Car question re: brakes and wheel bearings

[dwtw38351]

(Asking for a friend).

if the front brakes were replaced last Friday, including new rotors....

should they have known or noticed the wheel bearings on the front left side were going to go completely out on Wednesday?

[elheron-grande]

Well, as one poster on this tred stated, we all make our own choices for autter maintenance

and repairs.   (Heron believes in SEMPER PARATUS and that might essplain why he would replace

the old bearing(s) with new bearing(s) at time of brake repairs.  Better safe than sorry,  opinion).

[Anonymous]

On some vehicles, the hub and rotor are separate pieces and the hub can remain on the spindle when rotors are replaced.  On other vehicles, the hub and rotor are integral parts with the bearing races needing to be installed on the new hub/rotors.  So which kind of rotor the OP's vehicle has would have some bearing on whether or not the shop could/should have noticed a bearing needed replaced during the brake job.

But, the owner of the car took the car in for a brake job and that was performed.  If something else goes out a few days later, that is the nature of vehicles.  I would not waste time trying to pin blame on a shop; I would simply get new wheel bearings and get on down the road.

[marinermikes]

Spot on Arkie. It all depends on the vehicle. To change the bearings on my vehicle is a major chore. Not some thing you do because it may be bad.

A little story here on this subject. I had one go bad on my Suburban at about two hundred thousand. I changed the whole hub. Six months later I had the vehicle in the shop to paint it. Had it up on blocks so I thought while it's here I'm going to change the other side. Removed a perfectly good hub and installed a new one. Six months later I took it to get inspected. Guess what, the new hub bearings were already shot. So I removed a perfectly good hub and replaced it with a piece of junk from the local chain parts store.

Lesson learned. Oem parts from here on.

[tony1963]

I'll go ahead and reply, as a former shop owner and used motor vehicle dealer.

Former Shop Owner

Many of your customers will complain if you find additional things to fix.  They're convinced that you are price gouging them.  We had a policy that if something was unsafe, you could either fix it or take the vehicle back home with you.  Never made an exception to that policy.

However, if something needed attention in the future, we would point it out and make recommendations.  Keep in mind that it is the customer's vehicle and their choice.

There are some things that I wouldn't do.  I wouldn't put old brake pads on new rotors, I wouldn't change oil without the filter, I wouldn't put valve cover gaskets on without jet cleaning the valve cover, I wouldn't put spark plugs in with old failing wires, etc.

Former Used Motor Vehicle Dealer

Whatever we found that was a material item was repaired.