tech installed the bearing with an impact or even got a bad wheel bearing but not getting 2k out of a wheel bearing is a little obscured. It is still under warranty but I dont want to deal with the 5-7 day down time to get it replaced again. Then they balk at getting it covered.

So if you're a bronco supplier, i'm interested in purchasing some HD wheel hubs if you can source them. If youre another bronco owner please post up what other brands you've ran and what your experinece has been.

I would say you either got a defective wheel bearing or the dealer phucked it up somehow.

 

[Hemisfear]

My new (to me) 2022 black diamond came with a small lift, 35x12.5x20 wheels and a good bit of offset that would make it illegal in most states without some huge fender flares/mud flaps

I took possession at 45,xxx miles. Within the first 1000 miles the wheel bearing on the RF went out. A month later its has gone out again. It was replaced under warranty by the dealership. No off roading. The signifant other says i drive like a grandpa so abusive/aggressive driving is out.

I'm currently awaiting some supreme/BTX line mvotech wheel bearings from rock auto to arrive. Some of you guys are rocking 37's-40's. If these fail i'm going to give Timken wheel bearings a try.

Its possible maybe the dealer tech installed the bearing with an impact or even got a bad wheel bearing but not getting 2k out of a wheel bearing is a little obscured. It is still under warranty but I dont want to deal with the 5-7 day down time to get it replaced again. Then they balk at getting it covered.

So if you're a bronco supplier, i'm interested in purchasing some HD wheel hubs if you can source them. If youre another bronco owner please post up what other brands you've ran and what your experinece has been.

I suggest taking the janky offset wheels off before you wreck more parts and check the lift too, it's probably another issue just waiting!

 

[PickleRick93]

While i agree added offset does put extra strain on the suspension/steering components, a 35x12.50 all terrain shouldnt wear anything nearly as quickly as someone running a 37" tire running minimum offset for clearance. I ,personally, am not a fan of the fuel wheels, I'd have gone with stock wheels and pizza cutters myself.

I'm also not sure of what kind of lift the PO put on it, the dealership had just gotten it on trade but didn't know anything about it. About all I've been able to identify are the JBA upper control arms which I'm assuming was a purchase made in order to dial in the alignment after the lift. It's not much of a lift but she does have much more wheel to fender clearance than other 4 doors i see running 35s with factory upper control arms so I'm assuming they are not lifted at all.

 

[PickleRick93]

I need to get a wheel off to measure but I'm pretty sure these are wheels on the bronco. I drove the excursion today so I cannot verify until I get it to the shop on Saturday

 

[GnormalGnome]

Maybe you got a bad unit out of the box. Not unheard of, but rare.

Considering its the second one to go out in a short period of time, though, it's a safe bet that you have something else going on. Spacers(?), offset, lift geometry, alignment...there's a root cause in there somewhere and unlikely it's the wheel bearing itself. That's just the weakest link. Sure, you can upgrade the bearing and maybe delay the inevitable, but finding and addressing the source of the problem would be better.

 

[PickleRick93]

According to the dealership the alignment was fine. She does drive very well down the freeway at 65-70 with one hand. It's not often a lifted rig rides better than our 1st Gen IFS 4 runner but I was impressed with the comfort.

I will double check the lift but if she is lifted it's going to be less than 2-2.5 inches. She doesn't have coilovers so I'm not sure if it's a spacer lift or if shocks were done. The only time she has been off road was a flat yard to verify the 4wd and locker was operational the evening I took delivery. She'll never see a trail, might see an occasional snow covered road

 

[NC_Oak]

very unlikely the bearing again. as others had said above. need to post your suspension tid bits to see if something is likely the culprit. If those are your wheels, that positive offset and 5 backspacing (strange they list both like that) wouldnt cause it.

IF you're looking for bearings, go with timken. I did an internship there forever ago and was a solid company in terms of MFG and quality. I've used them exclusively since. I swapped in new hubs and timken bearings on my 1 ton a decade ago and they're rock solid still after good miles and plus wheel / tires.

 

[PickleRick93]

It is unfortunately a wheel bearing. While I'm 90% sure it's the same drivers side again, I won't be 100% until I get it to the shop and in the air tomorrow.

There no mistaking the roar of a bad/failing wheel bearing.

timkin will be my next purchase. I did strongly consider them but some forum posters have had issues with quality in recent years. Much like the 555 TREs and Aisin clutch Master/slave parts yota owners used to swear by, the Moog suspension parts and wheel bearings power stroke owners used to trust.

At the shop we had a an efi Kawasaki twin that would eat OEM warner clutches on a 52" bobcat. Had 3 replaced under warranty. After the warranty expired we installed an Xtreme clutch. While it still failed, it got the shop 2 years of commercial use compared to the 6-9 months of the original. So while I normally consider Chinese sourced aftermarket items an inferior and illogical choice as an upgrade, I figured for 68 bucks the mvotech supreme bearings were worth the chance

 

[NC_Oak]

I think our point was that it likely isn't a bad bearing out the box. Not doubting you HAVE a bad bearing.

 

[michelle227]

I would say you either got a defective wheel bearing or the dealer phucked it up somehow.

Not having looked at a diagram, are our bearings hand-packable? I remember the days of throwing a big glob of grease in the palm then hand-packing to ensure every crevice was filled...more than once I was able to salvage bearings after soaking in Varsol, drying completely, and then repacking.

And if they are, makes me wonder if the tech failed miserably at using his Tech1000 gun. Would be worth a look...

Or...do we have sealed assemblies that dont allow for human intervention without creativity?

 

[Ducati1098]

Not having looked at a diagram, are our bearings hand-packable? I remember the days of throwing a big glob of grease in the palm then hand-packing to ensure every crevice was filled...more than once I was able to salvage bearings after soaking in Varsol, drying completely, and then repacking.

And if they are, makes me wonder if the tech failed miserably at using his Tech1000 gun. Would be worth a look...

Or...do we have sealed assemblies that dont allow for human intervention without creativity?

Sealed hub and bearing assemblies.

 

[PWillette]

Not having looked at a diagram, are our bearings hand-packable? I remember the days of throwing a big glob of grease in the palm then hand-packing to ensure every crevice was filled...more than once I was able to salvage bearings after soaking in Varsol, drying completely, and then repacking.

And if they are, makes me wonder if the tech failed miserably at using his Tech1000 gun. Would be worth a look...

Or...do we have sealed assemblies that dont allow for human intervention without creativity?

Ahhh yes, the good ole days...what PIA!

 

[PickleRick93]

Not even an abs hole to apply grease on these.

Hand packed wheel bearings were a messy job but on vehicles like the 1st Gen IFS 4 runner were never a common failure item. 35 inch tires destroyed your little 7.25" differential and your stock idler arm. A pita to do a brake job as you have to pull the wheel hub to remove the brake rotor.

 

[michelle227]

Ahhh yes, the good ole days...what PIA!

Could be a PITA at times, but I dont remember seeing as many bearing failures back then...

When I had my F350, I know some had figured out how to remove that sealed front bearing and being appalled at how poorly they were lubed. Im guessing the situation has not improved.

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