[Mikeklim]

Peugeot 308 2.0hdi 2008 168000miles

Mot failure on nearside front wheel bearing.

It's a long story sorry. I've changed the wheel bearing twice and tried a second hand steering knuckle. Every time the bearing is knackered in less then 4 miles. I've now replaced the drive shaft, steering knuckle, hub, bottom ball joint with brand new parts. The bearing was very carefully pressed in. The nut was torqued up to 325nm while the wheel was in the air. Bit still I less than 4 miles the bearing is kaput. The tyres are wearing correctly.

There is an advisory for slight wear on the suspension arm not causing significant movement.

Does anyone have any insight to what could be causing the problem. I've booked an appointment with peugeot but it's in 2 weeks time.

[Mikeklim]

I've figured out the problem the new hub cone was too small causing the hub to torque up before the bearing made contact with the drive shaft face. It left a 1mm gap between the bearing and drive shaft. When driven for a few miles the bearing centre separated causing the wobble.

[NMNeil]

Fortunately Peugeot aren't sold in the US but it seems your problem is not uncommon.
Supposedly it can happen if you change the bearing and tighten the driveshaft nut with the wheel on the ground could be the cause.
Looking at the diagrams of the hub and bearing I can't see what can go wrong, but being a French car, who knows 😀
Anyway

[Rolebama]

325nm seems high. I would check with a Peugeot dealer workshop.
FWIW: Years ago when I worked on some Renaults, we had a similar problem with crush wheel bearings. I can't remember the torque quoted, but a Renault dealership recommended we try a half of quoted torque, and we had no further problems.

[Mikeklim]

@Rolebama interesting idea. I did check the torque rating and it was tightened while the wheel was still up in the air. I'm tempted to try that idea.

[Mikeklim]

@NMNeil thanks I found that video

[Mark07]

Originally Posted by Mikeklim

I've figured out the problem the new hub cone was too small causing the hub to torque up before the bearing made contact with the drive shaft face. It left a 1mm gap between the bearing and drive shaft. When driven for a few miles the bearing centre separated causing the wobble.

Thanks for coming back to share this and I'm glad you got to the bottom of it - I'm sure this post will be useful for someone else, hopefully they won't have to go through everything you did.

Don't forget, the RAC Community is always here for anyone looking for help with any motoring questions. 😀