I'm not sure what these are called but they're stripped .. I had these guys change a wheel bearing and not long after that I ended up with a new noise I had attributed to a loose dust cover. It sounds exactly like it, several other people listened to it and agreed with me,

Then I pull the wheel off one day and one of these bolts just flops out of there, another is so loose 1½ turns got it out, a third one is most of the way in but it's very loose as well - you could turn the thing by breathing on it, and the fourth one is fine- nice and tight

Should I be mad with the guys who did the work? The bolts looked a little stripped.. They already talked me into doing the wrong side, because they told me if there's play in the wheel when you move it side to side the bearing is bad.
Not being a big expert I let them do that one- but of course it was the other one making all of the noise. I'm told that the one they did was also bad if there was play in it, though?

The big question is, how important are these? They seem pretty important but I am not sure about that. If these let go, the thing would go sideways and I could see it doing a lot of damage - but how much? Would it break the axle/axle nut?

Is it likely that the guys who changed the bearing are at fault or is this a common occurence? The bolts will thread in pretty well and almost tighten up and then they just spin.

Meanwhile I got replacement bolts and tried putting them in with plumbers tape on there, of course that didn't work. Then I tried medium strength thread locker which also didn't work. Then I tried putting a washer on them which also didn't work.

I sure as **** don't want to have to buy a hub for it, but I'm also not sure that it's just "okay" to retap them - is there likely to be any damage I can't see?

In short, how mad should I be with the guys who changed the wheel bearing, how dangerous is or isn't this, and what's the best affordable solution to it?

Thanks!!

 

Your terminology is confusing. I see one missing bolt. Are the other bolts loose also?

Are the wheel lug studs stripped?

I would have the car towed to the shop that did this work and insist they return it to correct condition at their expense.

good luck

 

I already almost got sideways of them because of changing the wrong bearing
They wanted to charge full price then, for doing the one that was actually making all of the noise!!

I'm very much trying not to be in any situations these days
I sure was mad though

The lug nut studs, they broke two taking the lug nuts off in the first place but new ones were $2 so I wasn't too excited over that. These four I'm taling about go through the rotor .... I wouldn't imagine they would ever just loosen like this, you know?

Then again I can't go on the warpath with, "I think this is your fault and I demand that you would repair it based on that"

PS: Do you always say "good luck"??? Or do you know me and how I run.. LoL

 

The 4 bolts that hold hub to rotor should not be loose and certainly not stripped. If they are, it can only be the shop's work that left them in that condition.

I settled on good luck as best closing word long time ago. Most DIY'rs need a little luck.

good luck