Wheel bearing replacement interval?

[Boris]

When /miles do you replace bearings if they aren't noticeably failing?

Tia

[moyenecorniche]

You Don't, The bearings will let you know when they are beginning to fail. Usually a vibration will emit from the wheel bearing. Bearings are usually good for 60,000 to 100,000 miles, sometimes longer.

[jazza08]

One of my fronts has only lasted ~47,000 miles, it has started to whine. I have been told that it is unusual to happen that quickly.

[littleredwagen]

One of my fronts has only lasted ~47,000 miles, it has started to whine. I have been told that it is unusual to happen that quickly.

I have that beat in 72k miles I have had my passenger side front replaced TWICE, driver's side was done before 42k. These bearing are crap

[EasternLI]

My dealer says he thinks my passenger side rear is going, makes a ton of noise when you take a hard/fast left turn, car only has 22500k on it

[Intrepid One]

I did drivers side at about 58k miles and passenger side last week at 75k miles..Its not a PM item..run to failure (growling noise) It was quite evident when they pooched out on me..S

[b6onboost]

Audi has always used lower quality wheel bearings which tend to not last very long.

It also seems like they fail much sooner on B8s, since they revised the hub, than with previous models.

[eurotic]

My B6 went through a number of wheel bearings. I attributed it to a heavy car being tossed around corners aggressively (at autocross) and spirited driving accelerating the wear. Nice to know little has changed with the B8.

[cookinsolo]

75k miles no problems here. but parking sensors... let me tell u how many times those #$&%ing things mess up

[moyenecorniche]

I should have added that driving style, roadways, crowned roadways will definitely put more strain on the suspension. One can also add the corrosional aspects of salt which is spread at the 1st snowflake in 4 cubic acres (lol)

Definitely spend the money and buy top quality bearings. Additionally and this is critical to bearing life. The center wheel bolt must be torqued down to 145 ft-lbs. No more, often a shop will use the air powered ratchet to tighten the center bolt.. I don't care what anyone says, hearing the gun ratchet 3 or 4 times does not indicate that the center bolt is torqued to the correct setting. Only a correctly calibrated torque wrench can do that. If you can change your own flat tire then you can check the torque settings on all 4 wheels.

What happens is that in each of the wheel bearings/hub there are 2 sets of bearings separated by a nylon / teflon / plastic spacer. Too tight and both bearings are unable to spin freely thus friction causes premature failure.

[MYFASTA4]

i think the lug nuts torque specs are 90 ft. lbs. and using a torque wrench will minimized vibrations too.

[Boris]

i think the lug nuts torque specs are 90 ft. lbs. and using a torque wrench will minimized vibrations too.

Wait lug nut torq amount will also effect bearing longevity?

[eurotic]

I should have added that driving style, roadways, crowned roadways will definitely put more strain on the suspension. One can also add the corrosional aspects of salt which is spread at the 1st snowflake in 4 cubic acres (lol)

Definitely spend the money and buy top quality bearings. Additionally and this is critical to bearing life. The center wheel bolt must be torqued down to 145 ft-lbs. No more, often a shop will use the air powered ratchet to tighten the center bolt.. I don't care what anyone says, hearing the gun ratchet 3 or 4 times does not indicate that the center bolt is torqued to the correct setting. Only a correctly calibrated torque wrench can do that. If you can change your own flat tire then you can check the torque settings on all 4 wheels.

What happens is that in each of the wheel bearings/hub there are 2 sets of bearings separated by a nylon / teflon / plastic spacer. Too tight and both bearings are unable to spin freely thus friction causes premature failure.

I had a flash-back to changing the axle on my TT and having to torque that nut but then it required an extra 90 degrees...that was crazy amount of force to achieve.

[jazza08]

I have that beat in 72k miles I have had my passenger side front replaced TWICE, driver's side was done before 42k. These bearing are crap

At least you don't live in Australia.. the dealer here quoted me AUD $900 for a single replacement. As with everything here what a rip! Aftermarket bearing it is then haha.

[AKPS4]

I don't see how the lug nuts have anything to do with bearings. The wheel will just get tighter to the brake disc and the brake disc to the edge surface of the hub. There is not additional force on the bearings by over tightening wheel lugs. Unless the bearing surface is proud of the hub, which would just be completely retarded.

[cspcrx]

May I ask, of those who had to replace them, what the dealers are charging?

[Dr GP]

May I ask, of those who had to replace them, what the dealers are charging?

Whatever it is, it is TOO much. Replacing wheel bearings is a simple repair that can be done by most competent mechanics especially if they have any familiarity working on German cars. Save yourself some money and have an Independent repair garage do the work.

[moyenecorniche]

I believe that my invoice was close to $400 when I had my bearing replaced at the dealership. I had Audi coupons worth $100 off but $400 is still more than I would like to pay out.

[MYFASTA4]

I don't see how the lug nuts have anything to do with bearings. The wheel will just get tighter to the brake disc and the brake disc to the edge surface of the hub. There is not additional force on the bearings by over tightening wheel lugs. Unless the bearing surface is proud of the hub, which would just be completely retarded.

that's a good question and it may not have anything to do with it. All I can say is that I have seen spacers not torque to spec and there was a lot of vibration, I would imagine that vibration can cause early wear. I just do it cause I feel good about my work when I do ;-)

[moyenecorniche]

The wheels are bolted to the hub, torquing the wheel lugs or nuts ( depending on set up ) isn't going to affect the bearings. To have a significant enough vibration to cause wear on the bearings, let's just say you would be pulling over immediately to see what in hell is happening.

