Did Spacers Trash my Wheel Bearings?

snorto

snorto

New member
Lately I've been noticing some extra tire noise (or at least I thought it was tire noise) and when my rig was in the shop last week the tech said my wheel bearings a trashed. He brought me out to see for myself and sure enough, the whole wheel rocks back and forth quite a bit. Today I had a different shop replace the bearings ($550!!) and they confirmed the old ones were a wreck. Both shops agree that trashed wheel bearings on 4Runners is extremely rare. And even more strange that both front bearings went out at the same time.


So my question is - do you think my SpiderTrax 1.25" wheel spacers contribute to the bearing failure?

I have an '04 SR5 with 75K miles (25K miles on the spacers) and am running stock 16" rims with BFG 265 75 R16 tires and the cornfed 3/2 lift. I love the look that the spacers give me (and the extra tire clearance) but not if they cost me $500 every couple years.

Anyone else have this problem or an opinion on what might be going on???
 
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It sounds pretty likely. Wheel spacers distribute the weight of the vehicle to areas of the axle not designed to handle it. The added leverage on the hub and wheel bearings makes them wear out quicker
 
Slowrunner said:
It sounds pretty likely. Wheel spacers distribute the weight of the vehicle to areas of the axle not designed to handle it. The added leverage on the hub and wheel bearings makes them wear out quicker
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It's minimal, and this is an isolated incident. With all of the people who run Spidertrax, and as a hub-centric spacer, I would find it unlikely that it was the only contribution or we would hear about it.
 
i agree. even wider wheels/tires will add extra stress to the outer wheel bearings. i had a wheel lock up on me when i was 16 and didn't know any better. quite dangerous and a HUGE pain to remove after they've locked up. the metal fuses together. not fun.
 
There could be more to it but I'm sure the spacers did not help. Like Josh stated though pretty isolated , I've never heard of the bearings going like that before on here.

Anytime you alter anything that changes the geometry it will add stress to points that were not designed to have that much stress there.
 
HB 4X4 said:
It's minimal, and this is an isolated incident. With all of the people who run Spidertrax, and as a hub-centric spacer, I would find it unlikely that it was the only contribution or we would hear about it.
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Being hub centric wouldn't change anything. Centricity about the hub is only designed to take the shear wait off of the lugs. I'm not sure what the stock offset is on the 4Runner, but I believe the spacers more than double the offset, which doubles the mechanical advantage of the moment about the bearings. This causes them to fail early. Doubling a force is not "minimal," its pretty substantial.

I'm not saying ALL bearing will fail after having spacers on for 25,000 miles, I'm just saying maybe his were already on their way to failing and the spacers substantially accelerated this.
 
There's no doubt at all that spacers contribute to accelerated wear on wheel bearings. It's completely logical when you think about it. I'm actually surprised that we don't see more posts about wheel bearing failures on 4Runners with spacers. Maybe we will see more of those posts as people with wheel spacers start to really rack up the miles on their 4Runners.

Still though, wheel bearings are fairly easy and inexpensive to replace. So if you really like the wider stance, then stick with the spacers and just change the bearings when they eventually go bad.
 
Will816 said:
Being hub centric wouldn't change anything. Centricity about the hub is only designed to take the shear wait off of the lugs. I'm not sure what the stock offset is on the 4Runner, but I believe the spacers more than double the offset, which doubles the mechanical advantage of the moment about the bearings. This causes them to fail early. Doubling a force is not "minimal," its pretty substantial.
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x2. Don't mind Josh...it is scary when he gives advice! :D Yeah, if it is a wheel/rim spacer, then THAT is probably the MAIN reason why your bearings wore out early...i would not call it "minimal" either. And when you add on weight to the front or off-road a lot or drive aggressively, then all of this can add stress to your wheel bearings. You gotta pay to play, right? :D

This goes with my initial argument about modifying your rig...be careful what you modify because you may pay for it down the road.

On a different vehicle but related topic, many people on the G forum argued about the newer MB rims having more offset (wider) vs. older rims (narrower...closer to body). One of the reason why many prefer the older rims is because of the stress on the wheel bearings.
 
snorto said:


So my question is - do you think my SpiderTrax 1.25" wheel spacers contribute to the bearing failure?

I have an '04 SR5 with 75K miles (25K miles on the spacers) and am running stock 16" rims with BFG 265 75 R16 tires and the cornfed 3/2 lift. I love the look that the spacers give me (and the extra tire clearance) but not if they cost me $500 every couple years.

Anyone else have this problem or an opinion on what might be going on???
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There have been reports of premature bearing wear, but its rare. For both to be gone it has to be the spacers.
The spacers negate the +30 offset o f the stock wheels, creating a slightly negaive offset which is a less favorable condition.

Sorry this happened. I'd sell the spacers and get a set of 8" zero offset wheels.
 
Thai said:
x2. Don't mind Josh...it is scary when he gives advice! :D Yeah, if it is a wheel/rim spacer, then THAT is probably the MAIN reason why your bearings wore out early...i would not call it "minimal" either. And when you add on weight to the front or off-road a lot or drive aggressively, then all of this can add stress to your wheel bearings. You gotta pay to play, right? :D

This goes with my initial argument about modifying your rig...be careful what you modify because you may pay for it down the road.

