About Wheel Bearings: Damage, Replacement

Automobile wheel bearings are one of the important parts of automobiles. They bear the weight of the vehicle and the pressure of steering. Long-term use or improper use may cause wear or damage, affecting the comfort and safety of the car, so they need to be replaced or repaired.

Why are wheel bearings easily damaged?

Large performance deviation:

Due to the many uncertain factors in the assembly process, such as human operation errors and insufficient equipment precision, the performance deviation of the press-fitted bearings is large. This performance deviation may be manifested as insufficient bearing capacity and reduced wear resistance, making the bearings more susceptible to damage under normal use conditions and requiring frequent replacement.

Harsh use environment:

During the driving of the car, the wheel bearings need to withstand complex loads and vibration shocks. Under harsh use environments, such as high temperature, high humidity, and dust, the lubrication performance of the bearings will decrease, resulting in an increase in the friction coefficient and increased wear, thereby shortening the service life of the bearings.

Improper maintenance:

The maintenance of the bearings is essential for their service life. If the vehicle is not regularly maintained and inspected as required during use, such as not replacing the lubricating oil and cleaning the bearing surface in time, the bearings will wear more and fail prematurely.

Material fatigue and aging:

Over time, the bearing material will be affected by fatigue and aging, resulting in a decrease in its performance. This fatigue and aging may be the result of the combined effects of multiple factors such as long-term load, temperature changes, and poor lubrication. When the bearing material reaches a certain fatigue limit, failure or damage will occur and it needs to be replaced.

Why choose to replace a pair of bearings instead of one?

The price of an extra bearing is not worth mentioning in the face of life safety.

If economic conditions permit, and in order to ensure the safety and reliability of the vehicle, it is recommended to replace a pair of bearings instead of one. This will not only avoid problems caused by the mismatch between the new and old bearings, but also ensure the balance and stability of the wheels and improve driving safety.

First, if the driving environment of the car is good and there are no accidents or other abnormal use, the wear degree of the two bearings on the same shaft should be similar. Based on this logic, when one bearing has a problem, the life of the other bearing may not be long.

Secondly, considering the problems that may arise from replacing only one bearing, such as inconsistent front wheel speeds and vehicle deviation caused by inconsistent friction coefficients between the new and old bearings, as well as positioning and rotation problems that may be caused by uneven wear of the two bearings on the same wheel, it is indeed recommended to replace a pair of bearings at one time.

Finally, from the perspective of safety and reliability, replacing a pair of bearings can ensure the balance and stability of the wheels and reduce safety hazards caused by bearing problems.
If the driving environment of the car is good and there are no accidents, the life of the bearings should be similar. If two things of the same quality are broken, and the other is almost broken, it is better to replace them together directly.

If only one bearing is replaced, the friction coefficients of the new and old bearings are different, which will cause the front wheel speed to be inconsistent and the vehicle will easily deviate. The two bearings of the same wheel should be replaced together so that the wear of the two bearings is even and will not affect the positioning and rotation. Under normal circumstances, it is recommended to replace the rear wheel bearing of the vehicle as a whole at one time to ensure the safety and reliability of the vehicle. If only one bearing is replaced, it may cause problems such as wheel imbalance, shaking, uneven tire wear, etc., which will cause potential hidden dangers to driving safety.

How often should the wheel bearing be replaced?

A wheel bearing is used normally and is not affected by external forces such as accidents. The service life is about 150,000 kilometers.

The premise of this theoretical life is that the car has not encountered accidents such as traffic accidents, and is driving on a road section with good road conditions, without wading, dust, sand, bumps and potholes, etc.

If the car encounters an accident collision, or drives on a road with complex road conditions for a long time, it may affect the service life of the wheel bearing.

As for warranty, the general supplier’s warranty is 1 year or 30,000 kilometers, and DUHUI’s bearing warranty can be 2 years and 50,000 kilometers.