Vehicle Bearing Maintenance Tips and Tricks

July 9, 2023

Vehicle Bearing

The average car uses numerous different bearings to reduce friction between its major moving parts. Keeping these bearings in good condition ensures your vehicle can continue operating efficiently.

Discover the different types of vehicle bearings, where to find them, their purposes, and how to keep them maintained and serviced.

What Are the Different Types of Bearings in a Car?

An automotive bearing, or car bearing, is a machine part designed to facilitate movement and reduce friction. Car bearings also help transfer forces and motion from one component to the next.

Automobiles use a wide array of bearing types in their construction. Nearly every major component of your vehicle uses bearings. They include the following:

  • Ball bearings: Ball bearings are the most common type of automotive bearing. They are ring-shaped devices filled with steel balls. Ball bearings are designed to support radial loads, which are forces perpendicular to their axis. You can find ball bearings in various car parts, such as the engine’s crankshaft, transmission, wheel hub assemblies, idler pulleys, and tensioners.
  • Roller bearings: These bearings are assemblies containing cylindrical roller elements instead of spherical balls. Some roller bearings are tapered, allowing them to handle forces in different directions (radial and axial). Transmissions and differentials commonly contain roller bearings.
  • Spherical bearings: Spherical bearings are assemblies containing an inner and an outer ring typically designed to support a rotating shaft or arm. They can handle vibrations, oscillating movements, and misalignment, making them ideally suited for parts like the suspension system or steering linkages.
  • Needle bearings: Needle bearings, or needle roller bearings, are compact versions of roller bearings designed to support high loads in small spaces. Transmissions, torque converters, camshaft followers, engine conrods, and steering columns commonly use needle bearings.
  • Thrust bearings: Also called thrust ball bearings, these are a type of ball bearing. Unlike standard ball bearings, which support radial loads, thrust bearings support axial loads, which are forces parallel to their axis. You can find thrust bearings inside clutch systems, steering columns, axle shafts, and specific types of transmissions and torque converters.
  • Bushings: Bushings or plain bearings, are simple cylindrical parts with no moving elements. Depending on their application, bushings can be made of softer materials, like rubber or plastic, or metals like steel or brass. Components that commonly use bushings include the suspension system, such as the control arms, sway bars, and pivot points.

Which Vehicle Bearings Require Maintenance?

While the average car contains up to 150 different bearings of all types, not all require the same amount of maintenance. Some bearings are fully sealed and require minimal maintenance. They typically only need replacement when they break or reach the end of their service life.

Other bearing types are more sensitive to wear and tear and require frequent maintenance. The following are a few examples of bearings you can maintain:

Door Hinge Bearings

Door hinge bearings are typically bushings. They are small, cylindrical components located inside your car’s door assemblies, serving as inserts between the door hinges and hinge pins.

Door hinge bearings provide your doors with a smooth pivoting feel when opening and closing them. As they wear out, they lose their smoothness. Signs your bearings could use a service include misaligned car doors, difficulty opening or closing, and squeaky or creaky noises.

While you can extend their life with regular lubricant applications, door hinge bearings typically do not require maintenance. They are designed to last until they wear out or break, at which point they need replacement. Some door hinge bearings are sealed within hinge assemblies, requiring you to replace the entire unit instead.

Engine Bearings

An internal combustion engine contains several bearings. Each piston has a connecting rod (conrod), and each conrod is connected to a bearing, minimizing friction between the crankshaft, piston conrods, and other parts.

The engine’s crankshaft also features its own set of bearings called main bearing journals. These bearings are essential to the engine’s proper operation; without them, it would fail to crank and be unable to transmit power.

Most modern engine bearings feature a bimetallic construction: a steel backing with an aluminum alloy covering. Older engine bearings feature a less durable trimetallic structure consisting of a steel backing, a copper alloy substrate, and a nickel top layer.

Despite their relative importance, these bearings are typically not serviced directly. Instead, they are kept maintained through oil changes. Quality oil protects the engine’s internal components, including its bearings. However, failing to change the oil regularly can damage the metal in the engine bearings, decreasing their structural integrity.

Transmission Bearings

Whether your car has a classic manual transmission, a traditional automatic, or a modern Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), all transmission assemblies contain numerous types of bearings.

Ball and roller bearings support shafts and gears, thrust bearings support axial loads generated when shifting, and plain bushings reduce friction between linkages and other components.

While each transmission assembly is different and uses its own arrangement of bearings, bearing maintenance is similar to engine bearings in that it is typically not done directly.

Similar to engines and engine oil, transmissions contain transmission fluid. It acts as both a lubricant and a protective compound for your gears, bearings, linkages, and other elements. Consequently, changing your transmission fluid at the manufacturer’s recommended intervals is all you need to prevent damage to your transmission bearings.

Wheel Bearings

Each of your vehicle’s rim and tire assemblies is mounted to the car’s wheel hub assemblies. At the core of each one is a wheel hub bearing, also called a wheel bearing.
The wheel hub bearing is one of the most critical elements of your vehicle, connecting the wheels to the powertrain and suspension system.

Although wheel bearings require maintenance, it depends on the type of bearing used in your vehicle and your manufacturer’s recommendations. Modern cars typically come fitted with maintenance-free, sealed wheel hub bearings. While this type is intended to last the vehicle’s lifespan, you can schedule a service with professional mechanics to have them inspected.

Older vehicles and special-purpose models like high-performance cars, off-road vehicles, SUVs, and commercial trucks may feature non-sealed, serviceable wheel bearings instead.

