Front Wheel Bearings Shot!

[G-Rott]

This may be the last Chevy I own.  ABS and Trac-loc were acting up, and the tech said it sounds like bad speed sensors.  Sounds logical, computer thinks the wheels are turning at diffrent speeds so it starts making corrections.  I make the appointment and drop it off.  I just get home and the phone is rinning, it's the shop, BOTH front wheel bearings are shot at 60,000.   and it gets better, the part is GM only and price is like $230 per side.  One pc unit includes speed sensor.  So $700 later I have a truck that is in the condition a 3 year old "TRUCK" should be in.  What a joke "like a rock"!

[RyanbabZ71]

my moms blazers front wheel bearing (d side) went out at 28K (out of warranty too)

[asepgrad98]

Yeah if my bearings only made 38 MILLION revolutons before they went out i'd be mad too  

[RyanbabZ71]

ASEP. they should last alot longer than 28K or 60K.  

 

Someone must have miscalculated the bearing life  

 

Oh yea front wheel bearings going out is a common problem on the blazers.  Especially at low miles

[awdvkd]

My question would be, if they go out so often why isn't someone making them aftermarket.

[CMNTMXR81]

Hey, I just replaced the fronts on my Monte Carlo, but is it ok that I got 120,000 miles out of the stockers?

 

Sh*t happens!  GM DIDN'T MAKE THE WHEEL BEARING ITSELF!  GM bought the wheel bearing it put on your truck from the same supplier that supplies ford, honduh, toyota, etc!  Blame the manufacturer of the wheel bearing NOT GM.  All GM did was take it out of a parts bin and bolt it on your truck at the factory!

 

So go trade your Chevy in on a super reliable Toyota or other vehicle that you have pre-concieved notions of superior reliability!  But what's gonna happen when in a fluke it needs it wheel bearings replaced too?  Or some other part for that matter!  

 

Oh, and you could've gone over to Napa and picked up the same exact wheel bearing for about half the cost of the GM part and spent a Saturday in your driveway doing them.  They aren't overly hard to replace.

 

Oh, and Ryan, how could the bearing be out of warranty at 28k?  Manufacturer warranty is 3yr/36k bumper to bumper sans tires!

[CMNTMXR81]

Also, do you have oversized tires that stick out further than the stock tires?  If so, you are putting more stress on your wheel bearings due to the added positive offset adding load which can accelerate bearing wear.

[bluelab]

I had the same problem with my 99 S-10 that was fixed under warranty.  The kicker here is the same problem happened again a few weeks later.  The dealer’s response was it got a bad part.  My 88 S-10 you could not kill the body rusted out but the 99 S-10 had a lot of little things go wrong with it from shocks to failed battery to door hinges breaking and not just the 3rd door but the passenger door as well.  My confidence level was so low I got rid of the S10 and now have an O2 Silvered.  I’m at 45 K and so far so good but if it does not hold up I may leave GM as well.  I am all for brand loyalty but there comes a time when the brand should be customer loyal.

[RyanbabZ71]

Sh*t happens!  GM DIDN'T MAKE THE WHEEL BEARING ITSELF!  GM bought the wheel bearing it put on your truck from the same supplier that supplies ford, honduh, toyota, etc!  Blame the manufacturer of the wheel bearing NOT GM.  All GM did was take it out of a parts bin and bolt it on your truck at the factory!

 

yes they do i understand that but an engineer at gm had to calculate which bearings to use so i do put the blame on gm.

 

How is it out of warranty?  Well it is over the 3 yr (6 months over) warranty.  Gm did cover half.  Her 4wd system also went out at like 26K and 2 months out of warranty.  Gm also only covered half.  The guy said they would have covered the wheel bearings in full if they didnt go half for the 4wd system  ???

[RyanbabZ71]

oh yea still has the stock 235s on the blazer

[CMNTMXR81]

yes they do i understand that but an engineer at gm had to calculate which bearings to use so i do put the blame on gm.

Calculating which wheel bearings to use has nothing to do with the actual execution of the manufacturer of the bearing.

