So I've had major front end issues over the past year or two and have ended up replacing pretty much everything. I just need to replace the bad ball joints on the passenger side and everything would have been replaced. And with the exception of one part, I've had no issues at all.

The issue now is the wheel bearings. Well, really only the driver side wheel bearing. It went bad about 3-4 months ago, so i took it to Muffler Man to have it replaced, only to discover that it was bad again last week. So i took it to Lentz and had them replace it. I talked to the mechanic who was working on my truck, and he pointed out that the seal where the axle goes into the front differential is bad. He said it probably happened because of the bad wheel bearing. He also pointed out that my passenger side ball joints are bad. (Which I expected. I replaced the drivers side a little while before, but didn't have the money to replace the passenger side.)

So I just had him replace the wheel bearing for now, and I'll replace everything else next paycheck when I have money. So he did, and everything seemed to be okay. Now, 3 days later, it is sounding like that same wheel bearing is bad again. The first time I could see it being a defective bearing. But going through 2 in this short of a time period makes me believe something is killing the bearings.

The only things I know are wrong with the front end of my truck are a passenger side ball joint, which I can't see killing the drivers side wheel bearing, and the axle seal, which from what I was told was caused by the bad bearing.

Now for the questions: Could the bad axle seal kill the bearing? Or is it more likely a bad ball joint on the passenger side would kill the driver's side wheel bearing? Could a bad alignment, caused by the bad ball joints, kill the bearing? (I'm assuming the alignment is bad. The truck doesn't pull to one direction or anything like that.) What are the chances that I would get 2 defective wheel bearings? I've had several friends use the same brand wheel bearings on their cars, and have been driving on them for years with no problems.

Any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

 

Bad ball joints on one side, won't affect the wheel bearing on the other. Axle seal won't hurt the bearing either. Just watch your diff fluid level. If it is already eating the bearing again, I would be more suspect of a bad install. Those axle nuts need to be torqued to 180Ft/lbs, as THEY are what hold things in place. If the axle nut works loose, the bearing gets sloppy, and starts eating itself.

Are you sure it is the bearing making the noise? An easy test..... find a flat stretch of straight road, that doesn't have much traffic. Drive along about 20-30 mph, and turn the wheels as much as you are comfortable with. The idea here is to dramatically change the weight loading on the front wheels, as you change direction. If the noise changes as you change direction, that is a sure indication of bearing failure. (or, soon to be....) the wheel on the OUTSIDE of the turn when it is loudest is the one that is going to be the problem child.

 

I have yet to drive the truck, but what are the chances that 2 different shops both installed it incorrectly? Also, from what I remember, the noise is the same in either direction.

 

Where they jiffy lubes? Or something similar? Where they the cheapest you could find?
There's a lot of dumb mechanics and there are a lot of overqualified ones who work harder and cheaper than they should, it's just filtering through the bad ones to find a good one is the really hard part.

 

It was Muffler Man and Lentz. I have done business with both of them several times within the past 4 years and have never had an issue. And you are right about there being some pretty under-qualified mechanics out there. A mechanic at a local shop once asked me how to remove a ball joint from his vehicle. I thought he was joking. He was not.

Also, no, I would not consider them to be that cheap. I was charged around $100 to change the bearing for labor, plus the cost of parts.

 

Considering labor rates these days, that really isn't that bad. Hour and a half labor or so....