wheel bearing emergency-ish question

[techfreak16]

hey all,
1991 Explorer xl
so i recently changed the passenger side front wheel bearings (inner, outer), and have been putting off the drivers side for too long. while driving from portales, nm to el paso, tx driver side wheel bearing started squeaking, scratching, and screaming slightly...it comes and goes, but i have to drive back to Albuquerque tomorrow, and need to know if this bearing will be ok? will it cause a safety issue? and/or will the bearing weld itself into the hub or rotor from being driven when shot? i have seen this happen on cars before...need to know as i dont have the cash to replace till i get back home. i will be doing my front brakes again very soon too, hopefully before metal-on-metal!! thx

 

[Happy Jack]

I have had brake issues when I lost a bearing on a front ttb. Had to chisel the nuts off the spindle and replace the spindle and hub. You should get it taken care of before another 265 mile trip.

 

[RangerX]

I've had a bearing race become one with the spindle before, after neglecting it too long.

 

[waskly]

the wheel can fall off, lose brakes etc. is it safe? NO!

 

[Tbars4]

...I would run to the store, buy some Timken bearings and replace them immediately..

...But if you want to wait till you get home, this thread has some good info on what can happen in post #106. Bearing failure after a 15 mile drive with no noise at all...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199915&page=6

 

[jhclance]

Bearings fail in so many different ways. Some just lock the wheel some brake all kind of stuff. No-one can tell you that you will make it. Everyone will tell you not to try it. Its a cheap fix reguardless if you have the parts at home waiting, buy them again fix it then make your trip comfortably knowing that you avoided a potentionally deadly accident.

 

[brandon mitchell]

the wheel can fall off, lose brakes etc. is it safe? NO!

Of course it's not safe! Better to check your brakes everyday.

 

[techfreak16]

well thank you all for your input, i made it back to albuquerque (with sum prayers-said before departure) lol ...i replaced brakes today but had an event to attend at six, the brakes took me 16 min or so! pretty badas* haha jk. it was just MY fastest brake pad replacement ever, although, i am too broke to turn my rotors right now...but actually at least bought duralast pads instead of cheapo-depot ones this time. anyways i didnt have time to replace bearing and had to drive about 20 more miles today in town, and it got a lot worse...
i noticed when the wheel was off, there is nothing covering my bearings, they are exposed with just the auto hub slid off the spindle....must do this tomorrow as the new school term starts monday and i will be back and forth all week. thanks again for your answers and i will post my results when finished!

 

[Tony H]

Geeze.. Bearings don't take much longer then doing front Pads. and they are relitively cheap. I always do mine in Pairs. If one side went bad, I do all inner and outers on both sides of the car.

Although on the only two cars I bought new, I repack them and with over 300K miles on both the cars, I have the original Bearings. That's why these old school hub setups are nicer then the Sealed bearing setup of the newer cars.

 

[brandon mitchell]

I guess you really love your car. LOL

 

[Tony H]

I have to rely on them... New cars are Crap and impossible to work on., so I keep up on the maintanence.
Hell, my boat is a 1970 and my motorcycle is days away from the 100K mile mark.
My '91 Explorere is the newest car we own.

 

[brandon mitchell]

Why did you say so? Most of the problems occur on old cars.