My wife has just had her car worked on, one of her wheel bearings was knackered and had damaged the wheel. The mechanic was unable to get the correct replacement wheel and has switched the damaged wheel to a different place after replacing the wheel bearing.

IANAM but I’m thinking that this damaged wheel will then just cause damage to the bearing it is now on but the garage say this is not the case. Are the garage lying to me or will it not cause any damage for a day or two until the new wheel arrives and it’s replaced? Thanks for your advice.

I’m curious how a worn wheel bearing can damage a wheel?

I’m thinking exactly the same thing.

I’m not sure that’s the full story.

I guess the wheel could be close to the brake calliper/upright and rubbed the wheel when there was play in the bearing.

Edited to add:-

Would take no time at all to check the wheels, assuming you can operate a jack and have somewhere dry to do it.

I’m unsure of the general mechanics of a car so can only say what the garage have said. Basically the garage said it seemed like Mrs. 10 had hit a pot hole hard and that had caused damage which the driving had increased leading to the wheel bearing damage. Somewhere along the line the wheel was also damaged. Would that be from the pot hole impact then more than the bearing? The car is only 3 yrs old around 10k miles a year if that helps.

Edit you are dealing with someone who has no idea about cars at all!

Seems more likely to me buckled wheel caused premature bearing death rather than a knackered bearing damaged the wheel. If she’s running round on it for a couple of days and not doing monster miles I doubt it would cause lasting damage but depends how badly walloped the wheel is.

The mechanic if he’s half decent is better placed to judge this than us lot as he will have seen the wheel.

If it was pothole damage then I’d be surprised to see a fubared wheel bearing. Buckled wheel & tyre damage yes but a knackered bearing doesn’t seem too likely, (but probably not out of the question)

HTH!

This is the first time we’ve used this garage so I think they’re alright. I just wanted a bit of a second opinion from people who knew more about this than I do. Thanks sounds like it should be ok, I just worry a bit since she’s heavily pregnant right now and I don’t want her to have an issue with the car going wrong!

The vibrations from a wheel buckled enough to wear a wheel bearing must of been pretty bad.

10 – Member
This is the first time we’ve used this garage so I think they’re alright

How does that work then?

How does that work then?

That should have said ‘but I think they’re alright.’ My fil has used them a couple of times.

The vibrations from a wheel buckled enough to wear a wheel bearing must of been pretty bad.

I don’t really drive her car but I drove it recently and could hear a noise which was the wheel bearing I guess, but no vibration. Would that be an obvious wobble through the steering?

It would be to your advantage to learn how to change a wheel and do basic checks on a car, such as checking the tyres, if the wheels are still round etc. I’m sure there’s plenty of YouTube vids.
Your future offspring and other half will be safer and your wallet may have more cash in it if you can spot problems before they escalate.

Just to add, one thing a good garage does is make damn sure you understand what’s going on, it’s part of the job. Not saying this is dodgy but any time you end a conversation with a garage and you’re not sure what just happened, you want an alarm bell going off. (not in great technical detail, mind, just enough as a layman to be able to, frinstance, tell us)

Yeah I’m starting to get that. Thanks for all the help.

are you sure he didn’t switch it to the spare if it has an alloy spare (assuming you have alloys).

I too am struggling to work out how it was damaged apart from hitting a brake caliper.

Actually I think it’s more likely the bearing has resulted in odd wear to the tyre and that he has swapped it to another position on the car to try and even out the wear. It shouldnt really matter if the bearing has been fixed but maybe if it was on the rear he figures it will wear out quicker on the front anyway so be replaced sooner or the difference in camber between front and back may help even it out.

Ok managed to get hold of the guy doing the work and it seams the issue with the wheel is damage to the inner bead which they recommended replacing and that’s why my wife is getting a new wheel. He believes this was caused by hitting the pot hole. He felt the bearing damage was not caused by the wheel damage but by the same pot hole. One incident causing two sets of damage. He was pretty patient with my lack of understanding, and tried to make everything clearly. When I wrote the op it was based on Mrs. 10’s explanation since I was out of town when she started this work. She has since added various things he told her which she neglected to originally tell me! The mechanic is absolutely certain there is nothing to worry about with the damaged wheel since it should cause no other damage and will be replaced in a couple of days. Thanks again for your help here, your posts gave me other questions to ask the mechanic in order to better understand all this.

