Chinese wheel bearings

[centrefire]

Ahh..bloody hell! My Great Wall has just turned over 7000km. Should I change the big end bearings this arvo?
Hell, thought I'd get at least 20000km out of them. Damn!

[fishfeeder]

would love to know how many bearings fail because of the installer and not because of the make of bearing !!
How many people recheck there retainer nut after they replace there bearings ?? How many know how to really pack a bearing with grease, How many know that the Retainer nut is never done up tight and its done more by feel as you spin the wheel while you tighten the nut so the bearings beds in properly !!.. These simple things can make a huge difference to the life of your bearings....

I replace all my bearings each year if they need it or not. If I am going on say a trip to the Gold Coast I jack up each wheel and spin it and listen to the bearing and feel for extra slop in the bearings. It doesn't take long and have a good look at your brake pads and discs when you do it.. I also put my hand on each bearing cap when I get to the ramp or at each stop on longer trips, to make sure there not hot. They should be warm but never hot...

Cheers

[ozscott]

Ahh..bloody hell! My Great Wall has just turned over 7000km. Should I change the big end bearings this arvo?
Hell, thought I'd get at least 20000km out of them. Damn!

...dont joke

Cheers

[Fed]

would love to know how many bearings fail because of the installer and not because of the make of bearing !!

I think you've hit the nail on the head fishfeeder.
I'd be more concerned with Chinese seals rather than bearings.
I think most boaties would be lucky to tow 1000 Kms a year so there's little chance of wearing the bearings out.

I heard Great Wall bearings are good for 7001 Kms so that would be 7 years for most.

[Eug]

would love to know how many bearings fail because of the installer and not because of the make of bearing !!
How many people recheck there retainer nut after they replace there bearings ?? How many know how to really pack a bearing with grease, How many know that the Retainer nut is never done up tight and its done more by feel as you spin the wheel while you tighten the nut so the bearings beds in properly !!.. These simple things can make a huge difference to the life of your bearings....

I replace all my bearings each year if they need it or not. If I am going on say a trip to the Gold Coast I jack up each wheel and spin it and listen to the bearing and feel for extra slop in the bearings. It doesn't take long and have a good look at your brake pads and discs when you do it.. I also put my hand on each bearing cap when I get to the ramp or at each stop on longer trips, to make sure there not hot. They should be warm but never hot...

Cheers

spot on. i do the same every couple of trips. get into good habits early and they become part of your pre-trip routine.

[tunaticer]

What causes wheel bearing failure?

Let us see how many different causes of bearing failure we can compile.

[Eug]

warm hub + cool water = water ingress = break down of grease = heat = (rinse repeat) = boom

[NAGG]

would love to know how many bearings fail because of the installer and not because of the make of bearing !!
How many people recheck there retainer nut after they replace there bearings ?? How many know how to really pack a bearing with grease, How many know that the Retainer nut is never done up tight and its done more by feel as you spin the wheel while you tighten the nut so the bearings beds in properly !!.. These simple things can make a huge difference to the life of your bearings....

I replace all my bearings each year if they need it or not. If I am going on say a trip to the Gold Coast I jack up each wheel and spin it and listen to the bearing and feel for extra slop in the bearings. It doesn't take long and have a good look at your brake pads and discs when you do it.. I also put my hand on each bearing cap when I get to the ramp or at each stop on longer trips, to make sure there not hot. They should be warm but never hot...

Cheers

Fair point ........
Taking the trailer for a bit of run after a rebuild is a smart move ( check for excess heat ...... too tight) .... jack up and check for play)

Chris

[googarra]

Agree with the Jap theory above.

20, maybe 30, years ago if it was made in Japan it was crap.

Also agree with the others that some real good sh&^%t comes out of China. Probably half of what comes out of China is good quality, maybe 20% is reasonably good, but the rest is what creates the bad name. Without doubt when China gets the quality control and export standards sorted it will be sought after goods. They will be the next superpower of the world with their economy when we all fade into recession, maybe, my theory.

Great Wall vehicles dont have Chinese engines from memory so your bigend bearing isn't rattling yet, isin't it Isuzu motors in some othe jap frame they acquired when sold by Japan. Not knocking them, good car and never heard anyone that owns one complain.

Agree with the others also re installation at factory.

Pull the hub off a new trailer and see how much grease is in there, about a tablespoon from my experiences.

[Charlie]

The inner seal is the important part, if the stub axel get a bit of rust where the seal seats,
goodbye bearing.

Have fun Haji-Baba

Would of been nice if my dealer had remembered to fit the inner seal ! Never had any problems,two years of dunking latter I noticed and fixed it, thankfully they were never let near my outboard.

[centrefire]

You're right Googarra, I can't complain about my Great Wall yet. It suddenly started performining from 5000km, perhaps the bearings ran in..! Low range really is low range.
The engine is a Mitsubishi one made under licence in China. It even has the Mitsi logo on the tappet cover.

[finga]

What causes wheel bearing failure?

Let us see how many different causes of bearing failure we can compile.

Installer error. In my opinion the biggest cause of bearing failure.
Dust cover or bearing buddy falling off allowing dirt and crap to get in.
Too tightly adjusted bearings which goes back to installer stuffing up.
Not using a high sped grease...back to installer stuffing up
Pressure cleaning the back of the hub forcing water in past the seal.

That'll do me.....

[tunaticer]

Nearly every time a bearing dies an early lifespan it is due to some form of installer or maintenance problem.

Dodgy seals are still an installer problem becuase they fitted them or didnt bring the sealing surfaces on the axle or hub up to scratch to effectively let the seal work or not to damage the seal.

Most bearings that fail are also over tight or under tight.

Too much grease can also cause failure in semi eliptical roller bearings too, I regularly have to replace them on conveyor systems because they are connected to automatic grease feed systems that pump fresh grease into them every day. Bearings beside these that do not have the autofeed seem to outlast the overgreased bearings by nearly double. Not usually a problem with wheel hub bearings however.

[outwide1]

I ran the chinese bearings that were fitted factory in my dunbier trailer for 5 years.
I pulled them down for a regrease and repack every year.When i had them replaced and insisted they fit timikin
my mechanic made me aware that i had chinese bearings the whole time.
My boat is 2ton and is towed to tin can bay atleast 6+times a year.
So i dont know what to say regarding this topic.
Mick

[oldboot]

I defiinitely think the core of the problem with chineese stuff is, that they will make you a product to any price....AND....so may people go to china looking for a cheap product and get just what they pay for.

There is some realy good quality stuff comming out of china, just like tiwan, korea and japan before them.

But for me I spend the extra few dollars and buy the brand neme stuff.

as for failures.

Failure to use a water resistant grease......the old greases we used in the past would fail as a lubricant with the smallest amount of water contamination, the new "blue greases' are far far better.

cheers