Is it a common problem to have wheel bearings go bad on Escapes? Our 2006 we purchased about a month ago was noisy and I thought it was the worn out tires on the rear that caused the noise. I replace them and that did not help, so I took it to Ford dealership and they said I had a bad wheel bearing. It has 71000 miles on odometer. I have replaced two on my Chevy Blazer front axle. Just wondering if this is common on Escapes.

 

I sold my '05 at near 80,000 miles and the new owner had to replace a wheel bearing. The noise began at 70,000 miles and I thought it was the tires also.

GaryG

 

I had to replace the left front wheel bearing at 82,000 miles. Now again at 118,000 it is making noises! I don't know if it was poor work done by the Ford dealer, or just poor quality replacement parts.

 

111,900 miles & counting. No bearing problems.

 

Over my years of repairing cars and making them last beyond their expected life I concluded that buying Lifetime parts pays off. Two reasons: 1st they put some extra care in the design & manufacture to forestall too many free replacements and 2nd when they do need replacement its free.
I do most of my business with NAPA since any store, anywhere, will honor a NAPA lifetime guarantee. I've occasionally replaced stuff on long trips when the only identifiable thing was on the item itself. NAPA has always honored their guarantee if the item could be identified properly.