Wheel Bearings. How often do they go bad?

Back in the day, with RWD cars, the front bearings were open tapered roller type, you could remove them, clean them and re-pack them. This was part of a front brake job…Kept clean and lubricated, they would last the life of the car…Todays cars use sealed straight rollers that perhaps have a little more trouble absorbing side loads than the old tapered roller design…And they can’t be cleaned and re-packed…As with ANY bearing, once the seal fails, the bearing is not far behind…