With a 2000 XK8 (which I think has the larger wheel bearings) how long should the original bearings last before that start to growl? And do the front ones last longer than the rear ones, or visa versa?

My car has 47K miles and I thing I feel roughness in the front wheels at slow speeds. This car is driven very modestly and with no hard corning that I know of.

I'm asking due to the fact that where I live a direct check of the bearings would be very hard to do.

Sorry I miss spelled bearing in the title

 

EZ driver, my 97 just needed front bearing at 72K, the rear were fine. Seems like with the larger improved bearings and only 47K you should be OK, but if you are in doubt jack her up spin them and check them for play.

 

Whilst the bearing will have a "life" there are a large number of factors which can affect it when on a car used on roads. One simple thing is bumps and holes in the road and hitting them - one big hole can cause a bearing to fail. Another factor which makes a large difference to the life is the wheel and tyre sizes used - larger wheels with wider tyres will always cause the bearings to fail much earlier than would otherwise be the case.

Which all means that there really isn't an easy answer to your question!

 

Fixed the typo in the title - that was the easy part!

I's expect the suspension bushes to go long before the wheel bearings.

Is it impossible for you to check for play on the bearing? Only needs the wheel off the ground and test at 3:00 o'clock / 9:00 o'clock and 12:00 o'clock / 6:00 o'clock for play on the bearing.

(as I'm writing that sentence, I'm already thinking does it mean anything in the US! It's a common way of expressing the way to check for wear in a bearing in the UK but could make no sense to you - further explanation if required)

Graham

 

Should be no misunderstanding as there is no such thing in common use as a metric clock

 

Alright Graham!!!! Yes, we still do use clocks here in the colonies with hands and not just those with numbers. And I've done the check and it is tight. But I still feel a rumble through the steering wheel along with some noise that is directly in sinc with wheel rotation. Only at very low speeds and definitely the front wheels. Just trying to get a feel for what others have experienced.

But the thought about the clock brings up an interesting story. A friend was taking our club aviation student to Oshkosh, Wi in his airplane for the summer acadamy school. During the flight this kid, that was twelve years old, asked what time it was. John pointed to the clock in the instrument panel. The kid blurted out that he didn't know how to read a clock with hands!!!! Needless to say we got him a watch with hands and told him to get with the program and learn how.

Our school system at work.