Lifespan of front end parts?

Yup. I grease mine every other oil change. 10,000 miles. Same with the drivelines, which is an often overlooked maintenance item.

 

Yeah, I've been bad with mine. The RCI skids make it harder to do.

 

Yeah, I haven't noticed any change in sound or feel when side loading it, there's a great on-ramp on my way to work that is great for diagnosing this. It's where I originally diagnosed my Volvo wheel bearing going out, and where I can tell it starting to go again 120k later

I'll jack up the front end when I get a chance and do the wiggle test on the tire. I'm thinking they're okay for now anyway.

 

If one does something which increases the moment arm "A" to say "B" (refer to diagram in previous post), then yes they have created an increase in torque (bending) on the bearing.

 

Read the full discussion. A wheel with a spacer will place the same load on the wheel bearing as a wheel with the same effective offset.

Again, it makes no difference how you achieve that offset.

The offset changes the load. Not the spacer in of itself.