Wheel Bearings

[fordfan]

Just doing a complete overhaul of the front suspension because of visual wear on the front control arm bushings. Before tearing in to this I did a lot of research on the front end of these V70XC Thanks to many helpful folks on here :) (mine is an 2001 with 90K miles)

Some of the symptoms I had were a strange noise when lightly taping the brake pedal after acceleration it felt like something had play. I could see the front busings were shot.

While I called a local independant Volvo shop in MN they suggested I replace the contol arms if the busings were bad as they had a tendancy to seize in the arm and when you press out the busings they take metal out of the arm the the busings no longer fit properly.

I decieded to tune up the entire front end, control arms, ball joints, struts, sway bar links etc. ( Not that they all the parts needed replacing, I am just too fussy I think:cool: )After getting the parts from an excellent OEM volvo dealer, I started last night to start tearing down the front end.

Becuase I am curious I pullled the little pin out of the rotor just to see how things were made, I discovered a VERY bad front bearing on the passenger side. I could hardly turn the bearing (Hub) by hand, and when it did turn it sounded like gravel inside the bearing. The drivers side is not as bad, but still doesnt feel real smooth..

Here in MN the use way way too much salt during the winter, and I am wondering if the salt can get into the bearing and cause rust and scale to develope.

I may have been able to solve my noise problem just by replaceing the hubs, but I know now that all the front end maintence should be good to go for a while.

Just wanted to get an FYI out here, In case you have a strange noise that you cant seem to locate, dont forget the wheel bearing![sly]

[tgwillard]

If salt is the cause of the problem, then I guess it would be safe to assume that age and not necessarily mileage would be the factor in determining the longevity of these bearings.

[volvoshad]

The only problem I encountered with the bushing replacement was placing the drive shaft into the wheel hub. The instructions say to "lubricate" the drive shaft splines before pushing them into the hub. I took the approach used with older FWD Volvos and used a "metal adhesive"; in my case, I used Loctite Blue. Bad move! :o With sweating and swearing, I got the drive shaft into the hub, but I could not push it in far enough to thread the bolt that holds it to the hub. I am pretty sure the loctite turned to glue once it was in an anaerobic environment. Fortunately, I did not have to start over again- I made a tool with a threaded rod, a nut and fender washer to pull the shaft into the hub. Hope no one else makes this same stupid mistake!

I did not notice a problem with the hub bearings, but now I will be left wondering whether I checked them thoroughly enough. I have the same MY XC, also with 90K on it, and there is plenty of salt used in Pgh.:eek: Well, at least I know how to get the bearing out now.:o

[fordfan]

The bearings fell like they have 300K on them. None of the other parts feel or looked like the wheel bearings. But man they turn hard, and sound like they are full of sand or something gritty..

So VOLVOSHAD should I lube the shafts before installing? and if so what should I use. I have alldata on this car and have looked there with no instruction on lubing the axles.

[Aviator]

The best thing to put on the splines is a light veneer of a good anti-seize paste, such as that made by Wurth or Permatex. The reason you do this is so that down the road, when you have to take it apart again, you don't have to fight rust and end up having to beat on the ends of the joint shafts to get them out of the hubs.

Dave.

[JRL]

Volvo wheel bearings, unlike most other cars, fail and fail often.
I have seen them fail on a V70 with as little miles as 40K.
I know of an 04 R where one failed at 29K miles!
Yours is not the great exception

[Aviator]

Why such a bad track record for wheel bearings ? I wonder who their bearing supplier is. One would think it would be SKF, which produces excellent quality bearings.

Dave.

[volvoshad]

The bearings fell like they have 300K on them. None of the other parts feel or looked like the wheel bearings. But man they turn hard, and sound like they are full of sand or something gritty..

So VOLVOSHAD should I lube the shafts before installing? and if so what should I use. I have alldata on this car and have looked there with no instruction on lubing the axles.

Fordfan, I'll defer to Aviator on this one. I used Permatex Threadlocker Blue. It is an anaerobic sealant, meaning that as soon as there is no oxygen around, it turns to glue. I won't use it again. Volvo makes a "metal adhesive," but when I priced it a few years ago it cost $55 for a bottle that held only a few ounces. Next time I'll take Aviator's advice and try anti-seize paste, I guess the kind that you use on spark plugs.

Edit:

The other consideration would be to anticipate this difficulty and get a bolt with the same thread, but longer, and use it to press the shaft into the hub until you can thread the Volvo bolt.

[skibo]

Why such a bad track record for wheel bearings ? I wonder who their bearing supplier is. One would think it would be SKF, which produces excellent quality bearings.
Dave.


The quality could be fine, but if the bearings were not sized properly they will still fail prematurely.

When selecting a bearing, you typically go with something called an 'L10 life' where you predict the load and choose the size the will give 10 million cycles without failure (based upon lab tests). If you've underestimated the loads for some reason then all bets are off.

[dlr97]

We have not had to replace bearings on any of our last three Volvos (2004, 2000, 1993). The 2000 now has 80K miles.

On the other hand, my stock-class road race cars (VW and Dodge) went through front bearings about every 3000 race miles. CV joints also. Abnormal loads for sure...

[XC70Viking]

After 3 years and 72000km's (44K Miles) I have been very pleased with my -04 XC70. But now I have to change the rear wheel bearings. Tech at Volvo dealer sort of "admits" those bearings used has a weak seal, and that it "has happend before on world basis". It will be replaced with a new type used in newer models (I don't know from what year).

Tech said moisture would sneak in through the seal, and in my case the car was parked for 6 weeks in low temp, moisture would freeze and expansion would break the seal further. So coming back after vacation this sound (like riding with noisy tires) would appear around 40km/h and disappear at 70 km/h.

Now the worst thing about this. My 3 year warranty ran out on me on this (by 3 days), and they want me to pay for this! I guess in these cases its up to the dealer to decide what service level he wants to provide, but I'm disappointed.....

So after some discussions, he agreed to split the cost.

In the same operation, brakes will be changed in the rear as a result of driving allot in road salt resulting in uneven wear on the disks.

So watch out for those wheel bearings before your warranty expires...

Update:

The dealer (or Volvo) decided they would cover the cost for both rear wheel bearings, so I guess I'm still happy with my Volvo and dealer:)

[gary]

Just an fyi for others on the board - be sure to get those bearings checked BEFORE your warranty expires. The right rear bearing on my 2003 just failed at 53,000 miles. Dealer is replacing it today - $549 USD installed + tax.

[BillAileo]

I had both rear bearings on my '03 replaced at 75,000 miles by the dealer for $589 installed (tax included). My dealer (Serafini Volvo Vestal, NY) does give a 20% parts discount for COCA members.

Bill

[JRL]

I had both rear bearings on my '03 replaced at 75,000 miles by the dealer for $589 installed (tax included). My dealer (Serafini Volvo Vestal, NY) does give a 20% parts discount for COCA members.

Bill

That is VERY cheap, great deal!

[xcrubygal]

Hi
I guess I am in good company. I had 3 !!!! fail right after warranty, so guess I should be much better at keeping up with my reading of the forum
I wonder if I post to see how many of us have had the same problem we could get some support from Volvo ?
I also have the good fortune of using Serafini Volvo in Binghamton NY and they discounted the work for us so it "only" cost $975.00 for all 3.
Begining to think maybe I should sell it and take my losses rather than bleed big on a regular basis. Such a shame cause I love the car otherwise.....