shralp Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Hi Guys, '05 GT Wagon here, its my track car and rarely street driven. When I swapped out my Rev. A Bilsteins / Whiteline Control springs 3 seasons ago for RCE Tarmac coilovers, I decided to replace both front wheel bearings. After 60K mi of daily driving over the years and a fair amount of track days they were due for a replacement. Since that time the car has pretty much all track days, (with driving to/from the track anywhere from 25min to 2.5hrs each way). I was swapping out a new set of Cobalt XR2 track pads for an upcoming track day this week and I always grab the wheel and yank back and forth after snugging down the lugs, just a habit. The whole wheel had a ton of in/out play . Sure enough the front L was really bad had to be replaced last minute today. Front R was rock solid, (incidentally, 90% of my track time is on clockwise, Right hand turning, mostly, tracks). I've got almost no daily driving on these wheel bearings and maybe 10-12 track days, with travel and they've blown out on me already?? Anyone have experience with limited life on their wheel bearings? I'm running -2.5 degrees camber in the front via Vorschlag camber plates. I get that increased camber might put more stress on the bearing but jeez these settings are pretty typical for a track car. Are they really not up to the task? Something makes me feel like I'll be replacing this again . If anyone has ideas to share or comments on sourcing a burlier wheel bearing/hub, I'd love to hear it. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotofan Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Did you put OEM bearings in? Most of the aftermarket options aren't much good, though I've heard the Timken ones are fine. If you're running wheels spaced out a lot further than stock, that would be a factor too. These 5x100 bearings just can't take much. But yeah, sounds like #becuzracecar is your main problem, lol. Replacing a wheel bearing after, what, a couple thousand miles? is ridiculous. I put something here like all the cool people, except there's nothing cool to put here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shralp Posted June 8, 2016 Author Share Posted June 8, 2016 Yup these were OEM bearings so I assumed they would be up to the task. I can see now why the switch to 5x114 STI hubs would make sense as they look to be much beefier. Not sure what that entails though. I have a legacy spec B 6 speed sitting in my garage to swap in when the 5 speed blows up and that came with the proper axles but I assume these mate up to the same hubs so not much help there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotofan Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Yeah unfortunately specs are still 5x100. Haven't researched switching to 5x114 at all but from what I've heard it's a pretty significant undertaking. I put something here like all the cool people, except there's nothing cool to put here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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