[fiatatat]

I started hearing a familiar roar coming from the back of the car at around 60-80 km/h, so it seems that one or both the rear wheel bearings might be gone at barely 40 000 km. Our friends with the ICE 500s appear to have a lot of issues with these.

So here's the question: should I go with Mopar, or rather with something else, as Mopar (although the most expensive from the bunch) does not seem to last too long? Anybody has experience?

 

[map]

Moog makes a good replacement. Some people noted rust in the bearing when replacing, so maybe it's partially mileage and partially age?

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Regardless of age, there should never be rust unless the seals are bad.

I'm pretty sure I read previously here that faulty original seals are the real issue. In fact, that's almost certainly the case because properly sealed wheel bearings usually last hundreds of thousands of miles.

 

[map]

+1 on most bearings lasting "forever" in most cars. From reading, 100K miles isn't an uncommon fail for Fiat rear bearings, half that on some. I wonder if early fails are more common in Canada (and rusty US states). It seems many posts come from those areas... maybe salt on the road or extreme cold???

I've only read of one reoccurring fail after replacing with Moog or OEM. He bought his "Moog" from eBay, so who knows what he actually received? Those off-brand prices are very tempting, but some fail in under 10K.

 

[fiatatat]

Went to rockauto, had a look to the pictures, and apparently the MOOG bearings are made by SKF. MOOG it is then, hopefully they will last longer than the originals.

 

[alels]

I may be hearing something from my rears too. I've never changed bearings on a non driven rear wheel. Do you just get wheel hub out and press the bearing out? Or get a whole new hub?

 

[alels]

I may be hearing something from my rears too. I've never changed bearings on a non driven rear wheel. Do you just get wheel hub out and press the bearing out? Or get a whole new hub?

 

[fiatatat]

The bearing goes with a hub,

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

MOOG it is then, hopefully they will last longer than the originals.

They wont, unless you also replace the seals.

 

[fiatatat]

They wont, unless you also replace the seals.

Are you trying to say that the seals aren't a part of the hub?

 

[map]

As you saw in the video (2:14), he made note that the replacement bearing is sealed on the back. When you pull your old ones, could you let us know if it is sealed? They have a back seal on later model OEM seals... just not sure on yours. For the outer side, the washer and dust cover is used to seal out water.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

I've serviced many car wheel bearings, & they all had a seal, inboard of the bearing. It's usually relatively inexpensive & fairly easy to remove & replace. Also make sure that the sealing surface which it contacts is smooth & clean.

& before installing a new seal, place it on the sealing surface, to make sure it will actually seal! (apparently unlike the OEM)

 

[map]

True. On the Fiat the seal is part of the bearing (the black ring on this 2018 OEM). I'm curious if the early model bearings weren't sealed, or if the seal failed early. 15+ years & 200K miles isn't uncommon for many other makes.

 

[fiatatat]

The Moog / SKF hub sets have a multilayer seal on the inboard side, which they specifically advertise.
I will definitely compare them to the OEM once I'll get everything off.

By the way, I spoke with a buddy who works in aircraft industry, he told they only use Timken or SKF bearings.

EDIT: the part is here - More Information for MOOG 512480
(Once you look at the markings on the edge, you can see SKF).

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Ok, I see it's a factory-sealed bearing. Extremely unlikely to fail, so yes, please post a pic of the original so we can see if it was unsealed

 

[map]

That's a good spec for the Moog and, yes, all 3 of those brands are known for reliability. You notice (on the bottom of the spec) a list of Fiat parts. 05154241AA was used in 2012. It's superseded by 05154241AB... the part used in 2018 - 19. Fiat made a lot of little changes to help improve reliability.

 

[smark]

I replaced mine on my 2012 500 a couple years ago. Failed around 35k miles. Bought them at Rock Auto. The Moog rear wheel bearing. I think they were around $80 dollars, a piece.

 

[alels]

The bearing goes with a hub,

Thank you!

 

[rrucker]

Timely post. I just had all four of mine replaced. The two rear and one front were shot, so I asked him to just do the other front as well. I have 164K miles on the car, 2012 Pop bought in early 2011.

I don't know what specific wheel bearings he used, but he did use the more expensive ones, because in his words, "If I use the cheap ones, we'll be right back where we started in a couple of years."

 

[fiatatat]

Okay, so I've took everything apart and put the new bearings in (decided to do both rear). The roar is gone, it took around 3 hours for both. For a more experienced person, it's a one-hour job.

Here are my discoveries:

1. The originals were sealed, but there was a lot of muck on the inboard side, so maybe some of the dust got in.
2. The trickiest part was to remove the cap over the hub nut - you need to work around with a flat screwdriver and a hammer.
3. Don't trust pictures from MOOG - the photos in their website suggest that the bearing is actually SKF, but in reality the bearings are made in China and look exactly like More Information for MEVOTECH H512480 (first I thought sending them back to Rockauto, but then decided to install them anyway).

Pictures below: