Bearing issues, bad bearings or what?

[WE0H]

Seems the wheel bearings on the Vue are a huge issue. Also that prop shaft center bearing on the AWD is an issue. Does anyone know if these bearings are double or single sealed or are they open races? I am wondering if it is a lubrication issue that is wearing these bearings out.

Thanks,
Mike

[1saxman]

Don't let the Internet throw you a curve. There have been many thousands of VUEs sold from 2002 to 2007. Only a tiny fraction of those owners read or contribute to this forum, maybe about a few thousand readers and a hundred or so regular contributors. Of those, only a few have posted here about wheel bearings and even less about the carrier bearing. From this we conclude that wheel bearings are a 'huge issue'? Have we compared such reports with forums about other makes/models? We are the first generation of Internet Forum users - we're making it up as we go and setting the rules that will govern for many years. One thing that has come to light is forums are simply not good representative samplings of anything - they tend to be fairly small and cliquish. In order to determine if VUE wheel bearings have a greater failure rate than other compact SUVs, you'd have to do extensive research. I do not believe such information is available to a casual search.

[BryanF]

I see where you're coming from, but at the same time I have to disagree. A huge issue may be somewhat exaggerating it a bit, but it's fair to say that most other vehicle models don't experience wheel bearing failure as soon or as frequently as the VUE.

I think I recall there being a really old thread on this forum where someone cut the hub in half to find the weak point in the bearing. IIRC, the metal used for one of the bearing races isn't as hard as it should be on the OEM part.

[WE0H]

What I was thinking, are the bearings repackable or are they double sealed bearings where there is no access to the internal part of the bearing to pack it with a good lube? If a guy could get in there and pack them with a darn good synthetic grease, maybe that would prevent an early failure.

Mike