19 replies to this topic

[tim king]

Just put on my third front wheel bearing yesterday , the same one i replaced last year ( it was easy to get of ) Does any one Else get thru them so quick

[ChrisS1]

Are you fitting them correctly? Are you using the cheapest bearings you can find?

[MellowYellow]

It sounds like there may be something else causing it to fail so quickly, is the hub worn?

[Arno]

Should really last eons on a VX... The hubs and bearing packs are extremely overkill on these cars as they were designed to work on V6 Vectra's and such that weigh pretty much double as the VX. Especially at the front the bearings should have a very easy time of it and should really hardly ever fail. I recently replaced the bearing packs on my S2 Elise with 200K miles on it (Honda powered), but in truth it really wasn't needed. I did replace 'em with original/official SKF units though, not pattern-parts. Bye, Arno.

[tim king]

Should really last eons on a VX... The hubs and bearing packs are extremely overkill on these cars as they were designed to work on V6 Vectra's and such that weigh pretty much double as the VX.

Especially at the front the bearings should have a very easy time of it and should really hardly ever fail.

I recently replaced the bearing packs on my S2 Elise with 200K miles on it (Honda powered), but in truth it really wasn't needed.

I did replace 'em with original/official SKF units though, not pattern-parts.

Bye, Arno.

the first went about 25000 miles and the over last year at about 40000 miles ,the one i did last must of been faulty becouse they are sealed but the grease had come out .making it dry and great like mad then very wobbly soon after

[Arno]

Does sound like a faulty one... Just curious.. Do you have the extra bolt through the front hubs to keep them in compression? Like these? http://www.verboom.n...0421/index.html I know this is officially not required as the bearings in the packs have the inner race edges folded over in production so they can't fall apart like traditional (separate) wheel bearings, but my Elise came with 'em as standard and I have always felt that they do keep the bearing better supported under high sideways loading. Perhaps a bit 'belt and braces', but it won't cause problems either. Make sure that nobody ever hits/hammers the new bearing pack when they are installed. This is a sure way of damaging the races and ball bearings in the unit. Also pretty much the only reason when SFK won't follow up on a warranty claim if they find out it has been subjected to impacts. Bye, Arno.

[tim king]

Does sound like a faulty one...

Just curious.. Do you have the extra bolt through the front hubs to keep them in compression? Like these?

http://www.verboom.n...0421/index.html



Bye, Arno.

No just as you see on my photo

[tim king]

[quote name='tim king' timestamp='1296391173' post='1137211']
[quote name='Arno' timestamp='1296318637' post='1136931']
Does sound like a faulty one...

[quote name='Arno' timestamp='1296318637' post='1136931']
Ok thanks

[TazN]

Might as well stick my qquestion on here.

I've had an abs light on for sometime and knew it was more than likely down to a wire on the hub being loose/broken. Now that I've stripped my front end down for the refresh I can confirm that one of the wires is no longer connected to the hub, it's snapped at the very bottom flush with the bearing/hub.

Looking at ordering these http://www.autovaux....9197863&tabid=5 do they come with the wire on or is it a different part number for them?
http://www.speedster... hub/index.html

[techieboy]

As long as the hub you buy has the ABS speed sensor in (and everyone I've ever seen has) then yes, the new cable and plug will be on there.

[JG]

i'm feeling quite unwell after seeing that suspension Taz - i'd buy your new hub from elise parts. the pattern part mine field isn't worth the effort.

[JamesC]

i'm feeling quite unwell after seeing that suspension

Taz - i'd buy your new hub from elise parts. the pattern part mine field isn't worth the effort.

I have read about some dimensional issue with other parts but the 4 x FAG wheel bearing/hub assembly I got from Autovaux fitted perfectly. I cant yet comment on their life!

[TazN]

Elise parts is near on double the cost.... I will give autovaux a call and confirm they have the abs sensors on them before ordering. I might see if I can repair the wire as they are fine otherwise but it looks unlikely. Plus new = shiney

[tommobot]

I had the same silly wire split right at the end aswell... Got the dremel out and cut away the solid rubber around the connector to expose the 2 connections for the wiring, soldered new cable on and covered in sealant... Seems to have done the job...

[JG]

spin them when you get them, if they don't feel smooth off the car, they aren't going to get better on the car. I've sent more back than i've changed. And eventually got fed up. I'm sure you can get decent ones from autovaux and vauxcenter, because i've got decent ones from them. its just a bit of a lottery.

[D3YMO]

autovaux sell the wheel bearing hub flange with abs sensors for £56.48+vat (£67.78ea) and have them in stock

[TazN]

Whats the view on the elise parts item? No problem for fitting at all? I'm pushed for time as I will need to fit it next week so dont want to be doing returns constantly till I get a 'good one'.

[Arno]

BTW.. Be careful with some of the later pattern-part hubs (eg. Ebay specials) The original hub bearing units use double-row full contact ball bearings with the inner races folded over during production and can be run without a center bolt or drive axle as the bearing is self-contained and can't 'go' anywhere, however it seems that various 'no-name' hubs that are sold by generic vendors are now actually comprised of a traditional tapered-roller bearing inside the housing and a pressed in flange. (aka. an 'old skool' setup that's much cheaper to manufacture) In itself this does not have to be a problem as far as proper functioning goes, but for the VX case the issue is that these types of bearings can NOT be run without clamping the bearing down laterally. So in these cars the front hubs MUST use the M16 through-bolt clamping setup (rears of course will already have the driveshaft nut clamping it down). If this is not done then the bearing can and will dis-integrate quite rapidly. Not a problem on reasonable 'brand' bearing packs as they will have copied/licensed the original sealed and fixed ball-bearing design, but un-branded (aka. Ebay-special or chinese knockoff) bearing packs can be something to keep in mind. Bye, Arno.

[TazN]

Cheers Arno. Thinking about it more I guess I can see if I can fix my wire as tommo has mentioned. If it works then great I can fit them back next week and ignore the non shinynses of them. If it doesn't work then everything is new so a quick swap for decent replacement ones as I can put the old ones on and jack the rear to work on.

[Steelic]

BTW.. Be careful with some of the later pattern-part hubs (eg. Ebay specials)

The original hub bearing units use double-row full contact ball bearings with the inner races folded over during production and can be run without a center bolt or drive axle as the bearing is self-contained and can't 'go' anywhere, however it seems that various 'no-name' hubs that are sold by generic vendors are now actually comprised of a traditional tapered-roller bearing inside the housing and a pressed in flange. (aka. an 'old skool' setup that's much cheaper to manufacture)

In itself this does not have to be a problem as far as proper functioning goes, but for the VX case the issue is that these types of bearings can NOT be run without clamping the bearing down laterally. So in these cars the front hubs MUST use the M16 through-bolt clamping setup (rears of course will already have the driveshaft nut clamping it down). If this is not done then the bearing can and will dis-integrate quite rapidly.

Not a problem on reasonable 'brand' bearing packs as they will have copied/licensed the original sealed and fixed ball-bearing design, but un-branded (aka. Ebay-special or chinese knockoff) bearing packs can be something to keep in mind.

Bye, Arno.

Can you tell which type this hub is?