Front wheel bearings for RWD - are they directional?

[geordi]

Had a grumbling / grinding noise from the front wheels on my 14 MS RWD... Not unexpected, the bearings have over 100k miles on them.

So I got this set as it was the only thing available in a reasonable time frame:

Amazon.com

and they match the part numbers from the Tesla service manual, but I don't find any indications whether the bearings are supposed to be directional?
The traction control and the speedometer went NUTS on the test drive, jumping all over the place. What gives? Did I miss a step on resetting something or are these somehow directional and not marked as such?

 

[Boeingpilot]

Had a grumbling / grinding noise from the front wheels on my 14 MS RWD... Not unexpected, the bearings have over 100k miles on them.

So I got this set as it was the only thing available in a reasonable time frame:

Amazon.com

and they match the part numbers from the Tesla service manual, but I don't find any indications whether the bearings are supposed to be directional?
The traction control and the speedometer went NUTS on the test drive, jumping all over the place. What gives? Did I miss a step on resetting something or are these somehow directional and not marked as such?

Sounds like a wheel speed sensor is disconnected or not working

 

[geordi]

I agree with you on that. I pulled the list from the service screen, and that first one makes me think it is the front left that is acting out. I don't know how or if a wheel bearing can have the tone wheel "go bad" but the service instructions talk about somehow damaging the magnetic field, so maybe.... I have the old bearings still, there was a difference in how they felt, so I'm going to take the less-crunchy one and put that in for a test if I don't see any damage to the sensor wire tomorrow. That will isolate if it is the bearing or the sensor, if everything comes back then it is the new bearing that was bad in the box.

 

[thesmokingman]

Did you check to for "play" to confirm it's a wheel bearing?

 

[NewbyMaybe]

There's another thread on this. The tone ring probably doesn't match on the new bearings.

 

[geordi]

Did you check to for "play" to confirm it's a wheel bearing?

Didn't have to - the noise was gone after changing only the bearings and installing new brake pads. Normally I'd say only change one thing at a time, but the noise only happened above 40mph and tracked with speed, so it was a bearing.

There's another thread on this. The tone ring probably doesn't match on the new bearings.

Didn't see any other threads talking about the front, or anything with this internal tone ring (it's a special magnet apparently) but it's odd that I only got an error for one of them - I'm making a small assumption that "wssFL" is Wheel Speed Sensor Front Left

 

[geordi]

Compared the two (old) front bearings today, the passenger one has a definite "gritty" feel as you rotate it even a little. I had thought I heard the noise from the driver's side but that would appear to have been a mistake.

I put back the original bearing into the driver's side, and while I had to reset the computer again (round button reset) it started working again after doing that. Seems that the new bearings I bought were 50/50 - one was bad in the box.

OEM speed sensors all seem to be working properly and the noise is still gone at speed. Hopefully the power usage drops off, I think that bad bearing was costing me a fair bit of range!

 

[Gtech]

Compared the two (old) front bearings today, the passenger one has a definite "gritty" feel as you rotate it even a little. I had thought I heard the noise from the driver's side but that would appear to have been a mistake.

I put back the original bearing into the driver's side, and while I had to reset the computer again (round button reset) it started working again after doing that. Seems that the new bearings I bought were 50/50 - one was bad in the box.

OEM speed sensors all seem to be working properly and the noise is still gone at speed. Hopefully the power usage drops off, I think that bad bearing was costing me a fair bit of range!

Thanks for sharing, you can also try if you see a difference in magnetic pattern with some iron filings?

Which brand are the wheel bearings or are they unbranded?

 

[KalJoMoS]

I put back the original bearing into the driver's side, and while I had to reset the computer again (round button reset) it started working again after doing that.

And where did you found that round reset button? Is it in the service menu?

 

[geordi]

Thanks for sharing, you can also try if you see a difference in magnetic pattern with some iron filings?

Which brand are the wheel bearings or are they unbranded?

I posted the link above - they are from Amazon, most likely unbranded Chinesium although they claim to be "A-Premium"

Not my usual preference to buy like that, but these were the only thing available and probably are the same manufacturer as more expensive versions, b/c there doesn't seem to be a lot of options out there. Autozone and Advance Auto had *nothing* to offer at all. (Duralast is Chinesium too)

And where did you found that round reset button? Is it in the service menu?

No - the two scroll wheels on the steering wheel. Hold both until the screens go dark, or hold both AND the brake pedal for a "hard" reset, and release the brake pedal when the Tesla logo comes on screen. This reboots the computers.

 

[geordi]

Continuing on the wheel bearing replacement - I still feel like the car is using more power at cruise than I think it should. I ordered from a different supplier on Amazon, this time "Bodeman" for the rear bearings. They showed up VERY well packed, double boxed! That was a pleasant surprise after the "A-Premium" trash arrived with the single box having holes in it from where the bearing had tried to escape and been dragging along the conveyors and wearing away at the cardboard. So yeah, don't buy from A-Premium.

For anyone wondering, the only difference between the front and rear bearings on a RWD car is whether or not there is a cap in the bearing instead of the splined hole for the axle - The bearings are NOT directional, and also don't appear to matter if you wanted to install the axle bearing in the front where there isn't an axle hole needed. The one rear bearing I have swapped so far works perfectly, no errors from the computer. Hopefully that trend continues.

In other news, Napa auto parts seems able to source the OEM bearings which are made by SKF... BUT it would appear that they are buying them direct from Tesla rather than from the manufacturer! Their price was over $300 EACH, when Tesla wanted $250 each at a service center.

 

[geordi]

Got the two Bodeman bearings installed today and went for a drive. Previous watt hours/mile had been averaging north of 360-380 for highway mileage at 75-80mph on all 4 original bearings.

On the drive today in mixed conditions and a substantial amount of highway, it was down around 305! Seems like one of the rear bearings WAS the culprit, but also possibly the front b/c it had dropped after changing one of those with the chinesium unit. Going to order another set of these to do the front so they are all the same quality and type. Pretty happy so far.

 

[KalJoMoS]

Going to order another set of these to do the front so they are all the same quality and type. Pretty happy so far.

Can you take a comparison photo of new vs. old (cap in or splined hole) if you do not mind? Are there any specific guides that one should follow to to this on their own?