bad wheel bearing?

[james accordino]

--- DGraber460 at aol.com wrote:
> Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to any of
> those questions.
> I pulled the strut off and took it to my local
> alignment shop who did the 
> work. They have been very knowledgeable and
> trustworthy for years.
> The age and origin, I also don't know as the
> previous owner has gone 
> underground.
> 
> Dennis
> PS I think the passenger side is going as well, as I
> see grease splattering 
> and can find no split in the boot.

It's a fact of life.  With the temp. extremes and the
high lateral loading, the metal is going to wear.  No
matter how good the steel(it's good) and how tight the
production tolerances(they're also real good).  A bad
bearing job would be some reman. CV's, whose life
expectancy was sometimes measured in hrs.  Bad ball to
race tolerances, and poor metal finish.  Even the
boots suck compared to Lobro or GKN.  IMO they went to
sealed bearings to take the monkey out of the loop. 
Packaging certainly played a part as well.  I'm very
satisfied with them in general.  Pretty cost effective
compared to 2 tapered roller bearings with their races
and a grease seal.  Also every time I repack my manual
bearings, I have to replace the inner seal.  About
$5-7 on the Dorf truck.

Jim Accordino

BTW- the grease is probably being ejected when the
seal is deflected slightly under high lateral loads. 
I've seen good quality grease reduced to coffee.