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Wheel Bearings

Hi

I have a Kia Rio 2002. It's a great car but after 32000 miles it started needing new front wheel bearings on either driver and/or pass side every

2000 - 3000 miles. I'm just about to get it booked in once again for the sixth time at 47000 to get new wheel bearings. The fourth time the wheel bearings went out, I took it to another Kia dealer because I thought the dealer must be installing them incorrectly.

Anyway the dealer who has fixed it the most each time he said the alignment is out and that's why the wheel bearings failed. So I took it to 3 different shops each time to get the alignment and they said it was either fine or it was out but not by much. Is this true that if the alignment is out then the wheel bearings will fail?

Is there something else I can tell the dealer to inspect that could be causing the failure?

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated as when the warranty runs out in 13000 miles, if this problem does not get resolved I'll start footing the bill for the job.

Thanks

Mark

Reply to
M Burnside
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If I am correct Alignment has nothing to do with Wheel Bearing's !

Reply to
<gregoryvelders

I think you're on the right track, I saw a bulletin about this not too long ago that talked about bearing pre-load on the rio being important when installing new wheel bearings. Perhaps you should mention this to your dealer.

Chris

I got this from the July 2004 issue of "Technician times"

Kia Motors America continues to receive inquires about Rio front wheel bearings pre-load. The following article was originally published in Technician Times Volume 5, Issue 2, 2002. When servicing front wheel bearings on Rio models, it is critical to have the correct preload on the bearings. Front wheel bearings assembled with incorrect pre-load may fail prematurely resulting in repeat repairs. The Rio Service Manual, page DS-25 instructs the use of SST ? 0K130 322 020 for use with a pull scale, however this SST (arm) is not available. KMA recommends using an inch-pound torque wrench and the following procedure (procedure requires the use of Special Service Tool 0K130 331 016). The torque wrench specifications are in the Rio Service manual.

  1. With steering knuckle removed from the vehicle and hub removed from the knuckle (refer to Rio Service Manual, pages DS-21 - DS-25), clamp SST-0K130 331 016 in a bench vice.
  2. Install knuckle with rear bearing onto SST.
  3. Install spacer and outer bearing onto SST.
  4. Install the SST bushing and nut, then torque to
116-173 lb-ft (157-235Nm).
  1. Remove from the bench vice and clamp the knuckle in the vice so that the SST can turn in the bearings.
  2. Using an inch-pound torque wrench, turn the SST to check the preload (see photo). Preload specification is 2.2-10.4 lb-in (.25-1.17 Nm).
Reply to
Hal

Nice post. I'll also add that if you're the original owner of the '02 Rio, the front hub bearings are covered by the 10 year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. Perhaps the dealer would like to chew on that for a while. Sooner or later, they'll get tired of seeing your car and figure out what's going on.

Has the car ever had any suspension damage/bent wheels?

Reply to
hyundaitech

I'm the original owner of the vehicle.

No suspension damage or bent wheels.

Thanks for the bearing info I'll show the dealer it and hopefully they will get there act together.

Mark

Reply to
M Burnside

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