Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hey Chaps.

How does one know when wheel bearings need to be replaced?
What are the symptoms...?

Noise?
Vibration?


If so ,..what kind of noise? and what kind of vibration?

Are wheel bearings for the GU (2007) readily available?... or am i going to have to mission around and find them at a bearing place?

Any and all comments and experiences are encouraged, thank you guys.

Russ,
The only way to know for sure is to remove and inspect the bearing surfaces for wear.
Symptoms to check for are:
1) Unusually large play on the hub.
2)Oil leaking out of the bearing seal.
3) A rumbling noise from the axle during driving.

You could also jack up the vehicle , remove the wheel and brake caliper/drum and then slowly turn the hub and feel for roughness and play.
There should be a little play and the hub should turn all the way round smoothly.

Don't attempt changing bearings without the special tools required!

Hope this helps,
Chris.

The rumbling noise that Bogeyman mentions is normally most audible when there is side load on the bearings, such as when cornering. In fact, one of the best ways to check for this is to steer from side to side while driving in a straight line at highway speeds (obviously gently, not so that there is any risk). You should hear the rumbling sound change as the side loads come and go.

Russ, if the wheel bearings are correctly maintained, they should probably last virtually for ever.

They are supposed to be re-greased every 40k km (more often when wading a lot), and I know that Nissan never do this.

To do it, you need a special spanner (if your vehicle has auto-locking hubs), a variety of torque wrenches, a ball joint splitter and an afternoon. I can supply the special spanner, for R150.00 excl postage.

Finding the bearings are a real mission, so rather service them. There is a thread in drivetrain with part numbers etc.

Hi Russ if you need bearings give Bearing Tech in Paarl on 0218625091a call, they got my bearing at half the price of bearing M and had them ready by 14:00 the same day. I think I paid R 750 for all 4 for the front wheels. Seals etc you will need to get from agents.

Hi,

What can be ragarded as half the price? I am off to Austria in November, and looks like I will order my bearings to be delivered there via Nikolai B.

GQ bearings is an issue in this country.

Regards

Marnus

Maybe I must order waterpipes for my GQ then you sommer goois them in your sak as well

shalom

Guys thanks for all the replies.

Out of interest (and you dont need to tell me how bad Nissan are i know fine well from my own horrific experiences with them),...BUT ,...why the hell is it a mission to find Wheel bearings for a Patrol..... ?

It blows my freaking mind that an item like original wheel bearings are not readily available..

Anyway, my bearings seem to be 100%,...but i still need to do actual visual check and re-grease,.... Peter i have manual locking hubs, but the little tool to tighten the locking ring with the two little holes is something i should consider buying....and the ball-joint splitter.

Russ -- I don't know of earlier bearing changes on Lobo but I had a field day searching for bearings when the old man was on 1,280,000 km [give or take a couple thousand] Wouter never replaced bearings adn Diesel Dawg nor Nico before him -- so that's a mite over 200 K kms without service or replace.

LOBO 's engine is RUNNING - just the radiator fixed -- then I can DRIVE Lobo again. .. but all that on another thread fred

Jules wrote:Maybe I must order waterpipes for my GQ then you sommer goois them in your sak as well

shalom

Will cost 6 beers or a cheap bottle of brandy. Oops, sorry, the latter does not exist anymore...