My gf and I were on a little road trip from Timmins Ontario to Winnipeg Manitoba, i mentioned to my gf that my truck will be turning 100 000kms on this trip. I remember telling myself jokingly that will probably be when all the problems start, since I never had much problems before this except a few hickups (diff crapped out and torque converter).

We ended up spending the night in Thunder Bay which was our halfway point, everything prior to that went well. My gas mileage was about 15.9L/kms, which is decent.

The next morning we left, everything seemed to be fine, and our first leg of the trip was Thunder Bay to Dryden which was about 3 hours, i was anxious to get there because i was hungry and wanted Tim Hortons . Well about an hour before Dryden i noticed my gas mileage was up to 17L/100 kms which was i thought abnormal, it was a bit more hilly but not that much to make a significant difference.

As we got into Dryden slowing down for the 50 speed limit, my truck started to make a weird sound and I could tell there was a friction, it wasn't rolling right. I thought it was a break sticking to the rotor, we stopped at tim hortons as it's in the entrance of town, i got out to check my breaks and noticed my front driver's rotor super hot, i burnt my finger on it.

We got our food and i decided to keep on going and see what would happen, i knew there was a dodge dealership in town so i didn't want to go too far. I kept driving through town and noticed the sound wasn't going away and it wasn't right, so i turned around and went to the dealership.

I got in at 1:30 and told them what i thought was the breaks sticking, and wanted them to look at it. By 2:00 my truck went in the garage and the mechanic came and got me quickly after looking at the truck, he said my wheel bearing was shot, and he showed me by shaking the tire side to side while the truck was jacked up, i couldn't believe how much it was wobbling. He said i was lucky to stop in because the tire was ready to fall off at any moment.

Luckily they had the part in stock, so he started changing the bearing right away. By 4:20 my truck was up front ready to go. I was really impressed by the service of McKinstry Chrysler. and the quickness of it.

From now on i will definately check my bearings more often, this could have gone horribly wrong if the wheel would have fell off, i probably wouldn't be typing here today.

Again thanks to McKinstry Chrysler. for the wonderful service.

 

Safe bet you can mostly credit the wheel bearing failure to those big hunks of rubber and the off set rims... just sayin lol
Nice to see another dealer step up and get you back on the road same day.

 

Wheel cant fall off, it would have to get past the CV axle nut first.
Nice to hear they got you fixed and rollin again though... hate it when **** breaks on roadtrips.

 

Yeah i had already given credit to the 35" tires, it's to be expected, but i didn't expect that so early.

Well it's good to know the wheel can't fall off, i'm sure it would of wobbled way before it fell off, i would of felt it.

 

Yeah those 1/2 ton 1500 chinese wheel bearings are very light duty, you`ll replace them often while using big tires.

For sure dude, you`ll feel it WAY before it could possibly fall of the front axles.
You may want to jack up the rearend and check the rear axle bearings too.
You might not feel the rear ones going bad, but you`ll dam sure hear it...!
Not good for the rear differential if the rear bearings start to fail on you.

 

Timken unit bearings are made in china now? Because that is who made the unit bearings in my 2009.

 

Yes, many timken bearings are made in china. Enjoy the global economy...

 

Not all of them, but most of the automotive wheel bearings are now made in china.
So many vehicles being built today, timken got greedy just like the rest of america.
Next time you buy any bearings, look on the package to see where they`re made.
It will also be stamped on the bearing as well.

Like atomic dog said.... ENJOY TO THE GLOBAL ECONOMY...!

 

Both my front bearings went out at 40k miles

 

Well cost me just around 650 parts and labour to get mine done. I plan on doing the others myself unless i get a bad luck down the road again.

Speaking of which how hard is it/what are the steps at changing them.