Suzuki Swift - Wheel bearing fits loosely inside the drum

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Tue 21 Aug 2018 11:19
Suzuki Swift - Wheel bearing fits loosely inside the drum - Krzysztof Olszak

I've ordered a new rear brakes kit and wheel bearings for my Suzuki Swift 1.5l 2009. On this model bearings are pressed into a drum. I managed to press the bearing into one of the drums so it sits there firmly, but with the other one the bearing just drops all the way in with no force applied. It sits there loosely and when I try to rotate the inner race I'm actually turning the whole bearing including outter race. Parts have been checked against VIN number and part numbers match the vehicle. I measured the outter diameter of the bearing and it's 58mm +0.1mm all around, so it maches manufacturer's specs.

The bearing is FAG and the drum is HERTH BUSS JAKOPARTS.

Is it normal condition or should I return the drum to the seller?

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Tue 21 Aug 2018 12:04
Suzuki Swift - Wheel bearing fits loosely inside the drum - Peter.N.

If the drums are new I would suggest you send them back, or at least the one that doesn't fit. Can you check the internal diameter of the bearing recesses and compare them?

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Tue 21 Aug 2018 12:17
Suzuki Swift - Wheel bearing fits loosely inside the drum - Krzysztof Olszak

I cant measure, my calipers dont reach deep enough to have reliable numbers.

Edited by Krzysztof Olszak on 21/08/2018 at 12:17

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Tue 21 Aug 2018 23:05
Suzuki Swift - Wheel bearing fits loosely inside the drum - Big John

Had the previous bearing failed? I once had this where the old bearing had partially seized and started machining it's way through the drum. On another car I've seen similar bearing damage on the stub axle.

Do you need new drums?

Edited by Big John on 21/08/2018 at 23:06

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Wed 22 Aug 2018 15:33
Suzuki Swift - Wheel bearing fits loosely inside the drum - Krzysztof Olszak

No it didn't fail. Although, I had to replace the drums as they were scored and quite thin. The car has 110k miles on it, so as I had to replace shoes I decided to comletly rebuild rear brakes. Anyway, the bearing and the drum are brand new, as with this design you must put a new bearing on if you are replacing a drum.

After several emails, dozen of pictures and making a video I managed to make the shop to ship me a replacement part.

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