How long should replacement wheel bearings last?

Aftermarket Bearings are quite difficult to source these days.

if anything other than Timkin or National was used you can experience failure out of the box.

if you plan on keeping the car a long time
And can locate a Toyota dealer with a lifetime warranty on repairs
bearings are one of the few things worth a slight overpayment as most are total garbage

 

Not even sure about Timken or SKF anymore. Both used to supply the actual OEM "Koyo" wheel bearing, but now both supply bearings made in China that don't have their name stamped into the race. I just replaced one a shop replaced a year ago. I don't know what brand they used, but I used one of these Timkens, so we will see how long it will last. The Koyo bearings have pretty much averaged about 70000 miles for me. That's not great considering what a pain they are to replace.

I think the lifespan depends on where you live as well. I live where there is snow and salt on the roads and this is hard on wheel bearings. I suspect they last longer where there is not snow. Then again we don't seem to have as many battery failures up North.

 

an oem bearing should last a minimum of 60-80k

 

I agree with Bisco's "life" estimate.
Sure the bearings could have failed, especially if the bearing brand was inexpensive aftermarket.
Plus, as mention snow zones, salted roads, water, corrosive wheel cleaners, power washing do not add to a bearing's life.

Could be something else.
Can you lift the car and begin inspecting yourself?
Look for a loose under fairing, broken plastic wheel liner, loose sway bar, loose shocks, bent rotor shield etc.
No joke, a hammer can be your friend in looking for loose parts.

Good luck.

 

In the early 2000s I started seeing a lot of the big-name bearings failing much closer to their existing warranty limits. I don't know what changed, but I no longer expect more than 75k out of the best of them and often see the cheap ones fail before half that.

The noise they produce gains so gradually that most drivers don't even notice it until they're somehow given a chance to compare to new.

 

did you ever go back and talk to the mech?

i suppose if i were going to do my bearings, i would buy them from a dealer. maybe an online toyota parts site, if i trusted them.

 

I have replaced 7 bearings, a combination of front and rear, The first one was a Timken, the rest I have been Toyota OEM, from around $150 each. The job is not too bad. If you do the rear, you can use four bolts to force the hub off the axle. For the front, take the control arm off, then you can use 4 bolts to push the hub off the control arm.

My Timken front has 52K and still going strong.
On all of the different gen 2 prius, the bearing had between 180-230k miles before I replaced them. Some of the bearings have over 250K and still going strong.

Video tips for using 4 bolts to replace the rear bearing:

-andy

 

Bet it rides nice and quiet now!

People are often surprised by how much difference it makes.

 

Here was the worst wheel bearing. My friend had just driven it 300 miles. I did not want to take the car about 45mph until I replaced the bearing.

-andy

 

This has been my experience with most mechanics. Get hunderd or thousand dollared to death to find out they did a bad job.
The only problem is when there's an expensive tool that you might need but can't find it for rent anywhere.