On a different vehicle but related topic, many people on the G forum argued about the newer MB rims having more offset (wider) vs. older rims (narrower...closer to body). One of the reason why many prefer the older rims is because of the stress on the wheel bearings.
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Correct, but I was stating that it's the best spacer you can get. The rest add way too much stress. The spacers alone are not the only attribute is my guess. The spacers probably sped up what was already happening. Many people on here, and other forums wheel the crap out of their rigs with no damage done due to the spacers.

I think you could make this argument against any aftermarket wheel also. As mentioned, modifying your rig takes a toll on it. However, I see that as a calculated risk and well worth it to have fun.
 
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Any mod (mechanical) that you make interferes with original engineering project. And you should expect that the mod will shorten the life of one or more components estimated by manufacturing engineer. So any mod that you make must have a purpose. According to you purpose you should decide if you are ready to pay a bill for what you prioritise at the time. IMHO.
 
colombo said:
Any mod (mechanical) that you make interferes with original engineering project. And you should expect that the mod will shorten the life of one or more components estimated by manufacturing engineer. So any mod that you make must have a purpose. According to you purpose you should decide if you are ready to pay a bill for what you prioritise at the time. IMHO.
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100% dead on. I'm an engineer and at work we hear about people all the time that try something they shouldn't and all we can think is "Oh yeah we tested that scenario and parts failed."
 
I've lifted my 4runner and am putting spacers on. I think spacers may make a vehicle a bit more prone to wheel bearings wearing faster but I think huge tires and wheels would be way worse no matter the offset. The extra weight of huge wheels/tires would have more of an effect than wheel spacers with the stock wheels do. JMO which has been wrong before. BTW anyone know the offset of the stock 18" aluminum wheels that come stock?
 
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How are spacers putting any more stress on the bearings than a wheel with similar backspacing to that setup?

Also was this truck run through deep water? Both sides will easily go out at the same time if water intruded into the bearings. I had two trucks trash their bearings after some deep creek crossings.
 
colombo said:
Any mod (mechanical) that you make interferes with original engineering project. And you should expect that the mod will shorten the life of one or more components estimated by manufacturing engineer. So any mod that you make must have a purpose. According to you purpose you should decide if you are ready to pay a bill for what you prioritise at the time. IMHO.
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This guy speaks some sense. Probably one of the reasons why my runner is still stock to this day. I learned a lesson when I was younger with my nissan truck. Most mods work good for a situation but then again it brings up another potential situation. I like the last part of colombo's sentence. It's true. I'd just like to add my part that "only time will tell and it could be anytime when something fails".
 
I was just about to bring that into the discussion as well...

If a bearing seal allows enough moisture/dirt in, it will also lead to premature bearing failure.

I think it would be good to see the bearings when removed to determine what the failure is based on (If the bearing isn't too far gone/ destroyed on removal)
 
Are the front bearings supposed to be sealed and last the life of the vehicle? I know some are made to last but don't know about the 4Runner. Also, I'm more on the side of dirt/water/foreign debris entering the bearing and chewing it up. Theres also the possibility of contamination getting into the bearing due to improper handling somewhere along the line that slowly wore metal away. Seems unlikely that with the widespread use of these spacers only one person has a documented issue. Of course this thread seems to be based mostly on opinion, my comment included...and there is definitely an increase in stress on the bearing with the spacers. Basically though I would look for the culprit in other places...driving style, austereness (sp?) of driving location, and frequency driven in those places. And I am ending my rambling.......................





.....................now :behead:
 
Thanks for the discussion folks. To answer a couple of questions - sure I've driven through my fair share of mud puddles and likely splashed water up over the hubs, but nothing too deep. The rig is my daily driver and I probably drive a bit on the aggressive side. I take it wheeling a couple times a year but nothing too severe.

Good advice on inspecting the spacers to investigate the cause of the failure. Unfortunately the shop aleady replaced them so the evidence is lost in the trash I'm sure.

Question: someone said they considered wheel bearing replacement a relatively cheap & easy fix. Can you elaborate on that? I dropped $550 to have the shop do it (the dealer wanted nearly $900). I'm a novice when it comes to vehicle repair although I have done some work myself (installed Cornfed spacers, replace brake pads & rotors). After a bit of research on the web I convinced myself that replacing the bearings was over my head. One site suggested that the standard shop rate was 1.5 hours labor per side. If it takes a shop 1.5 hours to do something it will probably take me a week!
 
snorto said:


Question: someone said they considered wheel bearing replacement a relatively cheap & easy fix. Can you elaborate on that? I dropped $550 to have the shop do it (the dealer wanted nearly $900). I'm a novice when it comes to vehicle repair although I have done some work myself (installed Cornfed spacers, replace brake pads & rotors). After a bit of research on the web I convinced myself that replacing the bearings was over my head. One site suggested that the standard shop rate was 1.5 hours labor per side. If it takes a shop 1.5 hours to do something it will probably take me a week!
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That was me who said that it's a cheap and easy fix. What I meant was if you do it yourself. If you can install spacers or do brakes/rotors, then you can definitely remove/repack/reinstall wheel bearings. It's really an easy job that anyone with a little mechanical aptitude should be able to handle. If your bearings are shot, then you'll have to shell out some clams for new ones, but if you just have to repack them, the job costs almost nothing.
 
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