Rear wheel bearings

[B5 BIKER]

I had the rear wheel bearings changed approx 1 year ago (35k miles)
A local mechanic supplied and fitted them at the time, and now the passenger
side bearing is gone again.
I had been running 16s up until 3 weeks ago when I upgraded to 17s.
All my driving is A & B roads, which admit tingly aren't great.
But I thought I would have got a bit longer out of these.
Any advice welcome as to whether or not I am expecting too much

 

[jcb]

as with anything you get what you pay for,
poxy no name halfrauds specials will see you to the end of the road rather than the enof your ownership

I had to replace one in an emergency and it lasted less that 10k!
buy meyle, lemforder or OEM when it comes to suspension arms and bearings

you can also easily reduce a bearings life by ****ing up the install
if he put it in the wrong way round and had to pull it out again or if the bearing came apart and some dirt got in, easily kill it

 

[aragorn]

Yeh i've had two cheapish replacement bearings die in short order as well.

One was a no-name thing from the local factors.

The other was a Febi branded one.

I'd stick to SKF, FAG or Timken bearings, although i used Meyle ones in the front of the A4, and they have been ok so far (touch wood etc)

 

[B5 BIKER]

THESE WERE SKF BEARINGS, MECHANIC SAYS THE MANUFACTURER WONT STAND OVER THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE A WERA AND TEAR PART.
I WOULD THINK YOU SHOULD GET A BIT MORE MILEAGE OUT OF THEM THOUGH

 

[aragorn]

SKF usually make decent stuff.

In which case it has to be said its a potential fitting error...

 

[B5 BIKER]

Well after a bit of pressure and a load of consumer rights bs they have agreed to change the bearing that's giving the bother
They won't change the second one because it's running fine.
Could be worse I suppose

 

[murran]

have they got a proper bearing driver/installing set or are they just knocking them in with a punch?

are they preloading them too much?

 

[B5 BIKER]

They have a proper press alright, but you never now with some garages do you.
Might have to have a look around for a new one I think

 

[jcb]

how do you preload them except by torquing up the hub bolt correctly?

 

[aragorn]

how do you preload them except by torquing up the hub bolt correctly?

Maybe hes thinking of the taper bearings on the rear of a FWD?

 

[murran]

ah you didn't say it was a quattro. in that case the're a cassette bearing (same type as the fronts) not a taper roller bearing like the rear of a fwd. forget i spoke!

 

[B5 BIKER]

So sorry I even bothered to go back.
They have changed the bearing which is fine - surprisingly
Now my abs is gaga. When I have no warning light the abs is kicking in at low speeds.
When the abs warning light is on it feels fine. Then it goes on and off intermittently.
They plugged the car in to a diagnostic and reading all is ok.
Drove away never to go back, need some suggestions as to what may be wrong.
Helppppp

 

[murran]

theyll have got the sensor gap out of whack. push it in.

 

[aragorn]

Or they've damaged the sensor/reluctor or got some crap/rust wedged in there.

The sensors tend to be fairly well siezed in after a few years, trying to remove them almost always results in damage.

You can get new ones from ebay for around 20quid though, and despite the price tag they seem to work just fine, i've got two on the front of the Avant, after both were damaged doing bearings!

 

[B5 BIKER]

WILL TAKE A LOOK DURING THE WEEK AND SEE IF THATS IT,
CHEERS LADS

 

[murran]

best idea when doing a bearing on one of these old things is to not disturb the sensor at all.
insted unclip the wiring and follow it up into the car to the plugs. on the front the plug is just the other side of the grommit thru the inner wing. on the rear it goes thru another rubber gromit and under the back seat base youll find the plugs clipped into the plastic wiring holder.

i always do it this way.

 

[aragorn]

yeh thats defo the way to go!

But the sensor or its cable can still get damaged when your manhandling the parts around on the press etc.