Premature wheel bearing failures.

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Have you verified that your "Not" running 4wd? Extra drag on the wheel and one side or the other would suffer. Is diff fluid up to spec, again not causing a drag on the wheel. Is this hub fighting the rest of the axle?
 
69FBCuda said:
Have you verified that your "Not" running 4wd? Extra drag on the wheel and one side or the other would suffer. Is diff fluid up to spec, again not causing a drag on the wheel. Is this hub fighting the rest of the axle?
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By not running 4wd do you mean its locked in 4x4? Im positive its not in 4wd i always run it in 2hi and I don't think its stuck because when it is in 4wd you can tell the front end is very grabby in 4x4. Maybe something in the differential causing drag? I can check the diff fluid! Thank you for your comment this opens up alot of possiblitys
 
R u using an impact to tighten the nut on the axle shaft? It is recommended that u don’t. Napa has a lifetime bearing that they brought out last year or the year b4. Ask them about it. Kim
 
I have a Jeep TJ which has the 4H/4L through the xfer case so I'm either in or out. I do know what you mean when in 4x4 it gets grabby. I guess what I'm getting at is make sure the hub is freewheeling when the truck is in gear and that the diff is not dragging, if it were it would get hot real fast.It should be running very cool.l

When you get it back together run it for a few miles and check it with an infrared temp gun and compare to the drivers side also shoot the front diff, it should should be running a lot cooler than the rear diff. If your cooking the grease in the hub should be able to back track it from there.
 
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Whenever I replace those bearings I change the grease in them to what I know works. Some of the greases I have taken out "seem" like pure junk. Honestly some have looked like Vaseline.
Yours looks like the grease went away and the parts were metal on metal, which doesn't survive long.
If the spindle loses torque, the bearings will separate, the extra clearance will allow the stub axle to migrate upwards and wear out the upper seal, and lift off the lower seal. this will allow water in and grease out. Those nuts have a specific torque spec that crushes everything together.It stretches the spindle and makes it act like a spring to maintain the torque. The whole deal is too small for the application, IMO, and depends on everything being just right.
The grease is not just a lube, it is also the coolant. With the grease going, going, gone, catastrophic failure is guaranteed.
If your spindle is bent, even a couple of thousands, accurate torque cannot be maintained, but worse is, as it rotates a couple of rollers are going to be under extreme pressure, squeezing out the lube,and producing heat.

Everything in that type of hub depends on the grease doing its job and staying in there, and transferring it's heat to the hub. That also means the brake-rotor better not be cooking the grease.

Best of luck on your next install
 
69FBCuda said:
I have a Jeep TJ which has the 4H/4L through the xfer case so I'm either in or out. I do know what you mean when in 4x4 it gets grabby. I guess what I'm getting at is make sure the hub is freewheeling when the truck is in gear and that the diff is not dragging, if it were it would get hot real fast.be running very cool.l

When you get it back together run it for a few miles and check it with an infrared temp gun and compare to the drivers side also shoot the front diff, it should should be running a lot cooler than the rear diff. If your cooking the grease in the hub should be able to back track it from there.
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Thank you this is great info.
By grabby I mean that when i put it in 4wd on a hard surface (pavement gravel hard dirtroad. Doesn't do it if its slippery like grass or snow) the front end will grab and kinda jerk like its trying to spin the tires makes it hard to steer in 4x4. Kinda like a spool in a drag car when you turn really sharp it chirps the back tires. My front tires do that when in 4x4.
The diff fluid is a good catch im gonna check that out. Because my wife's car is awd and the front end was acting up and was really grabby like my truck does and I took it to the shop and the diff fluid was low. And after that it cleared right up. So that's an idea thanks again
 
oldkimmer said:
R u using an impact to tighten the nut on the axle shaft? It is recommended that u don’t. Napa has a lifetime bearing that they brought out last year or the year b4. Ask them about it. Kim
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No I didnt use an impact. But good thinking
 
Brake caliper hanging up. Rotor getting hot. Cooking bearing.
Bearing fails and all evidence of sticking caliper is gone.
Torquing nut,I jam a pry bar into the brake disc vent and lay the ft-lbs to it.
Hundreds of bearings changed.
I recall the static electricity causing wheel bearing failure,but struts,rack and driveline would allow static buildup. Not the case with a 4x4 full size pick me up.

