Wheel hub/bearing- life span?

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I have 165k miles on my Liberty...got to thinking, am I on borrowed time with the front OE hubs/bearings? No symptoms of them being bad, but I'd hate to have an issue on an off road trip. Is 165k pushing it or can they be known to go quite awhile? I think SKF made them. I'd swap them out, but I'm weary that even new SKF replacements are Korean made (confirmed by someone else on a Liberty forum).

Thanks!
 
Leave OEM for as long as possible. All aftermarket bearings even from the dealer don't last as long. FCA, maybe different story. I have tried and ruined every brand of bearing on my f150 4x4 prerunner
 
My Camry went about 215k on the original front bearings.

Depends on what the car is subejct to. My Jeep is driven hard out in the desert, it's wheel bearing life is treated differently than my Sonata which is obviously a pavement queen.
 
My Jeep has one original and 1 new Mopar bearing that's about 4 years old. 60-70k perhaps?

You'll know by the sound when they need replaced. It's very distinguishable.

I'd personally still give SKF a try.
 
Replaced front bearings/hubs on my 03 Ranger @175k.
Front bearings/hubs on my 06 GTI @130k.
08 Liberty still going stron on originals at 130k.

Edit: The GTI's bearings/hubs were the easiest by far, $50 a piece and 25 minutes per side on jackstands in the driveway.
 
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Never changed a wheel bearing on my wifes car in its 245k+ miles as a cab, with travel trailer towing duties at weekends. Don't sweat it, just replace them when they indicate they are worn. Might be today, might be they outlast the car.

Claud.
 
Normally they don't just fail and strand you. There are indications / signs that tell you they are going bad. Noise is very typical but also you can often physically feel some wobble if vehicle is jacked up.
 
Before the inner CV boot ripped on original axles at 300k miles eventually causing a nasty vibration on acceleration, the factory bearings were good, no noise and when i had my hubs out with the axles still in them, they spun freely without any bumps, grinds or noises.
 
I did one on a liberty I got from work. Pretty easy except the torx (raised torx?) was rusted and almost rounded out.

I'd say pull the bolts and anti-sieze them but they probably have loctite and you'd want to keep that in there.
 
Road quality has an impact on bearing life I believe. I worked in the Bay Area which has lots of potholes etc for 12 years & did tons of bearing replacements, when I worked in the valley I did very few bearing replacements & the roads there are much better. I've got 3 cars with over 200K & still have OEM bearings.
 
I just got into my bearings on my 04 sonata where is started showing a growling noise going around on high speed ramps and turns 281 k on those here in them midwest/chicago/wisconsin areas
 
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I have 165k miles on my Liberty...got to thinking, am I on borrowed time with the front OE hubs/bearings? No symptoms of them being bad, but I'd hate to have an issue on an off road trip. Is 165k pushing it or can they be known to go quite awhile? I think SKF made them. I'd swap them out, but I'm weary that even new SKF replacements are Korean made (confirmed by someone else on a Liberty forum).

Thanks!

Mopar WB last for ever. Never change mopar OE WB unless they actually fail. I've seen 2 fails in all my years owning Chrysler products, that goes back to 1965.
 
Thanks for the insight everyone! Sounds like these might just be getting broken in.
smile.gif
 
Don't worry about SKF country of origin. They out out a solid product, many times with improvememnts over the OE/competitive designs- that's all I install.
 
Wife's Civic needed both around 150k. My VW needed fronts at 103k. Oddly enough, the VW had them done at 105k and the replacements--OEM brand, whatever it was--were still in place >200k later when I sold it. Neither needed rears. My '99 Camry has had rears done; no idea on fronts.

IMO, and JMHO, if I have to take a day off from work and have 'em done, I'd just as soon have both done. Across my (limited) sample size of two vehicles, both go bad at about the same time. YMMV. But I'd wait until they need to be done. They seem to make noise long before they get dangerous--everything I've read has indicated that the noise will drive you nuts.
 
I was getting a fair amount of noise from the front passenger side on the Matrix. Plus the Hankook tires were getting up there in miles, about 65k. This was on performance all seasons and cheap ones at that. So I had tire noise and bearing noise going on. Not fun on the hwy. Made for a long trip.

Nice to have the bearing fixed and some new tires. The shop used a BCA bearing and installed it for $220. I shopped around a fair bit, shop had good reviews. Dealer wanted $590 + tax. When I made a face they quickly said it would be less if it didn't need a new hub. New tires installed for $275 via Amazon and installed at QuickLane. An alignment done at the dealer for $76 with coupon. So much better now.
 
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