124 Front wheel bearings -how long do they last?

[Orlando 300E]

Hello all,
I got a specialist to change both near & off side front wheel bearings just under 18k miles (less than a year) ago -seemed a bargain at £144 plus VAT.
There now is quite a bit of play top to bottom & side to side with the wheel off the deck - I believe in its current state it will not pass the MOT (due late next month), off side being worse than near.

Is this normal wear or should I go back to the garage?

Cheers in advance for your thoughts,
Orlando

 

[NormanB]

Hi

This is unacceptable.

I would expect at least 60,000 miles + for a set of correctly fitted bearings.

I would take it back to the garage and invite them to replace them correctly with MB specd bearings at their cost.

If they do not play ball - give it to them in writing,

Then get a MB dealer to do it and take the original monkeys to the small claims court for your costs and additional expense.

NormanB

 

[Orlando 300E]

Thanks Norman,
Had a feeling that 17k is a bit too low.
I?m not going to approach the specialist until I have had a second opinion from my semi-tame MOT station, just incase the specialist try saying its the bottom links that have gone........

Cheers,
Orlando

 

[Arnie]

It's a very skilled job to set-up new bearings properly, with the correct amount of slack. Too much or too little will cause premature failure.

Also, the bearings should be original MB OEM (SKF or other reputable brand) and the correct amount of grease packing used.

Bearings should last for well over 100,000 miles, but may need to be greased and re-adjusted at around 60,000.

 

[Orlando 300E]

Firstly thank you Norman & Arnie, some great advice, unfortunately not for me!

I got a second opinion from my MOT station -the good news is it is not the bearings, ?it?s just a bit of play in the hub?, so no fail.

The bad news is that there must be something else loose in the suspension; my suspicion is the front bottom link bushes/ball joints. But thats another problem.

Cheers again
Orlando