Wheel Bearings Cost

       Wheel bearings are a type of rolling element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between moving parts of the wheel.  Wheel bearings are a crucial part of an automobile’s suspension because they allow the wheel to rotate freely as a car travels down the road.  Wheel bearings come in many different types depending on the make and model of the car.  The price for the wheel bearings usually depends on these factors, although there are other factors needed to be considered for the price as well.

       A wheel bearing is exactly what it sounds like, it's a bearing for a wheel. What's a bearing you ask? It's a bunch of steel balls held together by a metal ring, which is called a race. There are many different styles bearings but are all very similar and all do the same job, they help something spin with very little friction like a wheel, turbine, or a carnival ride.

       A wheel bearing on a car is a set of ball bearings that support the wheel and ride on a metal shaft which is called an axle shaft. The wheel bearing is located at the hub, the hub is located at the center of your wheel, when you are looking at a wheel on a car, the hub is located where the lug bolts come through the wheel. The lug bolts are pressed into the hub, and the wheel bearing is pressed into the hub as well, from the back side of the hub.

Wheel bearings are use on all kinds of vehicles from bicycles to aircraft and they all perform the same job, they allow the wheel to spin freely. Depending on the application, most wheel bearings are hardened steel and will withstand a lot of abuse. A wheel bearings worst 2 enemies are heat and water. Heat caused by lack of lubrication can destroy a wheel bearing, and water that penetrates the sealed bearing will destroy the wheel bearing as well.

      Most wheel bearings manufactured today are sealed bearings, they come from the factory pressed together as an assembly, front race, bearing set, center race, bearing set and outer race with seals on both front and rear race. Bearings are sealed from the elements, water, and debris by a non penetrable seal that also seals in high temperature wheel bearing grease. When the seal is broken or damaged, the wheel bearing will fail and start making noise.