how long are your wheel bearings lasting?

diyer2 · October 28, 2018

1 hour ago, J-man67 said:

150k and stock bearings. I have them ready to go as I know I'm getting close. I'm extremely pleased with this truck. She hasn't had an easy life and it's holding up just fine!

Hey Justin,

Good to hear from someone who hasn't had issues with that mileage.

Could you give some more details on your truck?

Interested in oil change intervals you did.

Oil and filter used.

Did you use Top Tier gas?

Did you use fuel system cleaners like Techron?

Catch Can?

Gb steel · October 28, 2018

210,000 on my 04 that I bought brand new. 6 inch lift with 35's and still on the original bearings. Lift has been on since 05.

crushNchowda · October 28, 2018

3 hours ago, Gb steel said:

210,000 on my 04 that I bought brand new. 6 inch lift with 35's and still on the original bearings. Lift has been on since 05.

Lol well you have an ‘04 which has no “bearing” (pun intended ?) on this thread since we are talking Mexican built post-bailout junkbox GM trucks not ‘04s when GM actually gave a sh*t

Spurshot · October 31, 2018

Since the earlier trucks were brought into this discussion...my 99 1/2 GMT800 2500 went about 110k before the left front bearing slowly failed. I sold my 2008 1500 to my brother with 140k and it was fine. My 2014 1500 has 65k and no signs of bearing problems.

IMO, ball and roller bearing failures of any kind are difficult to diagnose most of the time. Especially a sealed bearing. But a sealed bearing has only a finite amount of grease it uses and sooner or later that grease gets to a point where its lubricating ability is below what is necessary, no matter how good the bearing is made. The quality and quantity of grease has as much to do with the bearing longetivity as the bearing itself, IMO.

The other thing I noted on my trucks was that I could not hear a bearing in the early to mid stages of failure with off-road tires, since the noise frequency is similar. The bearing had to be pretty loose before I could tell. And my experience with the GMT800 was that it took place over more than several thousand miles.

midwestdenaliguy · November 1, 2018

2016 GMC Sierra Denali (6.2L) with 70k miles - still on stock wheel bearings with no issues. I've got a 2" level in the front, but everything else is stock. I'll be swapping out my entire suspension this weekend for a 2.5" lift in the front and 1" lift in the rear.

2008 Cadillac Escalade (6.2L) sold with 200k miles - only had to replace 1 wheel bearing around 150k miles and did it with Timken.

2007 GMC Envoy Denali (5.3L) sold with 175k miles - only had to replace 1 wheel bearing around 100k miles and did it with Timken.

You made a good choice in replacing with Timken. They make great stuff and I've never had an issue with them. Keep in mind though, there are so many factors that go into wheel bearings failing - road conditions, off-roading, wheel/tire set-up (if spacers are used), etc. If everything is stock and you don't beat up the truck on bad roads or off-road you should get 100-150k miles. But it's also not super uncommon to have one go bad between 50-100k. Like any mechanical part, some just fail prematurely. Sorry for your luck.

Edited November 1, 2018 by midwestdenaliguy

Linecapt · May 10, 2019

Front left wheel bearing on order now to my local mom & pop shop, creating a hell of a racket in noise. Only 40k miles.

Gagliano7 · May 10, 2019

On 10/28/2018 at 8:11 AM, J-man67 said:

150k and stock bearings. I have them ready to go as I know I'm getting close. I'm extremely pleased with this truck. She hasn't had an easy life and it's holding up just fine!

Which truck are you talking about your 07 or the 15?

L86 All Terrain · May 10, 2019

I had to do them on our Canyon at 80,000km (50,000 miles.) I was pretty disappointed in the OEM quality having to do them that early on a pavement-pounder. But what can you expect, most of the parts these days are made in China using inferior steels, probably by a child. Build them cheaper and charge double, keep up the good work and you will be crying to be bailed out again soon.

diyer2 · May 10, 2019

I agree the quality may have gone down and all parts can fail.

But a wheel bearing is no big deal to me.

Beats motor or trans issues.

J-man67 · May 13, 2019

Which truck are you talking about your 07 or the 15?

The 15, but 90k with 35s on the 07 and bearings never failed. 04 Colorado with 87k and 33s and they remained tight then too. That truck did not have an easy life. This picture was the first day I had it. Temporary tag was submerged once I pulled through that mess.

As of this weekend everything in the front end of the 15 was silent. I started hearing some chatter/popping similar to the sound of a bad strut or shock. Thought, "well, those lasted longer than I expected." Took a quick look and saw the my drive side sway bar end link sheared off at the control arm. Picked up a new one yesterday and will install today. Back in business. 200k here I come!

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Lyndon · September 24, 2019

The hardest part is loosening the 3 bolts that hold the assembly on. The are like 14 mm bolts but have only 15 mm heads for clearance to the drive shaft. Use a good socket ant try not to bugger them up. Use anti-sieze on everything and the next guy will appreciate you. You do need a 36 mm socket to listen your axle nut. Anti-sieze here to, but a drop of locktite for luck. Get the torque specs from 1A auto video.

jbman · September 26, 2019

Timken machines sent to China bought a few yrs go from USA

Gdaddypops · February 27, 2020

2013 3500 DRW WT LML, I am at 481,000 and my drivers side bearing started making noise today. All highway, 70% towing 8-16k lbs. Hope I can make it 500 miles back home.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Gdaddypops
Truck info added

durandetto · February 27, 2020

73k on my truck and no issues yet. Labor time should be no more than 1.5 hrs. Identifix says factory time is 1.5.

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9c1fanatic · February 27, 2020

I have a theory on bearing failure on these so called "maintenance free" hubs. Obviously on older vehicles where you had to pack grease at least everytime you did the brakes it kind of forced you to change them, inspect them or re-pack them and they lasted. In the police fleet, we see some cars/trucks got 100,000 miles + on the original hubs without failure. Some fail in as little as 15k. This is with many sustained high speed runs in pursuits and just routine emergency response where speeds reach triple digit speeds multiple times just in one busy shift.

Now I know some designs are just faulty or at least less than desirable. I think on average the GMT800 trucks showed higher than normal rates of failure compared to other vehicles than came before and after. That being said, I'm convinced that duty cycle is a huge factor in bearing failure when there is no routine maintenance that can be performed. In the police car world, I believe it comes down mostly to how many times and or how long the vehicle has been driven in water, mud, etc deep enough to submerge the hubs (which happens all the time on police cars believe it or not) over the life of that particular set of hubs. Another factor is violent curb strikes, pot holes etc, rough roads, side loads from high speed cornering that occur during the life cycle of that particular hub or hubs.

In trucks, all these same things can be variables with the addition of increased loads caused by larger wheels, tires, left kits etc. When its just one side that fails, it could be a combo of duty cycle along with an extraordinary wheel strike on a curb, pothole or other road hazard, that you either don't know about because someone else was driving the vehicle, the vehicle was purchased used, or maybe you just forgot about that huge ladder you ran over on the highway 3 years ago that is just now catching up to your bearing hub?

Not too different from someone that has engine failure 5 years and 100,000 miles later because jiffy lube started the engine without oil and let it run for 2 minutes before realizing their mistake, then filling it up with oil and sending it out the door with the customer none the wiser. Engine is working fine at that moment but just lost 150,000 miles off its expected life...