Ive been hearing what I can only describe as a roaring sound coming from one or both of my front wheels for a little while now. Ive been trying to tell myself that its tire noise, but the wheels and tires are all brand new. Is it a common occurrence for bearings to go bad at 75k miles on these cars? Ive never replaced wheel bearings in my life, let alone on a car with such low miles

 

A roar, or a rumble that increases with speed?

 

ID say more of a roar than a rumble, car still drives smooth without shaking, and it actually seems to lessen as speed increases rather than increasing

 

The early cars did, indeed, have bearing issues. Sometime around
'99 Jaguar increased the axle/bearing size that seemed to resolve the problem going forward.

 

very easy to check: just jack up the corner you want to test until the wheel is off the ground. Grab the wheel and see if it flexes top to bottom. a little play is ok but if it moves 1/4 inch or so they defiantly need to be replaced. Of course no play is ideal.
i replaced the front wheel bearings on my 98 xjr around 135k but they had been going bad for a bit.

 

Would you think that at 75k for any of them to go bad was unusual?

 

I dont work on many x308's other then my own. if anything i would think 75k would be around a normal replacement interval. Here in the nations capital i would not be surprised if a wheel bearing only lasted 30k miles. Our cars are not light and the huge front sway bar and heavy duty springs don't help our wheel bearings out. As test point said they did increase the size of the front wheel bearings latter on in the production range; i think they are 75 vs 80mm in OD and slightly longer.

 

Your car came equipped with 76mm diameter bearings. The later cars had 80mm bearings.
I have replaced MANY 76mm bearings and FEWER 80mm.

You can replace the bearings (if they have failed) or you can replace the 'vertical links' from a later car with 80mm bearings from a salvage yard to ensure that they have a better chance of lasting longer.

Your old ones lasted 75K so you have to determine if you will still have the car 75K from now. (and will you mind replacing them again??)

bob gauff

 

Good pot hole hit. Going into high water when theyre at operating temp. Salty corrosive environment leads to early seal failure and water ingress. Im sure youve experianced any one or all of these living in philly