Wheel Bearings
 

I have a question for you guys (and girls!). I just got my CLK (64,000 miles) back from a schedule B maintenance and they charged me 400 bones to repack my wheel bearings. I’m sure the charge is about right considering it was a MB tech at an MB shop that did the work. My question is this… Is this something that needs to be done every so often? I’m no “super-wrench” but I’ve had many cars from many manufactures from American, to Japanese, to European, and I have never once had to repack any wheel bearings. I only ask because when I questioned the dealer about why this wasn’t covered under the Starmark, they said it was considered routine maintenance and even went so far as to compare it to changing the oil. This just didn’t sound right to me. Any thoughts?

RE: Wheel Bearings
 

only the front wheel bearings? it is not easy to remove and repack the rear wheel bearings.

anyway, we don't repack wheel bearings but we do adjust the clearance if the wheel movement is too much.

$400 is too much and it's the same price as putting a new bearings on it.

on older models yes... we repack them because they don't use lifetime type grease... but on new ones, they are sealed type now.

RE: Wheel Bearings
 

You should ask them to show you in you service book where it says to repack the wheel bearings. They are regarded as maintenance free unless there is a problem with them.

RE: Wheel Bearings
 

Yes it was just the front bearings. As an update, after many phone calls and much “hammering”, I got the service manager to reduce the charge by $250. He stated that the clearance needed to be adjusted and that was all that should have been done. And, yes I did stay steadfast on the fact that nowhere in any manual that I had did it say that the bearings needed to be repacked at any interval as “routine maintenance”. That was the biggest problem I had. I’m not just going to take someone’s word for something, when I have a contract that spells things out very clearly. Thanks.

RE: Wheel Bearings
 

just a rough idea on how much it costs:

item 32 includes 2 bearings and other things (repair kit) and only costs about $45. it will take a fraction of the time replacing them than repacking.

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