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Tooljunkie said:
Brake caliper hanging up. Rotor getting hot. Cooking bearing.
Bearing fails and all evidence of sticking caliper is gone.
Torquing nut,I jam a pry bar into the brake disc vent and lay the ft-lbs to it.
Hundreds of bearings changed.
I recall the static electricity causing wheel bearing failure,but struts,rack and driveline would allow static buildup. Not the case with a 4x4 full size pick me up.

View attachment 1715292194
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I will look into this also. I replaced the pads and rotors and the hoses on both side when I replaced the bearing so wouldn't one side be wore significantly more if it is sticking? I will check for unusually wear when I take it apart.
 
dartfreak75 said:
I will look into this also. I replaced the pads and rotors and the hoses on both side when I replaced the bearing so wouldn't one side be wore significantly more if it is sticking? I will check for unusually wear when I take it apart.
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Check for fine cracks in the linings. And where lining meets backing plate.
 
Here's something you might look at, might even consider tearing down the other side. Look at the threads and end of the axle, see if it looks like the nut is bottoming on the threads/ axle. Maybe there's a washer missing. I think my Dakota has a huge thick washer between the nut and hub
 
In reality it's almost impossible to over torque the bearing, The outer race is one piece and you have 2 taper bearings with a spacer in the middle. When you tighten the axle nut you are smashing the inner races and the spacer, these are extremely hard and you can't smash them with a impact wrench.
 
dartfreak75 said:
If a caliper is sticking would the truck pull to one side?
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My 80 had a caliper that would hang up on long drives, no pull whatsoever, it would start smoking and with the leaky cab i would catch on right away.
Had phenolic pistons,and right side would hang up. Pulled it apart and could see a groove around it where it would stick.
 
thanks guys this is all great info. It gives me some stuff to look for. Greatly appreciated
Im off tomorrow I guess im gonna start digging into it. I think im gonna go ahead and replace the struts and brake calipers it needs springs too but idk about that lol i really dont want to sink a bunch a money into an already dying truck but I really want to get another 2 years out of her
 
Here is another concern i have about the longevity of this truck. I had planned on trying to repair this in the spring. I dont know how bad it is structural wise but I know the inspector isnt gonna pass it if he sees it. There is like 2 pieces of c channel overlapping each other in this 3 or 4 foot section of the frame and apparently moisture got in from the top side and has eaten it thru but under the crack is another layer of metal so structurally I believe its ok. But idk for sure.

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Well iv added everything up and its gonna be around 500 bucks to replace everything. That is if they actually warranty the hub if they dont it will be more. I did new calipers pads rotors, coil springs, shocks front and back, sway bar stabilizer links, and new ujoints. Im kinda concerned about the control arm bushings too. But I will save that for another project.
Now I have to decide if its worth it? Can I get another 500 dollars worth of driving out of this truck. Lol
My way of seeing it is this. If i go buy a truck at the minimum im looking at probably 200 a month (used truck of course) so that is about 3 months worth of the cost of the repairs so if the thing will last 3 more months its worth it. I really want to get at least 2 more years. If I have to buy a newer vehicle now its gonna throw a huge wrench in the gears of my dart project.
I don't know if anyone here is following my other thread but my wife also needs a new car we have been looking at getting her a new jeep. When it rains it pours.
 
I feel your pain brother, my daily driver is roached, I get the second hand me downs, the wife gets the better end of the deal always, as it should be. If your truck is the money maker, you got to have it to get to work, no choices there.

Had a similar problem with my Jeep, CV joint front driveshaft, on my third one, this time I carefully took it apart and only found just a small amount of grease on one side of the bearing shell. This time I filled it up with CV lube, and it has been three years...knock on wood. So I have to side with AJ on this problem, just enough grease to get it out of warranty.
 
In these sealed hubs is there any way to add grease to them tho? I don't see any fittings or anything
 
Dicer said:
I feel your pain brother, my daily driver is roached, I get the second hand me downs, the wife gets the better end of the deal always, as it should be. If your truck is the money maker, you got to have it to get to work, no choices there.

Had a similar problem with my Jeep, CV joint front driveshaft, on my third one, this time I carefully took it apart and only found just a small amount of grease on one side of the bearing shell. This time I filled it up with CV lube, and it has been three years...knock on wood. So I have to side with AJ on this problem, just enough grease to get it out of warranty.
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Yea i I know it sucks having to make these decisions I am driving my wifes car right now to work which leaves her vehicleless which I dont like at all so I have to do something and something soon. I think as long a as they will warranty the part im gonna fix it and that will get me thru may at least. (When my inspection runs out).
 
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