As the title suggests, i unwisely got two front hubs for my x351 when I thought they were making a howling noise. I got them cheap off eBay and to be fair, they looked ok. The howl ended up being due to a duff tyre.

Forward 18 months and I went to check the play in the front wheels as it was due a MOT. ( a annual safety check here in the UK). I found both front wheels had play in the 12 to 6 o’clock position that went away when the brakes were applied. I couldn’t believe it that both front wheel bearings had gone in such a short space of time.

What also annoyed me was the originals were corroded into the suspension leg so I had to remove the entire leg, put it in a press to push the hubs out. I wasn’t looking forward to doing this again. Lucky I had greased the area that causes this ( due to aluminium and steel not mixing very well) so this time the hubs came out very easily. Now was this due to the grease or the fact they had only been in a short time??

I got two genuine hubs this time so hope they last a bit longer than the super cheap ones. As the old saying goes, buy cheap, buy twice. Lesson learnt

 

You may have gotten Fake Parts. Even reputable websites such as Amazon are selling Fakes Parts through their "3rd party seller". I am not generalizing this but it is out there to take a bite on you.

 

Did you notice any issues while driving or did you only notice a problem when checking for play?

 

I didn’t notice the play and the cheap bearings were still quiet when driving. It was only when I went to check for play in them I noticed how bad they were.

 

Would you care to share the brand of the ones you bought? I replaced mine with Centric 40761003 about 5k miles ago and so far so good. Did you reuse the 4 bolts that hold the hub to the spindle? I think they should be replaced depending on age and mileage, and they require a good bit of torque to snug them down, if I recall correctly. Although, I would imagine you would feel those issues while driving.

 

The bad hubs were no name parts off eBay. I should have known better as I paid £65 for a pair of them while the originals have just cost me £250 for the pair. I used the original bolts and torqued them to the 90nm. There was nothing wrong with the bolts.