The servicing interval for this bearing type depends on the manufacturer’s recommendations but is typically every 30,000 miles. Wheel bearing service is typically conducted alongside brake service because brake calipers and pads are connected to the wheel hubs.

Driveshaft Bearings

If your car is front-engined and either rear-wheel-drive (RWD) or all-wheel-drive (AWD) vehicle, it typically features a driveshaft. This critical part of your vehicle is connected to the transmission and transmits power to the drive axles.

Most driveshafts feature three bearing types:

  • The center bearing is a type of ball bearing found near the center of the driveshaft. It serves as a support and connection between its front and rear ends.
  • Universal joint (U-joint) needle bearings are a type of needle bearing. A U-joint features four ends, each capped with a bearing. Depending on the design, a driveshaft may feature two or three U-joints.
  • The slip yoke is a driveshaft element that can, depending on its design, include a needle bearing inside the front end.

The center bearing is intended to last the driveshaft’s service life and does not normally require regular servicing and maintenance. However, U-joint and slip yoke bearings need regular inspections and servicing.

There is no recommended service interval for driveshafts or their bearings, meaning you should schedule a professional driveshaft service when you detect potential symptoms:

  • When inspecting your driveshaft, you notice the bearings have visible wear and tear, excessive play, or are misaligned
  • You feel excessive vibrations or unexpected shaking while driving, particularly at high speeds
  • You hear clunking or knocking noises coming from under the vehicle’s centerline

Four Vehicle Bearing Maintenance Tips and Recommendations

Although not all types of automotive bearings are intended to be user serviceable, you can extend the lifespan of your vehicle by following these tips:

1. Regularly Inspect Your Door and Trunk Hinge Bushings

While door and trunk hinge bushings are not a type of bearing that can be serviced or maintained, you can still take steps to extend their lifespan by using lubricant products, such as dry graphite spray or dirt and dust-resistant dry lube.

These products can help keep your bushings clean and free of grime and other compounds that make your hinges sticky or harder to turn. Keeping your hinge bushings clean reduces the likelihood of accelerated wear and tear stemming from grit and grime inside the mechanism.

If your bushings are becoming worn and you begin noticing signs of premature wear, schedule professional service and have them inspected by expert mechanics. They can determine whether your doors use replaceable bushings or self-contained assemblies and provide a quote for repairs and replacement.

2. Changing Your Engine Oil is Good For Your Engine Bearings

High-quality engine oil contains compounds and additives designed to protect the alloys and prevent corrosion from attacking the steel backing. However, as oil grows older and fills with grit and contaminants, the additives degrade and no longer protect the engine’s internal components. Eventually, old oil can attack your bearings’ protective layers and introduce corrosion to your steel parts.

Fortunately, you can maintain them easily without scheduling a service or opening your engine. Simply follow your manufacturer’s oil change intervals and use the recommended engine oil types to relubricate your engine’s bearings.

If your engine bearings are worn out, corroded, or otherwise damaged, they may introduce extra friction inside your engine. Driving with bad engine bearings accelerates wear and tear and increases the risk of catastrophic engine failure.

If your engine bearings are failing, stop driving your vehicle and schedule an engine service as soon as possible. A qualified mechanic can inform you of the parts that require repairs or replacement and whether your engine requires a partial rebuild.

3. Consider Using Oil Stabilizer to Increase Your Engine Bearing Lifespan

In addition to oil changes at steady intervals, you can improve your engine oil’s performance with additives, such as an oil stabilizer. Although each manufacturer has its own formulation, the essential purpose of an oil stabilizer is to provide your engine with additional protection.

Oil stabilizers change the oil’s properties slightly to increase lubrication and add a protective coating to the bearings and other internal components, boosting their lifespan. While oil stabilizer products can theoretically increase the time or mileage between oil changes, you should continue using the manufacturer’s recommended oil change intervals for optimum results.

4. Check The Wheel Bearings on Your Car and Trailer Regularly

Each wheel hub in your car and trailer contains a wheel bearing. Although designs may vary, they are among the heaviest-duty bearings in your vehicle due to the constant loads and forces they have to support.

Wheel bearings are also regularly exposed to road and environmental conditions, such as heat, debris, and moisture. A bad wheel bearing can cause the wheel to become loose or wobbly, introducing vibrations, strange noises, unstable steering, and uneven tire wear.

The best way to avoid these symptoms is to schedule regular service specifically for your wheel bearings. While wheel bearing inspections are typically conducted alongside the brakes, keep a mileage record between services for your wheel bearings.

While the recommended service interval for your brake pads varies between 25,000 and 65,000 miles, having them inspected every 5,000 miles is recommended. Ask your mechanic to check the wheel bearings at the same time; they can determine whether they need re-greasing or replacing.

Vehicle Bearing Maintenance

Keep Your Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, or Ram in Top Condition with Hometown

The skilled technicians at Hometown Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram can provide your vehicle with comprehensive inspection and maintenance services. Our team can work on vehicles of any make and model and ensure you can get back on the road as safely as possible.

Whether you simply need an oil change or a thorough check of your vehicle’s bearings, engine components, and transmission, we can help. Schedule a service appointment with us through our online form, or contact our service department at (517) 459-6023.

Hometown Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram
  • Monday9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
  • Tuesday9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
  • Wednesday9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
  • Thursday9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
  • Friday9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
  • Saturday9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
  • SundayClosed

Top Brand

Multipoint Safety

Fast & Easy Financing

Call Now Button