Is it something I'm doing?

Or am I getting crappy parts. In the last year I've gone through three front wheel bearings on the wifes 02 Malibu. I replaced the right front, then shortly thereafter the left front. I replaced the RF again last month, but my wife hit a big hole at about 60 and broke the wheel so i figured that killed the bearing. This morning going to the doctor the left front started moaning like it's on the way out.

All three were bought at napa and were installed and torqued down according to the manual. Is there something i'm missing or are these bearings all that poorly made?

Improper torque procedures are the cause for 95% of wheel bearing failures.

A few years ago I fired 5 techs for using an impact wrench on wheel bearings.

I have found that OE bearings are always the best bet.

In my experience, those wheel bearing are freakin' terrible, terrible pieces of crap. I get calls on them all the time, and everyone I know that's had a car that's had that particular wheel bearing has had to change both sides before the car hit 80k. It's not just you.

I had one last 6 months on a Grand Am, but it was the cheapest, POS bearing I could find.

I know it's not from an impact gun, I have no electric in the garage so everything is done by hand. I guess I'll be hitting the dealer for a new one. I guess I was lucky the OE ones went to 150k and 190k.

I have no proof but it seems to me that I have read that the rebuilt bearings use a slightly larger ball after smooth grinding the seat. A larger ball would then mean a thinner wall and more stress.

I remember getting crappy U joints from Napa.. nothing like having one (the rear, thankfully) fling itself apart after only 6000 miles

Wally wrote: All three were bought at napa...

That's the problem. NAPA took a dive on quality a few years ago to compete with the other cheapie chain stores. When they took that dive, they did it with enthusiasm. They now sell some of the worse junk on the market, under their own label.

thats sad, Napa used to be pretty good. Sometimes you have to ask for the "gold" line parts to "get the good stuff", as thier ads say

I ALWAYS buy timkin...they have never failed me.

A couple different of my instructors swear by Timkin. One owns a tranny shop. The other does all the maintenance for the local county sheriff.

Napa parts often suck. My wife's VW Cabrio is on water pump number four because the first two replacements were NAPA (they warrantied the first replacement, hence the second NAPA pump). Neither one lasted more than a couple of months. We put an OEM VW pump on it and it's been good for several years now.

You can't put a blanket statement of "suck" on any of the typical parts providers. They all use so many suppliers (in many cases the same) that one type of part might be terrible, while another might be great. Napa has a very good reputation for filters, for example. I also have had much better luck with their brake parts than other vendors. I usually get wheel bearings at Autozone, and pay a little extra for Timken if I can. Haven't had any problems with the 3 or 4 I've done over the years.

You're right, Josh. I'm just cranky about that water pump. I'm sure they offer many high quality parts. It just stinks to find out which ones they are by (somewhat expensive) trial and error.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/tsbresults_drilldown.cfm?start=1&SearchType=DrillDown&type=VEHICLE&year=2002&make=CHEVROLET&model=MALIBU&&TYPENUM=1&SUBMIT=Retrieve+Recalls&PrintVersion=YES

there is a TSB on that wheel bearing... I dunno if it will help.

Also, only buy name brand parts now. I'll bet money that Moog or Valeo or borg warner, etc.. made those hubs. get a box with a actual name on it and you'll be fine.

FYI, rockauto has timken, skf and acdelco parts.