What makes a hub go bad? Options

[My2Celi]

I replace my bearing for my front passenger side bearing about 6mths ago. I was trying to make this car maintain as possible. Recently I hear a woobley sound coming from the passenger side. So i took the hub out to see whats wrong. I can push the hub in and out like by an inch. I went to oreilly where i got it install and they said that they can't do it cause i need a new hub. What cause it to go bad?

[LewFX]

wear and tear

[Bitter]

sounds like a spalled bearing that chewed up the races really bad.

[hitcachi]

old, packed in grease

[94GT]

I've heard side loading the bearing with hard cornering and unbalanced tires can wear them out quicker. The MR-2T I just bought has a slightly bent rear stock rim and whadya know, the bearing in the same wheel is making noise and is going to get replaced ASAP.

[LewFX]

old, packed in grease

a lil extra grease wont hurt, having no grease will hurt

[Bitter]

actually too much grease will cause the bearing to overheat. it should be no more than 1/2 filled.

[soulshadow]

If you replaced your Bearing and not the HUB it could be that the HUB chewed out the new bearing. Usually if a HUB is good then the bearing is the one at fault, but if you drove around with a bad bearing for a long time with a good hub, your hub goes bad along with the bearing.

In a way, replace your Bearing as soon as it goes out or expect to replace both after so many miles.

Running over obstacles will damage the bearing, I should know I ran over a steel ladder on the freeway once!

[Bitter]

no no no no. the balls in the bearing ride on the races. theres an outer race which presses into the knuckle while the inner race is pressed onto the hub. if you dont replace the inner race then yes you can ruin your new bearing, however reusing the hub (unless its bent) wont cause problems.

[wind]

sliding into a curb could do some damage as well.....