Check those front wheel bearings

[jay_bob]

Coming home Thurdsday night from the airport, turned down my street toward my house, 150 ft from my driveway, all of a sudden felt like I was driving on gravel. Pulled to the side to check, nothing looked wrong from the outside. Limped into the garage. Noise coming from the LF wheel. I could feel the heat coming off the wheel when I looked at it. Ugh wheel bearing time.

Friday morning lifted up the car and pulled the tire, rotor, and hub. Sure enough the outer bearing had self destructed.

The inner race of the outer bearing fused to the spindle. And the melted remains of the bearing (and a dead spider) in the second picture.

Just thankful it happened 150 ft from my garage, not on the expressway.

This was on my W210 but the 124 has a very similar bearing arrangement. Failed without warning.

[fahrvergnugen]

Is the spindle usable?

Sorry to hear of your troubles; makes me want to replace mine!

[jay_bob]

No the spindle is ruined. That bearing race is now one with the spindle metallurgically.

New spindle assembly is about $450 for a W210.

Requires a spring compressor to replace it.

[krwsenior]

Ouch! I feel for you. Thankfully, mine gave warning - roaring sound, but not very loud. I thought it was my tires since it started when I changed wheels/tires and drove it like that for few months as it slowly got a little louder. I finally realized it was the bearings when the sound started changing when I went around curves or turns. At that point, I quickly changed them. No more roaring noise and no visible damage to the old bearings or races themselves.

I'm very glad that I got a warning. Sorry that you didn't.

[vstech]

A. Three jaw puller should be able to remove that bearing...

I know you are changing the spindle, but it doesn't look too bad

[EDBSO]

Originally Posted by jay_bob

Just thankful it happened 150 ft from my garage, not on the expressway.
Failed without warning.

Yes you are lucky. been there and done that on the highway over a thousand miles from home. AND! it failed catastrophically without warning!!!

[jay_bob]

Yep I thought of you when that happened.

Picked the best time possible to fail, and it was literally up the street from my house.

My son is home from college for winter break, so I have an extra car and extra set of hands, and I am not traveling for work anywhere this week.

[rscurtis]

Perhaps the spider was the cause of the failure. I would take an angle grinder to that inner race and remove it before condemning the spindle. I would also suggest that those bearings were giving a warning for thousands of miles before they ultimately failed.

[Zulfiqar]

This is why I always believe in checking tapered wheel bearings every year like oldschool times. Whilst checking if you see little sparkly flecks in the old grease - its new bearing time - theyre cheap too.

however it is also critical to set the bearing correctly (MB use a dial gauge) you can set it by hand if you are oldschool enough and have set them previously - its a learned feel/skill

always make sure there is a good quality grease in there in the correct quantity and that your grease seal is not damaged at all. My W210 was short about half of the required grease (but it was clean MB green grease. I removed the bearings and repacked them correctly for good measure. The grease actually gets pushed by centrifugal force into the bearings as the wheel rotates.

[jay_bob]

Originally Posted by rscurtis

Perhaps the spider was the cause of the failure. I would take an angle grinder to that inner race and remove it before condemning the spindle. I would also suggest that those bearings were giving a warning for thousands of miles before they ultimately failed.

Dead spider ha! he fell out from the wheel well.

I have already ordered a new spindle. Not taking any chances.

If it was giving a warning it was very subtle. Definitely wasn't making any noises to the point I could notice it prior to that. Even when I stood outside the car while one of my kids was backing out to take it somewhere.

That is the reason for my post title, guess I should have been more vigilant and checked the bearing condition when I replaced the front brake pads a couple thousand ago. As soon as I get mine rolling again I will be checking the 124's bearings, even though those were rebuilt about 2 years ago.

[bsmuwk]

Must be a poor time for W210 wheel bearings, noticed my passenger front howling away today after a short sprint.

Time to replace before the powder starts falling.

[shertex]

Jay Bob, how many miles on the car?

[TMAllison]

Both of mine went out up front around 250k, one ate the spindle. Little to no warning, hear a sound, pull over, already fried.

The manual tells you to install the bearings with a dial indicator gauge. I'd follow the recommendation. Too touchy to do old school by feel.

[jay_bob]

218 k

Pelican Technical Article: Mercedes Benz - Front Wheel Bearing Replacement

[jay_bob]

Originally Posted by bsmuwk

Must be a poor time for W210 wheel bearings, noticed my passenger front howling away today after a short sprint.

Time to replace before the powder starts falling.

Probably too late, once it starts making sounds it is game over.

Plan on needing new spindle(s) as well.