I am the thrid owner of a 1997 A4 2.8. I purchased it at about 120,000 miles.

At 170,00 the Right Rear wheel bearing needed replacement. At 181,000 the Left Rear needed replacement. At about 184,000 the Right Rear failed again, and was replaced under parts warranty. At 187,000 the Left Rear failed again, and was replaced under parts warranty.

Now at 193,900 the right Rear has failed again.

At 167,710 the car got all new front end tie rods etc and a 4 wheel alignment.

The shop that services the car is a competent repair shop that specializes in German and English cars. They also prep some race cars. I trust their work and they will replace the wheel bearing under warranty.

But there must be some underlying reason this car is eating rear wheel bearings. If anybody has any experience with this or has any ideas I would like to know.

Thanks

 

I'm thinkin junk parts. Do you know what brand they were and where your shop got them?

 

junk or not... u wouldnt think they wiould go that fast would u? and dont u think they would get tired of replacing them?

 

i'm sure the mechanics would get tired of replacing them, but its all about the bottom line. sometimes places will get the cheapest, shittiest parts they can get their hands on

 

The bearings were Audi parts.

What I am trying to find out is ......

What other things could be causing the problem. Bad Hubs? Bad Half Shafts?

 

At 167,710 the car got all new front end tie rods etc and a 4 wheel alignment.

and then it began to eat bearings? check the alignment again!

 

I had left front and left rear wheel bearings replaced by the Audi dealer (under extended warranty) at about 90,000 miles. Just had right front and both front control arms replaced at 103000 miles. I think they have a durability problem with the wheel bearings. Of course the service guy wouldn't admit to anything. Just happy they were covered under my warranty.

 

I just had my left rear replaced for the second time in 5000miles (first at 75k, second at 80k). First time I did it myself using a Hub Tamer. Second time the Audi dealer did it.

I wonder if using an on-car press like the Hub Tamer or Hub Shark has anything to do with the premature failure? I'm a fairly competent wrench and didn't have any problems during the installation; followed the Hub Tamer instructions exactly, along with the Audiworld write-up.

Anyone else experienced premature bearing failures that's discovered the reason?

 

I've heard guys running wheels spacers or staggered offsets having wheel bearing problems, but i don't think thats really what's happening here. I've still got my money on sh*tty parts :-\

 

I will check with the repair shop on the make of the bearings. OEM or no-OEM.

The car is not raced, or driven hard.

The Audi is my wifes car and she drives it to school where she teaches. She is not one to abuse the car.

The repair shop is competent to do the work and they don't have an easy explaination.

Any suggestions are welcome