mx5cartalk.com

Just yesterday I noticed a medium pitched rubbing sound from the left rear, which I presume is the bearing. Is it hard to replace on my own? What shops (other than Mazda) provide bearings for a 90' NA6?

i believe any good bearing shop - amongst others, RG.net has mentioned this as he's in the industry:
search.php?keywords=bearing&terms=all&author=rg.net&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

Will this lead to catastrophic failure if unchecked for long? The sound occurs even in straight line travel.

What state are you in mate?

As clubman stated, I work for a company called Consolidated Bearing Company, or CBC for short, and we do sell various wheel bearing among other automotive items.

The part number for an 89-97 MX5 rear wheel bearing kit is FM120KIT, which retails at $120ish.

If your in NSW, I could probably half that.

Regarding bearing failures, if you do leave it, it will get worse and can either shatter, or jam which can be dangerous if it happens while your driving.

zephyrus17 wrote:Will this lead to catastrophic failure if unchecked for long? The sound occurs even in straight line travel.

assuming it's the bearing, & not something else, it depends how bad it already is. by the sound of it (no pun intended) you might have caught it early, so it won't need doing instantly, just asap, & drive accordingly.

I live in Adelaide. I think our Formula SAE team contacted your company for bearings.

Anyway, yes, I think fixing this asap would be for the best. Does CNC have branches here in Adelaide or do you do shipping to here?

CBC have branches across Australia (par Tasmania, but we do have a reseller there).

I can ship the goods personally to save the cost from buying it from CBC SA.

PM sent.

Can I suggest that you confirm its not the infamous 'stuck caliper' where the slider pin becomes corroded. The disk pad will remain in contact with the disk and cause a sound similar to a dodgy wheel bearing.

J.

yeah I'll definitely at least check with Mazda with this first

Turns out it wasn't the bearing at all. Thanks RG.net for the help, anyway. It's the rear tire. It's scruffed and I was recommended to replace all 4 because the tread is pretty shallow too. Thanks for all the help, guys.