 

Now if 99% of all wheel bearings installed on our trucks came back for repair at 25,000 miles due to defect, THEN I'd blame the engineers for a faulty design.

 

However, I can count the number of wheel bearings that have come back for repair in the last year for vehicles less than two years old on one hand.  That would lead me to believe that out of thousands of cars and trucks sold by GM in those past two years that with only a handful coming back, the fault does NOT lie with GM engineers (and their engineering prowess) and put it on the actual manufacturer of the bearing for poor Q.C. before it left on a truck for a GM plant.

[RyanbabZ71]

The day my moms truck went in there was a trailblazer which was getting 2 new wheel bearings and also another blazer.  3 in one day??? Coincidence?  Go over to edmunds and read the blazer forum there are a bunch of people with less than 50K miles with wheel bearings going out.

 

I will agree Q.C. with the suppliers needs to increase.

[CMNTMXR81]

And I see them in the lanes each day!  We had three TrailBlazer's in for new engines last week, does that mean the the 4.2L I6 is crap too?  We had 4 LS1's in for various engine maladies including one that had connecting rod stew in the oil pan.  That's a story in and of itself.  

 

Just cause you see three in one day/week is irrelevant.  You have to get the numbers over a set period of time.

 

I'm not disputing wheel bearings go, I've replaced my fair share over the years and just did two this weekend.  But take a look at total sales, then take a look at total campaigns/service R.O.'s for wheel bearings and figure out a percentage.  If it's less than 15% it's considered chicken sh*t and based on a manufacturer defect.  When you start getting into 25%+ brought back, then I'd direct blame at the engineers/GM.

[dukbludvl]

IMHO, I believe that GM is ultimately responsible. GM is the company that is doing business with the parts suppliers.  If their parts suppliers give them bad parts, GM needs to either find a new supplier or be willing to cover the expense of replacing bearings at 28K or 60K miles.  My opinion is that if I am going to spend 40,000 on a truck, I shouldn't have to do major repair work on it when it has 28K miles on it.  GM needs to extend its warranties -- as do many other auto manufacturers.  Just my opinion.  I don't want to start an argument.  I love my truck -- despite its many problems (rear window motor failure, blown speakers, loose console, dash rattle, squeaky suspension, etc.).  Would I buy another GM truck, I think so.  The Japanese simply don't make big trucks like the Americans can.  Who wants a weak-a$$ Tundra, or a POS Nissan?  Not me.

 

Nobody makes trucks like GM.  Now, would I buy a GM car -- no chance in ####.  They're ugly.  I'll probably never own another car unless gas prices hit $8 a gallon.

[CMNTMXR81]

I agree, GM is ultimately responsible if it's within warranty.  However, 60,000 is NOT within warranty and in all honesty, a lot can happen in 60,000 miles.  Stuff that can't be associated necessarily a "manufacturer defect" anymore but more associated with "use and abuse".  I'm not saying that he used and abused his truck, but I think you understand where I'm coming from.

 

The whole concept behind a manufacturer warrantying a vehicle is to take care of MANUFACTURER DEFECTS!  Not normal usage/wear and tear unless it's something absolutely bizarre and/or gets a TSB/Recall.  Most MANUFACTURER DEFECTS are found in the first 3yrs or 36,000 miles, would you not agree with me?  When you start getting into the 50,000 mile arena, "technically" that's about half the vehicle's life.  How can you expect GM to warranty something that's used half it's usable life  

 

Heck, I just completed a "Secondary A.I.R. Injection System" replacement recall on my 96 Monte.  The one I mentioned above with 120k on the clock.  GM paid for it.  But that was an isolated and common occurence with that vehicle which is why GM did what they did to fix them.

 

Pretty soon you guys will want full lifetime warranties on vehicles.    

 

Sorry, that ain't gonna happen.  And don't tell me about Hyundai's lifetime warranty on their vehcile's.  THere's a completely different set of motivators behind that program.  It involves around a poor record of reliability for their products and an attempt to get people to buck that "reputation" to get them to buy their car.

 

That is not the case with GM, ford and Chrysler.  They do not have the reliability issues Hyundai had.  If the "Big 3" were to do that, they'd be out of business.