I was blindsided by a wheel bearing failure last Thursday night, I did not get the usual tell tale warning of a grinding bearing but something else. Simultaneously the rear brakes were entering the pad failure stage at least on one.  A friend from the eastern part of CT who visited and helped me when my car broke down was critical of my not paying attention to potential car failure issues.  But his economic situation is a lot better, and I live with a 100% disabled sister and work in a big box outdoor store with part time hours.  

So the way this played out was I was driving to see my friend in the Lyme area; I turned back as the noise and driving got worse around Milford.  In Bridgeport the car broke down, with the front right knuckle literally breaking with the wheel bearing failure.  The last thing I remember was a screeching noise as I pulled over to the right side.  My insurance covered the tow, but the guy tried to get more $$ out of me due to the broken axle.  The car was put in front of a garage in Norwalk;  they got to it yesterday, with the front rt. knuckle I provided.  They also replaced the front exhaust gaskets that had failed, charging me $200.  Any "post mortem" thoughts on this situation?

Edited August 15, 20187 yr by ThosL

I am local to Norwalk.

I may need a knuckle. Where did you get the knuckle?

I don't need a friend like yours 
I am capable of kicking myself when down.

Edited August 15, 20187 yr by brus brother

You will pay a premium through the part finding service at the local junkyard like LeBlancs, I think they said $150; I would go online where the going rate is around $60.  

I too know the pain that comes from working at a big box store. And kudos for you taking care of your sister.

With no warning signs, I'm not sure how you can prevent a failure. The most important thing is just keep educating yourself on the car and how to fix it. But I'm sure you know that and carry tools. 

Chin up and keep going! 

A friend of mine used to drive her car to and from work once a week with the radio off so she could hear any noises that could indicate a potential problem

I let a grinding wheel bearing go for several years before I got to it.  You just had an immediate failure on a bearing that is 20 years old.  Don't beat yourself up about it.  Looks like you got a lot of work done for $200.  That is a plus.

wheel bearings have no set failure pattern.. sometimes you will get the grinding noises, other times you wont. sometimes you can get away with trying to go a bit further on one, other times they bite you in the backside - as this one did.

We had a front wheel bearing on our Dodge pickup do something similar... I had taken the truck on a long trip, and just a few miles before I got home, I noticed it was starting to growl a little - not bad, but just enough to be noticed. Parts got ordered for it.. a couple of days later, we went to pickup a used motorcycle with it & the trailer - was maybe 40 miles round trip... got to where we picked up the bike, no problem, but about 2/3rds of the way home it failed completely - it totally locked up on us. Had to call a friend to come get the trailer, take it home, unload the bike, then come back with the trailer and put the truck on it & take that home. what a day!

^^^ yep, have had 2 bad bearings. Front right on my WRX, hellish grinding noise - probably could be heard from 100 yards away by the time I got it to the shop.

 

left rear on same car, silent, found it with an up-down rocking test, moved about 2mm, other side solid.

Edited August 17, 20187 yr by 1 Lucky Texan