A couple of nights ago, out of nowhere my EL falcon developed a suttle squeeking sound very similar to the sound of worn shockers and I didn't think too much of it and just made a mental note to check it out when I had the time and didn't really give it too much thought. However yesterday afternoon I noticed the sound again going along the motorway on ramp and had my head out the window listening and thought as soon as I get back from dropping my friend off I will check it out... got about 200m up the road and turned cruise control on and a couple of seconds later there was a catastrophic vibrating and grinding coming from the front end... pulled over into an emergency stopping bay and got out and there was smoke bellowing out of the front right brake assembly, I took off the hub cap and there were metal shards everywhere and fragments of a bearing casing which lead me to the conclusion that the wheel bearing completely disintegrated. I couldn't afford a tow truck and certainly wasn't going to leave it on the side of the road so I VERY slowly drove it back home and decided to further investigate... I jacked the car up and got the wheel off and had anticipated to take the pads and rotor off to get a good look at the damage but the bloody lock nut wouldn't budge... after some brute force the lock nut started to break apart but still wouldn't come off... bits and pieces broke off taking the thread off the stub axle with it and whats left is practically welded onto the stub axle and the washer that sits behind the lock nut.

I have never seen a wheel bearing completely die in the a** and implode like this did with very little warning that only occured just before complete failure... (and yes they had grease, they were repacked a couple of months ago)

I am aware that I will need to replace both front end wheel bearings and need a new front right hub, I am just wondering if it is likely to have destroyed the centre of the brake rotor where it goes onto the hub? (hoping not as I only got these rotors not long ago)

Does anybody know how expensive this repair may be? also wondering if it is a big job to replace a front end hub? (never done it before). lastly what else may have been potenitally damaged that I haven't already mentioned?

Thank you for you help in advance.

Ok I will try and help,

1) By Hub I am assuming that you mean the Stering knuckle. From what you have described I would say that the stub axle will be stuffed as well. Were you able to get the bearings off the stub axle? If they were welded to the stub axle, you will need to replace that, if they stipped off ok and there is no wear on the stub axle, you should be OK. Personally, without seeing the stub axle, I would say to replace the Steering Knuckle. If you replace the steering knuckle, you will need new Ball Joints. If you get a spare that has reasonable Ball joint you could use it as is but I would replace the Ball Joints, but that is up to you.

2)The E series Disc rotors contain the wheel bearings, so you should be OK. The cones will be need to be replaced and these will come with your new wheel bearing Kit. Recommend doing both sides. Is there any discolouring of the Disc Rotors? How was the grease in the bearing when you took them out? Depending on how your discs are, you may want to get them machined and new pads while they are off. Up to you.

Hi mate,

this happened to me a few years back in my ef, i had replaced the bearings a few months before and same thing pretty much car was vibrating and all i could hear was grinding noises from the front of the car. the wheel bearing had basically just melted onto the stub axle, im guessing yours will be stuffed to, mine was all scored and pitted etc. wreckers will usually sell you a full stub axle will brakes still attached for about $50. Then with your disc you should be right just to knock out the bearing races that are pushed in to them and knock the new races back in. fairly easy job, just a pain to have your hands covered in grease!!!! I think the cause of my wheel bearings failing was because when i knocked the new seal in to the back of the disc i slightly kinked the seal so it wasnt properly sealing against the stub axle and letting dirt in.

I managed to get the locknut off the stub axle which was welded to the stub axle itself and to the spacer that sits behind it, got the rotor off and came across what remained of the bearing welded onto the stub axle (the inner most part of the bearing) and had to heat it up and belt it off with a cold chisel.

Where the inner bearing sits into the rotor is all chewed up so i'm up for a new set of front rotors which is a damn shame as I only got those rotors a couple of months back. The stub axle has small remanence of the wheel bearing left welded onto it and the thread for the lock nut is buggered but mostly still intact.

Do you think it would be okay to get a die and cut a new thread onto the stub axle and to sand of excess metal off the stub axle bit by bit at a time to get another bearing on? if that's at all feasible does anyone happen to know what the size of the thread is for the locknut? (So I can buy the right die)

Thank you for your suggestions.

yep, I've heard of it. Mine chewed out & I was probably lucky to continue using them as long as I did.

I ended up going to the local wreckers and picked up the stub axle assembly off an EF for $65 and it had the ball joints & brakes still attachedl so I just took off what I didn't need and put it on my car. I've had to buy new front rotors because the front drivers side one was pitted and scored pretty bad and wasn't suitable to put a new bearing in... other than that I have got new front wheel bearings (obviously) so yeah... it's logical smooth sailing from here on just have to wait for the new slotted rotors to get here from Melbourne

I guess the question now, is -
what brand of wheel bearings were they,
what brand/type of grease was used,
and when re-fitting the disc rotor, how tight did you do up the large hub nut?
and what was the procedure used to do it up? (both left and right sides.)

sounds to me like a bearing was adjusted too tight

My Elerroy's manual says 115nm on the hub nut. I've been told by some this is WAY too tight. That said, today I hear a rumbling noise again from the front So I'll check up on that shortly

i had that noise coming from my ef's front left wheel and it was too tight when i checked it, replaced and tightened to what my dad told me was good(tighten x amount, back off x amount)
and it was fine, no play but no humming sound, my el has a hummning sound at the moment and i can tell its definatly a wheel bearing, has a very similar if not exact sound every time

HOLLY HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!

115NM's is for the AU onwards, with separate hub and disc assemblies.

On falcons up to EL, (with the wheels studs in the disc), you first seat the bearings, by tightening hub nut to 30NM's then backing off, then 30NM's again, while spinning the disc.
Then a final tightening of 1 - 2NM's - ie, not much more than FINGER TIGHT.

yeah, I'm thinking the book has stooged me. Not a great book at all actually, meant to be for all e series. skeptical much I am

I'll be burning it & pissing on the ashes when I get it back

I certainly didn't have the locknut up too tight, I tighten the locknut up to the point where there is no movement in the bearings, I then back the locknut off and do it back up again while moving the rotor around just to the point where there is no movement in the bearings then I pinch it up a little bit tighter.

the rotor should be able to spin freely about 1/4 a turn when doing up wheel bearings, then backed off and then tightened up untill there is no slack or play (not tight) but just tight enough to stop the nut from comming undone by hand , btw wer they timkin bearings of chinese crap, i put front wheel bearings in the datsun not long ago from CBC bearings and they gave me chinese crap they took about 1000k's before they fell to pieces, i ended up useing trailer bearings from supercheap which worked a treat i found them to be alot smoother, plus i used some old ampol grease the old man had in the shed after stirring it for about 5 mins the oil content in the grease finally mixed back in and it's been great.

Timken FTW!!

so hard to get good bearings and oils seals nowadays - they usually have to be ordered in, as the places only seem to stock cheapo stuff.