GM Wheel Bearings

[Moot]

Has anybody experienced a wheel bearing failure on the newer GM vans. Theses bearings are a sealed unit that incorporates the ABS sensors.

I had the left bearings fail at 235,000 miles. When turning the wheel by hand I felt a slight grinding. Thinking it was a brake pad catching a high spot on the rotor, I made an appointment with my local mechanic. Didn't make the appointment. Bearing failed on the road.

At 250,000 miles while greasing the front end, I again turned the wheels by hand. This time the right side had a slight grinding noise and feel to it. There was no wobble or looseness to the wheel. Brought it into the shop and my mechanic confirmed that it was a bad wheel bearing.

When I had the left bearing assembly replaced I debated with my mechanic the merits of replacing the right side at the same time. He thought the left side my have gotten some kind of contaminant that caused the failure and to hold off replacing the other side. He did caution me to pay close attention to the right side.

In hind sight we agree that both sets of bearings should have been replaced together.

I do my own oil changes and front end lube so I was able to detect this problem before it failed on the road. If you have a shop do your oil changes ask if you can spin the front wheels while your van is on the hoist. An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of wrecker bills.

 

[60MPH]

Moot I myself have not had a bearing failure in my 06 but have talked to guy's that have 03 and newer vans and I have heard from them that they have only got 30k out of one side and the other side was okay I have also heard 300k and both have never been replaced. I myself have 141k on it now and I check every oil change for noise and looseness. I belive if I found one side to be bad I would replace both sides but thats just me. The guy I know that only got 30k out of his is a hard driver and he overloads so I belive that his was self induced the guy with above 300k on his 03 is like me, a easy driver and never overloads or brake's hard. I belive that heat is the #1 killer of bearings and driving hard and be heavy loaded is putting way to much heat and stress on the wheel bearing assembly's. So I belive if you drive easy and don't over load you will get more out of your assembly's. Thats just my .02

 

[greg334]

I was under the impression that these were sealed bearings, not an open cage bearing like the old ones were. If I am right, that means that you can't pack them with grease but I maybe wrong.

I always say replace both sides if you replace one, the same goes for the rear axle.

What? you expect to get 300K, 500K out of a set of bearings?

 

[60MPH]

You are correct Greg, 03 and newer GM van's have sealed hubs. One good thing is that you can replace the rotor if it goes bad and you don't have to replace the hub. I know on some other vehicles you have to replace the whole assembly and that can be costly. Atleast that is one smart thing the General did. And I do think that I will get 300k plus out of my assembly's because of my driving habits heck MOOT got 230k on one side and 250k on the other, another 4 month's and he would of been at 300k. I belive it's all about your driving habits and the maintainence you have done. I know these wheel hubs are not serviceable but, I wish they were

 

[theoldprof]

Had a front wheel brg assm go out on my 06 GMC 3500 about 125,000 mi. Mechanic said the other side looked and felt OK. Read somewhere that there are replacement bearing assm that have separate bearings that can be greased and bearings only changed as necessary. Don't remember where I read that.

 

[Moot]

Prof, keep an eye on your other wheel bearing. My mechanic said the same thing. He just figured it was a fluke.

I do not overload and as for maintenance, the unit is sealed. It can not be serviced. I never replaced bearings on my 98 Chev. But did have them repacked when replacing brake pads approximately every 125,000.

At 250,000+ I am still running the original pads.

 

[theoldprof]

Moot, thanks for the reminder to check the other wheel bearing. When I see the guy who bought my truck, I'll flag him down and wiggle the left front tire. (Just kidding). I no longer own the truck. I'm RETIRED, now!!!!!

 

[Moot]

Prof I forgot you retired but I did remember that I'm retarded. Gots to back offin da Jake brain.

 

[Packmule]

"At 250,000+ I am still running the original pads."

Ataboy Moot!! Ya can't wear em' out if ya don't use em'!!!

Damn the torpedo's, Full speed ahead!!

 

[pjjjjj]

Not a van, but husb had to have wheel bearings changed (one side only) on Chev C5500 when only a couple months old; he lost 6 days while the dealer tried to get the part (shoulda called an expediter to get it there faster! haha! j/k, the problem was with locating a part); only one side was changed, under warranty, except the tow truck wasn't covered (long story) and of course, the 6 days out of service!

 

[FIS53]

On my 2000 GM i did not replace the wheel bearings at all. I sold the van with 500k on it. So yes they will last Greg. I live in canada so lots of road salt etc here so for me it was a good van. Now I recently replaced the fronts on my Sprinter but they did take a beating so definitely an early failure but I did both sides at the same time. NOw a toyota i had years ago had seven sets of wheel bearings installed for the time we had it. 2 sets under warranty. dealer could'nt find problem and toyota said nothing was wrong with the vehicle. NOw tell me what are the chances of 2 sets of bearings in 20k miles. The odds are astronomical. So finally found out wheels were out of round (all of them). Toyota again refused to do anything. So have never bought another one since, not one of their products.

Rob

 

[Moot]

Rob, I think your 2000 probably had serviceable bearings. I know my 1998 did. The bearings on my 2004 are a sealed assembly that also incorporates the ABS.

 

[Moot]

Marty, I dredged up this old thread. Hope it helps. My local mechanic charged me $385 for bearing assembly and labor.

 

[late4dinner]

Not a van, but husb had to have wheel bearings changed (one side only) on Chev C5500 when only a couple months old; he lost 6 days while the dealer tried to get the part (shoulda called an expediter to get it there faster! haha! j/k, the problem was with locating a part); only one side was changed, under warranty, except the tow truck wasn't covered (long story) and of course, the 6 days out of service!

I am not a husband, but I have all the necesary equipment. Just wondering, where should I look for my bearings? And where can I go to have them serviced?