1st Gen R50 Cooper R50 Front wheel bearing.

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by M1N1, May 25, 2015.

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  1. M1N1

    M1N1 Well-Known Member

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    I have a couple of questions about replacing the front wheel bearings.

    1, Is it best to replace both sides at the same time, or just the side that is bad?
    2, Which brand to buy. OEM, Beck Arnley, Autozone, etc?
     
  2. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Sorry no help but I'll give you a bump
     
  3. Motoring Magic

    Motoring Magic New Member
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    Motoring Magic Owner, Ventura County's ONLY MINI s
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    Just replace the bad one

    Just replace the bad side, the other side may go thousands of miles before failure. whichever brand is the best deal, make sure you get the corect year. We only charge a half hour to replace one, it is a simple job. The axle nut will be your biggest challenge.
     
  4. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    I would replace both and ONLY buy OEM.

    Why? I only like doing the job once with the right quality parts.
     
  5. Kenny kustom

    Kenny kustom New Member

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    X2. But I do like SKF bearings and hubs.
     
  6. wmwny

    wmwny Well-Known Member

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    Funny you should be asking this. I recently had the right front wheel bearing go out on my R50 as I was driving to the dealer for some other stuff as I was getting ready to take the car to MOTD. Thank God it went out when it did! They just replaced it with a new OEM wheel bearing, after first checking out all the other wheels. They basically said that one bad one does not mean that the other on the same side will be going out anytime soon.
     
  7. M1N1

    M1N1 Well-Known Member

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    wmwny, thanks for that. Good info. Unfortunately, I am about as anal/OCD/whatever you call it, as Dave is!!!! If I'm taking the time to change one, I am changing both. :Thumbsup:
     
  8. M1N1

    M1N1 Well-Known Member

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    #8 M1N1, May 25, 2015
    Last edited: May 25, 2015
    Just checked for movement on the front wheels (car in the air, grab wheel @ 9 - 3 & 12 - 6). Could not feel any movement. Checked the discs and pads that I recently fitted, and found no wear or damage. No damage to the dust shield, either.

    The reason that I am checking all of this is that over the last week/10 days, I have noticed a squeal coming from my car when I take a lazy right hand bend at normal driving speed. Does not happen when I brake, drive in a straight line, turn hard left or right, or take a lazy left hand bend. I am thinking that the inertia of the car, when taking a bend in the road at normal speed, is putting weight on the right, front of the car.

    I pm'd Eric at Helix, and he suggested disc catching on the dust shield, or more likely, a bad bearing.

    The squeal does not happen all of the time, and when I first heard it with the windows up, it sounded like it was coming from the rear. Now I have heard it with the windows down, it sounds to be coming from the front.

    Ray.
     

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