My 2005 R50 recently turned 137k miles and I'm wondering how I can tell if my struts need to be replaced. I'm thinking with the number of mile I have their probably due for replacement. I was going to replace the front 1st, since they take more abuse than the rear ones.

I can feel a low vibration in the floor and steering wheel when slowing to a stop (thats the best way I could explain it), it sounds like the wheel bearings are on their way out.

I was checking out wheel hub assembly manufactured by SKF on AutohausAZ.com for $141 each, other sites were much more expensive for the same manufacturer.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

It may be your wheel hubs but most likely upper strut mounts, lower control arms, sway bar bushings and ball joints are all shot at 137,000 miles.

Someone experienced should take a look at that stuff before you buy new hubs.

Rich

PS-I love my Koni FDS struts

 

Just went through a lot of this. Control arm bushings, ball joints, etc, are probably good candidates for replacement. I second the Koni FSDs for street.

Also, if none of this work has been done previously, I would budget a significant amount of extra time to get the job done if doing it yourself. I found that most bolts need to have their threads restored or simply replaced. Breaking loose 100k+ miles worth of rust and metal bonding was also tedious and time consuming. If at all possible, have a friend help.

While it won't be cheap, this is one time where an independent mechanic's standard job costs might be to your benefit.

 

Control arm bushings were replaced 6 months ago, just had a alignment done, if the ball joints were defective it would have been detected.

How would the upper strut mounts result in a low vibration?

 

There are a couple of threads in the forums about cracked upper strut mount bushings. I have had two of these, they show up as cracks in the upper strut mount. Some are just hairline cracks and others are more pronounced. Use a flashlight to look for the cracks around the center section of the mount. Should take a minute to inspect both.

Symptoms can manifest themselves differently depending on the crack and driving style. Generally, I would expect a change in how the car turns in and in unusual vibrations and or knocking from the wheels especially during bumps, turn in or braking.

 

The hub/wheel bearings are oppirated "on condition"...replacing them cause you feel like it unless you have a reason is some big $$ for no real benifit.
If you are running spacers, do autox, etc, bearings can fail faster, but till you have a reason, it is like doing a pre-emptive brake rotor change with no problems before the swap to the same parts, but new...presumeablely longer service life till the next time...but the wheel bearings are a lifetime part for many folks, under many conditions, so swapping them out could be a waste.
Track down you noise first...bearing noise will rapidly worsen...start with a tire rotation/balance....