Community Forums:

We're getting some rain, so I'm inside tonight. Thanks for the hacksaw suggestion. Kept me from loading up a cutting wheel with grease.

Have not heard the word "tribology" since discovering it and a book with that title amidst an entire stack of material on that subject in the technical library at Wayne State U one Sunday afternoon while traveling in Detroit -- about 15 years ago. Most of the books I looked at were aimed at keeping tires in contact with the road. I was immersed for a while, working to improve my employer's mechanism for separating your electric bill from your check.

I enjoyed reading your post about the mode of bearing failure and the noise. That is a good thing to know when thinking of the consequences of a seized wheel bearing. Problem might have gotten far as it did because of the combination of aftermarket stereo and 19 year-old driver.

Looking at the inner race and noting "the tire's only flat on the bottom" I now understand the rhythm in the bearing's noise. In my original post I noted the car had 170k on it, implying the bearing did too. I realize now this bearing was part of an entire strut/spindle assy I replaced after a sliding car meets curb accident. So it came out of the pick and pull and I don't know its history at all. Don't miss links to a couple more pics at the bottom of the post.

Thanks for saying nice things. You shouldn't encourage me...