10 as others have said really good to get a basic grasp of mechanical stuff. Cars need looking after between services and with a baby on the way never more important that your cars are safe.

I used to do my own and my brother in laws maintenance and most of my detailed knowledge came from one or both of Haynes manuals and the owners club websites.

How about starting with learning the following if you don’t know them….

From the car’s manual

Checking fluids (oil, washer, brake, coolant, power steering)
Checking tyre pressures
Changing bulbs
How to change a wheel / use the sealant crap
Tyre pressures

Try Wikipedia or something online for
Basic drivetrain stuff, just so you understand what/how the engine, gearbox, driveshafts, hubs etc interact at a basic level.

The latter is probably seen as over the top for many people but getting the basics I find is really handy when you get the annual call mid service with that list…

I’d feel dubious about it.. If the wheels damaged from pot holes or whatever, fine, but that’s not going tt affect the bearings.. Unless she’s been riding a buckled wheel for an extensive period of time… As in it would fail an Mot.

Most modern cars have 20k mile service intervals now and a car under 3 years old doesn’t need an MOT so a car can be very unroadworthy/damaged without it being picked up.
In any case my car has a tyre that isn’t round anymore due to a lock up on a track. It will kill the wheel bearing quickly but still it still passed the MOT.

If the damaged wheel and bearing are on the front, moving the wheel to the back temporarily would make sense as an unbalanced wheel is less noticeable on the rear.

Getting a new wheel, check eBay as from a dealer will be expensive. You’ll often get a tyre with it too.

A massive pothole impact (big enough to damage a wheel/tyre etc) could easily damage other suspension parts and wheel bearings. Sounds like this is the case here from what you have said.

Personally I would want to see the wheel damage before writing it off, and would want to shop around for a replacement rather than take whatever was offered by the garage. Theirs is unlikely to be the cheapest/best option. Just the most convenient.

If the damaged wheel and bearing are on the front, moving the wheel to the back temporarily would make sense as an unbalanced wheel is less noticeable on the rear.

This.

I’ve my winter wheels/tyres on at the moment and one of them is damaged so my garage said it’d be fine on the rear as I won’t notice the ‘vibes’. They are correct, I can’t notice them.

The explanation from the mechanic sounds plausible. It would have been nicer if he explained things clearer, but for some reason (like some other trades), mechanics don’t seem good at explaining themselves and sometimes get funny about being questioned – which really pisses me off. I sympathise with you for not knowing much about car mechanics, and to be honest, you’re right to be wary of garages as you can’t always trust people.

Car hub bearings are very tough and wouldn’t become damaged from an out of balance wheel in a short period of time (if at all). The brake caliper and wheel both attach to the hub, and if the bearing fails, both would wobble around together. In other words, it’s unlikely that play in the hub bearing will cause damage to the wheel rim as a result of it rubbing on something. If it was that wobbly, the car would be all over the place !

It sounds like the wheel rim itself has a ‘ding’ in it, just like we get on our bikes ! The ‘bead’ is actually the lip of the tyre that hooks onto the wheel rim, but some people also refer to that part of the rim as the ‘bead’.

It’s also feasible that this ‘ding’ won’t cause the wheel to wobble (so you might not have noticed it driving) – but it could lead to a poorly sealing tyre, which is another reason it should be replaced.

It must have been a hell of a bump to damage a wheel bearing. I would have thought (as said above already) damage to the suspension linkage/anti-roll bar/struts/rod ends etc. would happen, but not the bearing.

The brake caliper and wheel both attach to the hub, and if the bearing fails, both would wobble around together.

No they wouldn’t.

The bearing is in the hub supporting the wheel/brake disc. The caliper is attached to the hub. If the bearing had play the wheel and disc will float about together, rubbing/clashing against the the calliper.

breadcrumb – quite true 😳

The explanation from the mechanic sounds plausible. It would have been nicer if he explained things clearer,[/i]

Yes, but the OP was getting it s/h from his other half.