When Should I Replace Wheel Bearings?

[snocat17]

I've driven my 2016 S5 now 32K blissful miles since May 2017. I'm gonna turn the odometer 60000 this weekend while I drive to Indy.

I had to change the wheel bearings on my GMC at 95K and 108K miles recently. It was a significant cost ($380 each), but something that was pretty easy to do at a local garage in my small town. I know the wheel bearings on my S5 won't be so easy (and maybe more expensive), so I will probably have them done in St. Louis or Springfield, MO, both 2 hours away. I'm going to change them before they fail, but the question is when should I do it. I've heard they have a 60K-65K mile expectancy, but some say they should last until 75K or even 80K.

I want to take a straw-pull to see when you think they should be changed. What do you think?

[fR3ZNO]

Depends on your idea of "failure".

If you mean failure as in when the bearing separates and your wheel falls off, then yeah, change them before that.

Otherwise, I would wait until they start making noticeable noise. Since there is a quite a bit of variation in failure times, changing them preemptively can be a bit of waste, IMO; like changing them at 65K when they could have easily gone to 100K. It's not like a bearing will leave you stranded, unless you ignore the noise for a long time.

[MugelloB7RS4]

Ive had to replace one so far on my RS4. Ive had the car for 7 years and almost 100,000miles. Total mileage is 158K and I've replaced one because it made noise, no need to replace the others.

The other thing you can do is check them every once in a while to see if there is any play in them. If they aren't noisy and don't have any play, there's no reason to change them.

[fR3ZNO]

Ive had to replace one so far on my RS4. Ive had the car for 7 years and almost 100,000miles. Total mileage is 158K and I've replaced one because it made noise, no need to replace the others.

The other thing you can do is check them every once in a while to see if there is any play in them. If they aren't noisy and don't have any play, there's no reason to change them.

Just curious, did you have to replace one of the front wheel bearings?

It's not hard evidence, but I had a friend with a B7 and both of his front wheel bearings failed right around the same time as the ones in my B6 did, around 140K miles. Left and right fronts failed within around 5 to 10k miles of each other.

The rears seem to last much longer than the fronts, in my experience (have yet to replace one on my B6 in my 50K miles of ownership).

[RockJGC]

Most people don't change wheel bearings as a maintenance item. They wait for them to show signs of failure. You obviously don't want to wait until they totally fail, but it's easy enough to check them for excessive play. You can just grab your wheel/tire at the top and bottom and try to move it. There should be pretty much zero play when you have wheel bearings that are in good condition. You can also spin the wheel and listen for any unusual noise, but that can be tricky if you're not familiar with the sound that brake pads make rubbing ever so slightly on the rotors. You can also often feel roughness as you spin a wheel/tire with a bad wheel bearing. Anyway, it's not necessary to change them until they start to show signs of failure. Very rarely does a wheel bearing crap out without warning, at least if you periodically check them.

[JamesRS5]

Wheel bearings like any bearing race will let you know when they need replacing, no need for preventative maintenance on these, you’d just be spending money for nothing.

[ColtS5]

Good question, but I agree with the others. Wheel bearings start to making noise when they are bad, usually a light whirring noise. You usually can tell by driving, windows down a swerve (carefully) side to side to load it up, you can tell which one (s) are noisy. I agree with the others, replace when you hear them. If you want to be a little preventative, then maybe do an axle set at a time, but fine doing them when they get loud. Not sure who you heard the 60k-65k expectancy, as some go the life of the car, some go bad as early as 15k, so there really is no definitive replacement interval.

[snocat17]

... Not sure who you heard the 60k-65k expectancy...

A reputable source, Audi group on Facebook.

[wkhanna]

A reputable source, Audi group on Facebook.

.....just guessing ..... but that may be a manufacture's specification.....??

higher loads on the front axle due to the fact that wheels must steer along with providing drive & braking tend make them wear faster....

i have had wheel bearings go bad at 40k while others last the life of the vehicle (up to 200k) in my case).

i tend to replace bearings as a set (front or rear), but thats just me, OCD.......

when they start to go bad, you will know it.....

jmho... ymmv....