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So it looks like my front drivers side wheel bearing is gone now (it has play when I pull the wheel side to side, but not up and down). It was replaced 2 years ago by Mania, and barely has 10,000kms on it since then. Is it normal for a wheel bearing to have such a short life. Could this be symptoms of a bigger problem?

Could be tie rod ends.

Dann

They are similarly new, and with someone pulling on the wheel I could feel no movement at the TRE

Wheel bearings can have a signficant life- decades. Many wheel bearings are adjustable-not sure about MX5 - someone will know. If its convenient return it to the contractor for proper diagnosis.

There was a bad batch of aftermarket ones going round a year or so ago. Could it be one of those? Or did you go genuine?

It was a genuine, as stated on the Mania invoice.

I called Ajay, and he said there wasn't anything he could do for 2 reasons; the 12 month warranty on new parts (been 24 months since install), and the car has seen track work.

mitch_f1 wrote:It was a genuine, as stated on the Mania invoice.

I called Ajay, and he said there wasn't anything he could do for 2 reasons; the 12 month warranty on new parts (been 24 months since install), and the car has seen track work.

What other modifications have you made in the suspension department?

Crazy alignment specs?

What tyres do you use and how often have you been on track?

Yes to all of the above. BUT, the passenger wheel bearing is still the original one (AFAIK; certainly not ever been replaced while in my hands), and it is doing fine!!

Not much you can do about it except ask for a discount from Mania on replacing it again. Track work is not as hard on wheel bearings as driving on most of our public roads.

Genuine means that Mania bought it from Mazda who bought it from some guy in Malaysia and put a Mazda bag around it. He bought it from a small workshop in Thailand who got the castings from a foundry in Laos and the bearings from ebay Hong Kong etc, etc, ... but the important thing is that it fits when it's first bolted on.

manga_blue wrote:Not much you can do about it except ask for a discount from Mania on replacing it again. Track work is not as hard on wheel bearings as driving on most of our public roads.

Genuine means that Mania bought it from Mazda who bought it from some guy in Malaysia and put a Mazda bag around it. He bought it from a small workshop in Thailand who got the castings from a foundry in Laos and the bearings from ebay Hong Kong etc, etc, ... but the important thing is that it fits when it's first bolted on.

Just wondering does this packaging constitute as being a genuine Mazda part? It says Made in Japan.

Were the genuine Mazda ones really expensive?

I've had one out of two after market wheel bearings fail after a few hundred km's (not NTN or Tinken). Maybe it was from a bad batch.

Replaced the failed one with an NTN one and it's been fine still after a few track days.


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myredmx5 wrote:

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Just wondering does this packaging constitute as being a genuine Mazda part? It says Made in Japan.

I'd be confident with that one.

take it back to AJ and get it checked to find the root cause. Certainly in normal service it should last many years. Whilst the warranty is expired you may still get a discounted price on the parts for re supply if the bearing is faulty. No one commented if the bearing is adjustable- they are on many vehicles. People refer to bad batches but this is really a bit of a misnomer. Whilst it can happen a quality bearing is going to have a very low failure rate- measured in parts per million. Consider every car is full of bearings and failure of a bearing can be very expensive so they are made and process controlled to last often for the life of the car.

Cheyne may have some info too, I think he had 2 or 3 dodge ones in a short period (weeks, I think), both genuine and aftermarket. Could be wrong, but he may be able to shed some light.

Regardless, I agree. See what Ajay can do.

Interestingly I no longer think it's the wheel bearing. I pulled the wheel and rotor off and had a good tug of just the bearing (only recently reacquired a 21mm socket; lost my old one, so couldn't remove the wheel before hand), and it's fine. I grab the tie rod itself and pull and I get the same noise. So now my question is, apart from the tie rod end, what else wears out in the steering. Does the joint on the inside end of the tie rod wear out?