The wheel would not get tighter to the disc rotors, let's just say that in order to compress the wheel inward, you would reach the shearing limits of the wheel studs beforehand. That is not possible.

Also cannot get the brake disc rotor closer to the hub by compression. Look at the fastening design of hub, bearing, rotor and caliper. They are designed not to interfere with one another when correctly bolted, no matter how tight the bolts are.
There is however a point where you could either strip the threads or shear off the heads on the bolts by applying excessive rotational force.
But that is a catastrophic theoretical point way beyond realistic scenarios.

[esimp2k]

Had one replaced today under CPO. Otherwise was told it would have been $800. 81k miles.

[adbender]

I had 2 replaces under warranty and three to date. 4 total. All fronts.

On 3rd the dealer charged me close to 800 with parts labour and taxes. Never again.

4th one was ordered from ecs and installed by my local mechanic..350 total.
It was an *** bearing...just as good as any considering the life of oem bearings.




Rough winters and road combined with track days definitely contributed....

[adbender]

F.A.G. bearing to clarify. Apparently *** is a bad word...

[moose_head]

This is just under 60,000 km (37,000 miles.) My passenger front seems to be going. I thought it could be some gravel stuck in the brake since it happened after driving on a dirt road but I couldn't find anything, nor jar it loose by driving like a maniac for a few days. The dealer tech took a ride with me and agreed it was a bearing, but they couldn't book me for service for another 3 weeks (wtf!) because they are booked up doing tire switchovers and de-winterizing Porsches (dealer does both brands.) If they weren't doing it under warranty I'd go somewhere else.

[SC-S4]

i have 16k miles. I just swapped to summer PSS and noticed possible wheel bearing issue. I will have to swap back to stock 18s to see if its not the wheels/tires.

[danmm7]

Are all 4 of the bearings on the S4 pressed in or they can be replaced together with the hub assembly?
Can this be a DIY project?

On some cars (Mazda / Nissan), i was able to replace the rear bearings in my own garage, since they came with the hub assembly and there was no need to press them in. It was an hour job on each side.

Here is a picture of what i am referring to:
This is from Mazda 3

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

Wheel bearings on the S4 are quite simple to replace actually. The front and rear both use flanges secured by 4 triple square bolts. Below is what they look like.



No need to press the bearing in, only the hub.

Jason

[Elliott]

Are all 4 of the bearings on the S4 pressed in or they can be replaced together with the hub assembly?
Can this be a DIY project?

On some cars (Mazda / Nissan), i was able to replace the rear bearings in my own garage, since they came with the hub assembly and there was no need to press them in. It was an hour job on each side.

Here is a picture of what i am referring to:
This is from Mazda 3

This is a total DIY project. This video is very helpful and is essentially identical to B8 S4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2ueku55MvM

[danmm7]

Great!!!

This is pretty easy, indeed. Glad to see that Audi did not go with the pressed in bearings option.
It's is amazing how much $$$ dealers charge for this job.

Thanks for posting the video. It goes to my favorites.

[Tmac!]

To those that have had failed bearings, what type of indications did you get that they were failing? I have some slight vibration while going straight & turning left. Seems to go away while turning right. This all at speeds above 45 - 50 mph. More of a wah wah wah sound or feeling. Car has 15k miles.

James

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

^^ Definitely sounds like a wheel bearing gone bad. It usually starts with a roaring noise and gradually gets worse. Also if you are noticing it when you load up one side of the vehicle (such as taking a turn) and you notice the noise, then upon exiting it gets quiet. That's one of the most common signs of a bad bearing.

Jason

[B8s]

When /miles do you replace bearings if they aren't noticeably failing?

Tia

I had 3 replaced around 25,000 miles. It really depends

[hana26]

Has anyone purchased 3rd party hub assemblies like Timken or Centric? Looking for feedback seeing as how the stock bearings seem like they're nothing special.

[kracas85]

At work we use Timken, Moog, and Beck Arnley unless it's a dealer only item. For everyday use I don't see problems using these brands. I don't even see a problem using them as spirited drivers or weekend warriors. As people above have stated obvious signs and symptoms of a failing bearing my trick is to lift the wheels off the ground and have the car in neutral. One hand spins the wheel as the other hand holds onto the coil spring. You will feel lots of vibration through the spring if the bearing is bad.

[Midnight_Rider]

Had mine replaced on s2k at 80k miles, but I had fun with that car.

Had 90k miles on my Evo, and never had to replace. That's with multiple Tail of the Dragon runs, auto-x, and drag racing.

I can't imagine an awd car having to replace a wheel bearing less than 100k.

[Jay007]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but I wanted to contribute my experience on my 2015 B8.5 S4 with 43,000 km's on her.

Just had a dealer visit yesterday and they replaced both front bearings under warranty. Had some buzzing noise coming from the front that got higher pitched with faster speed. Started at around 30km/hr all the way through from there.

Stock 19' rotors with PS4's summer, TSW 18's with Blizzaks winter. Stock ride height, no spacers.

Very concerned the vehicle would need two wheel bearings at 43k km's. That's roughly one quarter to one fifth the life I have seen on previous vehicles.

After researching on here a bit its fairly apparent that there are bearing issues on the B8/B8.5 S4/S5's and possibly A4/5's (not sure if they are the same).

Is anyone aware of a recall or anything Audi is working on to fix the early failures?

[sacandagaD]

......

After researching on here a bit its fairly apparent that there are bearing issues on the B8/B8.5 S4/S5's and possibly A4/5's (not sure if they are the same).

Is anyone aware of a recall or anything Audi is working on to fix the early failures?

Maybe Audi could use Honda Wheel Bearings instead, my Element has 233k on it and all 4 original WB's, lol!