Wheel offset causing bad wheel bearings?

Hey guys

So about 3 years ago or so I got the 16" Konig Countersteer Offroad wheels

About 7-8 months later I started noticing a humming drone....months later I finally went and got them replaced with I think Timken bearings...not sure..was told they were an upgrade over stock.

Now that solved the problem but now Ive driven about 26K miles since then and the bearings are humming again!!! Driving me nuts! Sounds like I have 35" mud tires

Starting to think maybe the wheels offset has something to do with it? Is this possible or known fact?

 

Are you replacing all the seals with the bearings?

Yes the offset will change the amount of stress on the wheel bearings.

 

At 70k I sold my OEM wheels and replaced them with aftermarket wheels with different backspacing and after 20k more I had to replace both front bearings. Obviously the truck was well used before, but I tend to believe the wheels did not help it.

Here is another discussion:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/wheels-tires/261763-wheel-spacers-offset-wheel-bearing-wear.html

 

hmm well thats annoying...guess I have to live with it

 

Do you know the difference from what your original stock wheel offset was and your new wheel offset now is?

My stock on my 13 Sport TRD is +15 to +25 and I am thinking about a wheel with a zero (0) offset

 

Offset wheels will ALWAYS be hard on your wheel bearings. Your truck (and every other vehicle) was designed with the weight of the front of the vehicle to be carried by the wheel bearings at the exact centre of the bearings load carrying capability. This is achieved completely by wheel offset. So if you think about how a wheel bearing is designed every fraction of an inch/mm you are offset from factory geometry will have greatly adverse affects on the life and function of your wheel bearings. It is unfortunate that the guy who sold you those wheels didn't explain that first.

 

Yep, like jofo said, offset will wear them out quicker. It can come in the form of backspacing or wheel spacers. The more extreme the offset, the quicker they are likely to wear.

 

I have no idea how mine have lasted. My wheels are 3.5" backspaced with 1/2" spacers, and the wheel and tire package weighs 150 lbs. 50K miles and climbing on this set of bearings. I think cleaning the shipping grease out of them and packing a quality wheel bearing grease is the trick, but of course there are many who argue that you should just install them how they came out of the package. Those guys seem to change their bearings a lot more than me, so they must know.

 

Yeah, I've seen where some have less issues than others. But it is accurate to say that it causes accelerated wear. It applies to my 97 chevy as well, and it's been lifted since 99 with greater than stock BS. WB are still fine, but in my case I need to replace a ball joint and UCA bushings. That might be the case despite the offset though. So, like they say, individual results may vary. Of course some poor sap will see the success stories and try and wear them out in no time flat, and think WTF. Maybe environment etc has something to do with it as well. I do know that if I had that set up and was going through WB's too fast, I would seriously look at moving to a stock or closer to stock BS.

 

Even with the proper offset for any wheel/tire combination (which is not simple to calculate, and even more difficult to purchase) tires that are larger than the factory sizes, or even factory-size tires that weigh more than the OE tires, will cause faster bearing wear. It's one of several "hidden" costs of larger tires.

Mike