I have a 1990 Loyale with 137,000 on it. It is in good shape and runs well. I am thinking of taking it on a long road trip but want to make sure it is fully ready to go prior to taking off.

I have a suspicion that my wheel bearings are headed out. On long hauls uphill at about 65mph i can hear a rhythmic pulsing sort-of-grind sound. Around town i can hear some road noise... again not full on grinding but close. This sound would indicate to most bearings to be the problem. The catch is that i bought the car about 5,000 miles ago so i dont know when they were replaced (if ever). I also dont have any carpet on the front passenger side (guy i bought it from spilled tran fluid on the carpet and just cut the carpet out - very annoying) floor so i cant say for sure that the road noise around town is attributed to the bearings. I used to have a loyale 1992 - with full carpet obviously - and it didn't make this kind of noise. I drove it to 209,000 before selling it and dont remember when i had to replace my bearings.

Im wondering if i should just take a few hours and replace them prior to my trip? I also dont want to be overly anal about maintenance and waste time and money on something that isn't really an issue. When typically do the early 90's loyale bearings go? Any info would be awesome.

Thanks!

Front wheel bearings typically get replaced once or maybe twice in the life of the car (say 300k miles), while rear's often last the life of the car and then some. But it's entirely dependant on how the seals hold up.

 

You should check you axle nut's and lug nuts to make sure you don't have a loose axle/hub spline making the noise or a loose wheel.

 

Front's are 6207-2RS-C3's (go to a bearing supplier). 2 on each side for a total of 4. They are about $8 to $12 each depending on supplier and quality. Because I use the 2RS sealed bearings I often just carefully remove and reuse to old bearing seals since they basically don't do anything anymore with the 2RS bearings in place. If you are careful and they are inclined to come out easily they can be cleaned, greased, and re-used for extra bearing protection. I replace them if they are destroyed or badly damaged.

 

GD

But it's entirely dependant on how the seals hold up.

 

yep. The bearings are pretty tough as long as they stay greased and don't get water/dirt in there. BUT, that's not always the case.

 

But yea, like GD said, check your axle nuts and such first. Then jack the car up and look for play in the bearings. if there's play, replace them. if not, you could just re-pack them (although if you find a local bearing supplier, it's pretty cheap to just replace them with the better sealed unit).

Thanks guys. What is the best way to check the condition of the bearing after i have the car in the air - other than completely removing and inspecting them?

Grab ahold of the wheel and shake it side to side, it shouldn't be loose!

 

Front or rear bearings? I wrote a guide for 4wd rear bearings, and somewhere on here there's a guide for fronts. Not overly hard. Just a little time consuming, especially your first time doing it.

You have to have the front in the air and the parking brake off to check for bearing play - and even then it won't tell you much. There will be little to no play if only one of the bearings is bad. Best thing to do is remove the hub and take a look at the grease and the condition of the outer bearing. If it looks nasty, dirty, and gritty, or rusted and dry, etc. Replace them. Typically is the outer bearing that fails first as it has the highest loads in turns.

 

GD

I lose a bearing about every 5k, but I offroad my loyale. I guess if you do the math they are lasting me 20k give or take:

I lose a bearing about every 5k, but I offroad my loyale. I guess if you do the math they are lasting me 20k give or take:

 

You are probably installing them wrong.

 

GD

Nah, I was doing wheel bearings alternating front and rear every 8-10 months or so. New bearings, new seals each time, even used the bearings with integral seals in the front. Each set of bearings that I took out had rust in them. If you play a lot in mud and deep water, you pay in wheel bearings. But, when your commuter car is also your offroad toy, you have to expect these things.

 

Under normal use 150k is normal I'd say.

Bearing quality has an effect too I would imagine. As well as the outer hub seals and the condition of the surface that the seal lip rides on.

 

I too have replaced bearings (once) in my off-road wagon. But they were original to the car and were at 160k or so. Haven't had any trouble since.

 

GD

My fronts went at 125k, so I replaced them all. They are inexpensive, but very tough to do (the fronts at least), compared to other cars.

 

You could also notice it when you are driving, by a loud howling nose, or the steering wheel vibrating (of which you could tell by grabbing the wheel and checking for play)

They are inexpensive, but very tough to do (the fronts at least), compared to other cars.

 

Much easier than *most* modern cars. No press or hub-tamer required. I much prefer doing EA front wheel bearings to doing EJ wheel bearings.

 

I've often wondered if fitting 7207's back-to-back in place of the 6207's would improve their lifespan. The 7207's are axial thrust bearings in addition to being radial thrust like the 6k series.

 

GD

The 7207's are an interesting idea. How much radial load rating do they give up, in favour of the axial?

 

This might be a good mod for autocross, as they tend to run light and corner really hard.

None really. High quality 6206's are rated at around 5000 to 7000 lbs radial load (per bearing), while a quality 7207 is rated at about 6000 lbs radial load.

 

GD

I have about 266,000 miles on my car, howling like a werewolf....not sure they've ever been replaced. I'm going to try the front's first...I can feel them it's so bad...seems like I can feel the vibration and resistance in the floor even!!! I can't wait to see what they look like..should be awesomely terrible!!! HA!!! I'll have to post up pics:lol:

The fronts apparently aren't as hard as the rears. Which are a big PITA. Look under the USRM for my rear replacement guide if you want to see some really nasty looking old bearings

:eek: