I've got an '08 LS with 120,000 miles on it. So far, all of my hub bearings have held up fine (knock on wood). I'm wondering what kind of mileage I can expect before having to replace them, and I'm also wondering if the front ones typically wear out faster than the rear given the front wheel drive. Although I'm not having any problems at the moment, I'm planning on a 700 mile trip this Christmas and am wondering if I should go ahead and replace the front hubs. I would put Timkens on myself (currently only $87 + tax via Autozone on Ebay)

 

They go when they go. My 2008 went before 100K, the replacement went 170K. My 2011 has 120K now.

I had a rear go on the 2008 after 200K.

 

Had to replace my driver side front at 75.000.

 

If someone here had the psychic ability to predict the longevity or service life of HHR hubs, they'd be rolling in dough.

I had one hub pack it in at 43,000 miles, that was the earliest failure, the longest lived hub took a powder at 210,000 miles.

If it would help your peace of mind before a long road trip, and the cost and time are reasonable to you, then swap them out.

But since your HHR has been trouble free, you could adopt the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it mindset", and just enjoy your Holiday trip.

 

It just seems strange that there would be such an huge spread in longevity of these. I normally try the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it mindset", but I also know that good 'ol Murphy usually sits by my side. I have to get an alignment done in the next few days as it is off according to Sears (new tires). I'm going to take the car to a local alignment shop and make sure they check out the front end good while they have it up on the rack.

 

I will add that I had a rear hub bad out of the box. It had an eighth inch end play.

 

We bought our HHR used so I don't know for sure if the previous owner might have replaced the wheel bearings or not. It wasn't listed on the car fax report but other things like when they replaced the cabin air filter was.

Thought that a bit odd because it should have been routine maintenance you'd think. If he changed the wheel bearings himself or had someone other than the dealer do the job it might not have been reported to carfax.

Anyway the replacement bearings are inexpensive enough that you could buy them and have them in your car all the time and you could actually change them on the side of the road if need be {of course you would have to have the proper tools along as well}

Changing them was maybe a two hour job for me, but I was doing it in nice weather, at my place, with a good jack, jack stands, electric impact wrench, 2 foot long 3/4” breaker bar, all on concrete, with other tools right there.

I did the job shortly after it turned 188,888 on the odometer if I recall correctly.

 

replaced two times drivers at 80,000 and 160,000 passengers still going at 174,000 go figure ....

 

My stock hubs were replaced under warranty at 58,000 miles, the second set (Timkens) are still in there at 145,000 miles, that's 89,000 miles so who knows. I do have a new set of Timkens on the shelve in the garage just in case. the rears are original with 145,000 miles on them.

 

Nobody can predict things like that because everyone drives differently. The condition of the roads is also a big factor. Driving fast through potholes and flying over speed bumps and train tracks will make parts like wheel bearings wear way faster.