BMG

Hi All,

I have a very annoying issue with my rear wheel bearings on my 93 escort. They were fine for years and they both went within a few months of each other and now I have been through 5 bearings in 2 years. I got a garage to do them initially and they didn't last then I did it myself and they lasted around 6 months, but with little mileage. One seems to be ok now. I changed the other on Monday and did 600km over the weekend and I can hear it droning already!! Anyone got any idea what the hell is going on?? I inspected the old one and some of the rollers were chipped, the races looked to be in good condition. I have been extremely careful to make sure everything is very clean etc while assembling. The only thing I can think of is that I am over tightening them? The manual says 275nm which by all accounts is pretty bloody tight. Other treads on here have said to them very very tight - I have been using a 60cm steel pipe over a breaker bar to tighten the nut until its TIGHT. In the absence of a torque wrench does anyone have any good way to estimate the torque required? There are no pins on the axel so I dont want the nut to come off!

The axel stubs look ok and there is nothing warped or out of shape, so I am straching my head and annoyed! Can you buy a entire new assembled drum/hub/bearing/axel set up and just bolt it on?

Any helps ideas would be appreciated.

doga-ot

iTrader: (1)

I would have said dodgy batch but as you have gone through so many i would 1 check you rear suspensions not bent and if ok i would change the rear hub and stub axle for another rst rear axle!

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

What wheels have you got on it?

Rollin' Retro

Are you using genuine ford parts? A lot of after market parts these days seem to be of very low quality, i replaced the drop links on the gf's focus recently and they lasted just 2 months! Also if you are running wide wheels they might be adding to the wear. Defiantly worth examining the stub axle for pitting and wear too.

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

The money you've wasted on wheel bearings could have been invested in torque wrench. Just bite the bullet and buy one!

BigChuck

Check your wheel alignment,

have you put bigger wheels on it? As that could cause problems

BMG

Just running the factory wheels on it. I have been doing some research today and it seems like the roller flaking is more than likely caused by overtightening.

BMG

yeah, I know. I should just buy one!

m11rcm

You must no someone with a torque wrench that could lend u it for ten mins. Am sure there will be someone on here living close to u with one put a post on the main page asking to borrow one.

Cheers marc

MrEngineerdat

hold on... my mate had the very same problem with his xr2i... same hubs i think!
he got through several bearings in short succession so i helped him with it once or twice.
the last couple a times we did it lasted the longest, then he got rid of it about a year or so later, so...
anyway i suspect the ones that are made today are not made to exactly the same tolerances and we decided to use initiative over the book.
we gobbed up loads a grease around the bearing rollers and all around the carriers and done the nut up with some loctite on the thread, no torque wrench, pretty bloody tight just to seat everything where its meant to be, but then undone it and retightened gradually until we could just about feel the bearing starting to bind up inside... we left it there for an hour to set. all was smooth with no wobbles or knocks or drones for ages.
im convinced the rollers are being pinched in the races too much with a torque wrench in this instance.