Last summer the front wheel bearings became very noisy on my A4 so I decided to change them (they are the 75mm pressed-in ones), the car had done 189K which I thought was pretty good.....
It was as cheap to buy a hydraulic press and do the job myself (bearings need pressure in excess of 5 tons to come out) as get a garage to do it, so I bought myself a press off Ebay and some supposedly German Febi-Bilstein bearings.
At the time I was a little unhappy with the 'Febi' bearings as they were not marked with any country of origin, or indeed the Febi name...
These were duly fitted (very carefully) and it was assumed that would be the end of things wrt bearings for as long as I owned the car.....
To cut a long story short the car became noisier and noisier of late, convincing me that the bearings had gone again!
This time though I invested in a pair of Genuine bearings , and put the car in the garage last weekend to get both front suspension legs out again.
On removing each leg and spinning the hub/disc carrier, it was evident that both bearings were as rough as hell (no discernable wear though), the drivers side one being particularly noisy.
These had lasted barely 12k miles/10 months, so you can imagine my displeasure.
The replacement Genuine bearings were installed and now I have a very nice quiet car again.
I might have been the victim of a rogue seller last year,in that the quality must have been crap; I'm convinced I fitted the last ones correctly and that Febi is a good brand.
I'm posting this more as a heads-up to others doing the same job in the future; make sure the bearings are good quality.
Interestingly, though both latest bearings were Genuine, one was an FAG-marked bearing made in Germany, and the other was an Italian SKG one.
Time will tell which one lasts longest!
It was as cheap to buy a hydraulic press and do the job myself (bearings need pressure in excess of 5 tons to come out) as get a garage to do it, so I bought myself a press off Ebay and some supposedly German Febi-Bilstein bearings.
At the time I was a little unhappy with the 'Febi' bearings as they were not marked with any country of origin, or indeed the Febi name...
These were duly fitted (very carefully) and it was assumed that would be the end of things wrt bearings for as long as I owned the car.....
To cut a long story short the car became noisier and noisier of late, convincing me that the bearings had gone again!
This time though I invested in a pair of Genuine bearings , and put the car in the garage last weekend to get both front suspension legs out again.
On removing each leg and spinning the hub/disc carrier, it was evident that both bearings were as rough as hell (no discernable wear though), the drivers side one being particularly noisy.
These had lasted barely 12k miles/10 months, so you can imagine my displeasure.
The replacement Genuine bearings were installed and now I have a very nice quiet car again.
I might have been the victim of a rogue seller last year,in that the quality must have been crap; I'm convinced I fitted the last ones correctly and that Febi is a good brand.
I'm posting this more as a heads-up to others doing the same job in the future; make sure the bearings are good quality.
Interestingly, though both latest bearings were Genuine, one was an FAG-marked bearing made in Germany, and the other was an Italian SKG one.
Time will tell which one lasts longest!
