Way off topic, but while I'm waiting for my account to activate on a Pontiac Montana board, I could use the advice of some other experienced mechanics. Problem: My wife's '01 Pontiac Montana needs a new passenger side front wheel bearing/hub assembly. This will be the fourth one. Original one died at about 77,000 miles or so. Ok, van went to the shop, replaced it for about $600. Ouch. It failed a couple of years later, again. Poor installation, maybe? (Doubtful, in retrospect) That was the second one. Not willing to spend another $600 for this job, I did the next one myself. I have the factory service manuals, so I read the procedure (not difficult) and followed the instructions. Went to the local bearing supply house, and found that the part was $255 through them. There's only one manufacturer, so I was told. Federal Mogul/BCA makes them. I got the bearing/hub from them, inside a BCA box. No "Made in China" parts for me! Took it home and installed it. Replaced the factory mounting bolts, just as the manual said. Everything went together smoothly, torqued everything to the factory specs, yada yada and so forth. It's lasted 18 months, maybe 2 years. AND NOW IT'S FAILED AGAIN. I took the wheel off and verified the problem. There's about .100" of end play inside the bearing itself.:shock: This is number 3! I'm wondering what could be taking out this bearing? The mounting bolts I installed haven't come loose, I found nothing wrong, no signs of overheating or anything, with the brake on this wheel. It doesn't seem to be a problem with the half shaft binding or pre-loading the bearing on the thrust axis. At least that I could find. If there was a run of defective parts, I'd think there'd be problems with the driver's side as well. A quick scan of the Pontiac forum showed that others have had to replace this bearing, on this side as well. Any ideas out there? Thank you! Dan
dan,i've had this simmilar problem happen to me in the shop that i work at.now when i install them i lube the splines on the halfshaft and torq.try driving a shot distance and retorq.for some reason,maybe machine tolerances or ?,i've seen bearings loosen up after torqing then driving.you would think that torqing to 180# they would seat themselves but ?? good luck.
Thanks! Having done a little more research, it appears that there are more manufacturers than I was led to believe. Right now I'm looking at the Timken replacement. What brand do you normally use in your shop? Are there any in particular to stay away from? Or that you would recommend? Timken is a solid brand, to the best of my knowledge. Anyone have another opinion? I don't want to do this job again!
