Plastic wheel bearings???

[FordFestiva]

I was helping my brother with his '91 Festiva and the outer bearing for the rear wheel seemed to be made of some kind of plastic. Has anyone ran into this and should this be replaced with a standard metal bearing?

[kzbill]

Now that is a new one!! some engineer musta thought that up.
Yes, you need new wheel bearings and seals. Check the spindle to make sure that is not worn, that may be why it was repalced with plastic.
check the bearing and seal sufaces for wear and or "Galling".

[Safety Guy]

What was plastic? Couldn't have been bearings themselves.

I'm thinking you're talking about either the bearing seal or the bearing retainer (part of the bearing assembly).

Karl

[cappyg]

some new replacement bearings are made with plastic bearing cages. They are designed to run cooler than metal. As long as the rollers and bearing race are not discolored or scored it will be fine. Ketch Yawl later.

[Festiva_tunner]

^^^^ this is correct as long as all mating surfaces are free of abnormal wear and all the rollers spin freely with no binding, and theres no gouges out of the plastic you should be fine. I cant remember though if plastic bearings have a different torque value than the metal ones though, might be something to check into. I'd just repack them with some fresh grease and slap em back in if their good.

[kzbill]

how did this end?