Last year while I was getting an alignment done the shop stripped one of my wheel bearings. Now only three out out the four lug nuts will go on.

The MINI dealership recommends replacing the entire bearing at a cost of $492.75+tax. Seems overkill to me.

Are there any other options? Possible to have it re-threaded?

Thanks!




REPLACE LF WHEEL BEARING (LF WHEEL
BEARING STRIPPED AND LUG MISSING) $492.75

 

That explanation does not make sense. Why was a wheel removed during an alignment? Regardless of the explanation, it sounds like the threaded portion of the wheel hub into which the wheel mounting stud goes in has been messed up, perhaps 'cross-threaded'. It should be possible to 'chase' those threads without replacing anything. Try that first.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'll go give that a shot right now.

New tires were put on at the same time of the alignment. I was told, by the MINI dealership, that the lug nut was tightened too much which caused it to be stripped.

 

It isn't the bearing that's stripped, it's the hole in the hub.

However, replacing the hub means (in most cases) destroying the bearing, so the bearing would need to be replaced.

 

if GEN2 is like GEN1 the hub and bearing are sold as a unit, not as sep' parts.

While this may appear to run up the cost of the part, replacement is VERY easy; remove the wheel speed sensor and undo 4 bolts & pop off the hub. Position new hub, torq up the bolts and relocate the speeed sensor ... done! (on a GEN1 anyway)

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhh my God. Try and repair it first. What a friggin rip-off. One more reason to have replaceable studs.

 

Considering the forces of torque and sheer generated at a wheel, I don't think I would want to rely on only 3 tight wheel studs. If the threaded hole in the hub can be fixed at a reasonable cost, that might be the best option, but if the cost is up there a bit, it might be easier to just replace with an OEM part. It might be cheaper to source the hub and have your favorite independent repair shop complete the repair, unless you are comfortable doing it yourself. You might be able to have the hole bored out and rethreaded for a slightly larger wheel stud.

 

Replace it! To risky not to. Hub and beaing are on unit, what stripped out is the lug nut holes, on Gen2 the torq is around 103lbs, that's what's why they increased the lugs to 14mm due to the torq. The hub is held on the the big nut in the middle, don't DIY if you don't know what you are doing, you have to pre load the bearing, you can either be too tight an burn up a new bearing or too loose....both not good also not good to have 3 out lugs stripped!!!! Your life, your car for a couple of hundred dollars? If the wheel falls off at speed the minimal issue will be destroyed rotor, brakes, suspesion componets, totoal car if it flips, end of life to driver and all passengers.....worst case senario!!!

 

Don't try to chase the threads on the cross threaded hole! It's not a good repair, remember your trying to keep your wheel from coming off. The wheel hub/bearing assembly as stated earlier is an easy fix. Last year I replaced both front wheel bearing/hub assemblies on my '02 MCS, one bearing was bad and I figured the other would follow shortly. The cost to replace both was ~$300 and it only took me about two hours to replace both hubs. The cost the dealership quoted for one replacement seems a little high for about one hour of work.

 

Hi all -

Thanks for all your responses. It was good to hear that only having three was a serious problem waiting to happen.

I took it to a body shop and they weren't able to re-thread it so they used a helicoil. Instead of paying $500 it cost about $200 to have the work done.

 

for benefit of future readers ... I'm confused about what you are saying here. If the GEN2 is like the GEN1 you replace the bearing by replacing the entire hub, which is held on by 4 simple bolts and you never TOUCH the bearing much less worry about any pre-load . . . .

R U trying to say 'do not replace the bearing' while agreeing with 'replace the hub'?

 

awaiting an answer also...

 

The answer is that the MINI uses a sealed bearing assembly. Never touching the bearing means you don't have to pack rollers with grease, press in races, and set the preload. It's a simple R&R. It seems some have construed that statement to mean you replace the hub leaving the bearing on the axle - not true.

 

Make them pay..they caused it.