I want to get larger brakes, wheels and tires for my 88 and I was wondering if anyone has monitored if this causes faster wear of the 88 front bearings? Just curious.

Thanks

I think it would be hard to prove one way or another. Too many variables. I suspect increased weight would shorten bearing life.

I'm thinking that if you have the same offset wheels as factory wheels, and the fact that the wheels and tires are unsprung weight, there's no extra load on the bearings. There might be a little advantage to a larger diameter tire because over the life of the tire and their replacements, the number of rotations per mile would be reduced as compared to going with a stock or smaller than stock tire.

I guess the question was more along the lines of if your bearings were fine, did they go south shortly after you put larger wheels and tires on your car?

With larger (width) wheels and larger brakes, more force would or could be applied to the bearings. The bearings are the weakest part of the Fiero, and were not designed for the performance (forces) that upgraded wheels and brakes could transfer to bearings. Occasionally utilizing the increased performance available, as in evasive maneuvers, may be tolerated by the bearings. But, sustained performance (aggressive) driving would impact negatively the life of the bearings. So cornering or braking forces that regularly exceed the design limits of the bearings, will ultimately contribute greatly to the bearings early demise. Just as, if you tighten a fan belt beyond the recommended limit, the alternator or fan belt pulley bearings will prematurely fail.
It is my understanding.

[This message has been edited by FieroLost (edited 03-19-2017).]

Anything that results in a larger "footprint" and/or more grip in a turn is going to be harder on the bearings.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 03-19-2017).]

quote Originally posted by FieroLost: With larger (width) wheels and larger brakes, more force would or could be applied to the bearings. The bearings are the weakest part of the Fiero, and were not designed for the performance (forces) that upgraded wheels and brakes could transfer to bearings. Occasionally utilizing the increased performance available, as in evasive maneuvers, may be tolerated by the bearings. But, sustained performance (aggressive) driving would impact negatively the life of the bearings. So cornering or braking forces that regularly exceed the design limits of the bearings, will ultimately contribute greatly to the bearings early demise. Just as, if you tighten a fan belt beyond the recommended limit, the alternator or fan belt pulley bearings will prematurely fail. It is my understanding.

Basically correct.
You don't have to add bigger tires to cause wheel bearing failure. Includes +1/-1 tires w/ very close to same overall tire width and diameter like OE is 14" rim w/ 195/70 but new 15" rim w/ 205/60 w/ same offset etc.
Example: Autocross can break a lot of wheel bearings for many cars w/ stock wheels. Break outright or a week or more after racing.

Aftermarket bearings have problems too. This is covered before. Use Search.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave