What makes wheel bearings/hubs wear out? 1998 Chevrolet Malibu hubs going

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alexander T
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Alexander T

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bad after eight months!? About eight months ago, my girlfriend's front wheel bearings/hubs on her 1998 Chevrolet Malibu started making grinding noises. The mechanic said that it was the front hubs, so I had them replaced with aftermarket (read: cheap) ones and the noise was gone. A dealer OEM replacement and repair would have run me $650, but the aftermarket pieces only ran me $80/each, and labor was about $150 (iI think). Eight months later, or about last week, the hubs are grinding again.

I am in Minnesota, so I was thinking that maybe it's partly due to the weather and the road conditions, but eight months, even for an aftermarket hub, just seems a bit ridiculous. If it were up to me, I'd sell the car and get another one, but it's my girlfriend's car, so it stays (and I'll wait for the repairs to keep piling up).

The hubs took about 9,000 miles before going bad.
I bought the hubs on my own from a nearby O'Reilly Auto Parts store.
 
The hubs you bought were probably Chinese. It is not uncommon for Chinese hubs to go out after 8 months (or even less).
Always go USA made.
At http://mibearings.com , they have USA made wheel bearings at a price that is a fraction of the dealer price. Many of their hubs are OEM replacements.
Go to http://mibearings.com and fill out the form on the right. They will look-up the bearings for you and email you with a price and a link. You also could also ask them, on that form, if the bearings are OEM.
I looked up the bearings for you, and I came up with this bearing for the front, http://mibearings.com/paypalparts/513137.html
 
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