bad wheel bearing?

[james accordino]

--- DGraber460 at aol.com wrote:
> Last year my URQ started making a nasty grinding
> noise about 3 miles from 
> home. I drove slowly home and found a bad driver
> side front wheel bearing. 
> The grinding was the first indication anything was
> amiss. It was bad enough I 
> had to replace the hub. I'm very conscious of
> mechanical noises and 
> vibrations, so I was really surprised by the
> severity of the failure.
> 
> Dennis

How old were the bearings?  How many miles?  Were they
FAG?  I believe they were the O.E. suppliers?  At
least all the ones I've seen so far.  You said you had
to replace the hub.  I'm guessing that the hub spun on
the inner bearing race.  That indicates bearing
lock-up, at least intermittantly.  Did you look at the
balls and races on the old one?  Were they badly
burned/brinelled?  I'm kind of interested.  I looked
at mine which were 12 years old with 184k and no
obvious noises or play when checked at the wheel.  But
there was quite a bit of slop in the bearings
themselves compared to the new ones.  The balls and
races all looked O.K., just worn.  I have to believe
most bearings are probably pretty worn by then, even
if they aren't "failing".

My $.02
Jim Accordino