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Repeated rear hub assembly failure?

('04 Cavalier; 120K miles) I'd been having a whining noise on (highway) left turns. I found significant play in the right rear hub assembly, which I replaced. In less than 200 miles, the same condition had recurred. I got another under warranty, and installed that. Now, after ~500 miles, there is again substantial play.

I doubt that I got two bad units, though that's not totally out of the question. When I replaced the first one, the mounting bolts were all tight, and everything _looked_ OK (to me). Tire wear has been even throughout. The car tracks OK.

Any thoughts on what might cause such rapid failure would be appreciated.

G
Reply to
gbeccles
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If the tire wear is OK and no other signs, it almost has to be junk or wrong parts. The rear units are assembled, then pressed and welded with the correct bearing pre-load. It's possible that there is a bad run of parts. What brand?

Reply to
Steve W.

It's a 'Parts Master', from Auto Value. Not exactly gold; but, I still wouldn't expect a practically out-of-box failure.

Reply to
gbeccles

Did either of the replacement hubs make noise?

Reply to
Bill Vanek

If you mean, do I hear anything when turning by hand, no. Not before they failed, nor after, as far as my hearing goes.

However, there was something, with one of them - I think it was the

2nd replacement, _before_ I put it in. I thought I felt a little 'hitch' when I turned it. It just happened one one time; I couldn't get it to repeat. I thought maybe the lube had kind of set up sitting on the shelf, and just needed a little push. (The box had a fair bit of dust on it, like it had been sitting a long time.)
Reply to
gbeccles

I meant while driving. Did they make noise then?

Reply to
Bill Vanek

Yeah. SOSO - whining on left steering pressure. That's why I went back and checked. I'm pretty sure they were both quiet when first installed. Though, with road noise, and different pavements, I couldn't absolutely swear to that. There was definitely no play in either, when first installed - that, I'm certain of. And, there's a lot now.

Reply to
gbeccles

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