Front wheel bearing problems 3rd Gen.

[lanecito]

About 6 months ago I had the front suspension rebuilt--ball joints, bushings, struts, etc. Also the front bearings replaced. (I had gone for an alignment and was shown wheel shake.)
After the work was completed I returned for an alignment and thought I was done.
Now I see significant wear on the insides of both front tires. I returned to the alignment place and was told that I had wheel shake from bad bearings and that no alignment could be done.

Now I'm trying to figure out what went wrong--complicated by the fact that I live in the Republic of Panama, and although my Spanish is good, whoever is screwing up is not going to tell me!
I have a fair degree of confidence in the guy who sold me the new bearings (Toyo, I believe) and in the mechanic who did the work and took the bearings to a machine shop for pressing.
The car has not been driven hard or misused (2001 w/4-wheel drive).
I need an idea of what went wrong before I throw more money at the problem. Thanks for help.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

About 6 months ago I had the front suspension rebuilt--ball joints, bushings, struts, etc. Also the front bearings replaced. (I had gone for an alignment and was shown wheel shake.)
After the work was completed I returned for an alignment and thought I was done.
Now I see significant wear on the insides of both front tires. I returned to the alignment place and was told that I had wheel shake from bad bearings and that no alignment could be done.

Now I'm trying to figure out what went wrong--complicated by the fact that I live in the Republic of Panama, and although my Spanish is good, whoever is screwing up is not going to tell me!
I have a fair degree of confidence in the guy who sold me the new bearings (Toyo, I believe) and in the mechanic who did the work and took the bearings to a machine shop for pressing.
The car has not been driven hard or misused (2001 w/4-wheel drive).
I need an idea of what went wrong before I throw more money at the problem. Thanks for help.

Those bearings are VERY durable bearings. I recently replaced some (Toyota OEM) and they really didn't need to be replaced but I was replacing the rusty dust shield and they need to be pressed out to get to it. I can tell you this, if you don't press the bearings in correctly, they can be easily ruined. I did all the press work on mine and I ruined one bearing ($66 mistake) when I forgot to put the stupid dust shield on about with the hub pressed in about an 1". When I pressed it out, it separates the 2 halves of the bearing internally and ruins them.

Did he show you the shake? I find it VERY hard to imagine those bearings failing in that short a period of time, if they were done correctly. There's other things that cause the wheel to shake. I would ask if he used OEM LBJs. If not, I would focus on those.

 

[jeremyc74]

Did he show you the shake? I find it VERY hard to imagine those bearings failing in that short a period of time, if they were done correctly. There's other things that cause the wheel to shake. I would ask if he used OEM LBJs. If not, I would focus on those.

My thoughts exactly. A bad wheel bearing will typically make itself known well before the tires start to show wear patterns. I would see another shop. It's entirely possible they half assed the alignment the first time. It's hard to find good alignment shops. They all seem to think they can throw a $10/hr wrench monkey at it and everything will be fine, and there's a little more to it than that.