Premature wheel bearing failures.

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dartfreak75 said:
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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I had a 99 GMC 1500 4x4 and it broke in half right behind the cab, I heard all this creaking and grinding sounds and when I got home I stepped back and looked at my truck and the top of bed was rubbing the cab, Only the top of the rail was holding the 2 half's together. I jacked it up and welded a plate on the outside and a plate on the bottom of both sides and drove it another year.
 
brian6pac said:
I had a 99 GMC 1500 4x4 and it broke in half right behind the cab, I heard all this creaking and grinding sounds and when I got home I stepped back and looked at my truck and the top of bed was rubbing the cab, Only the top of the rail was holding the 2 half's together. I jacked it up and welded a plate on the outside and a plate on the bottom of both sides and drove it another year.
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My plan with this one is to grind out all the rust and cap it off its only rusted where those two plates meet
 
I had the same issue with my one truck. The U-joint on the axle was shot , Meaning tight.
What the problem was the new u-joint was to wide and it would bind from no lube. We have to cut .015 off the u-joint caps so they would allow grease in the bearings. They grease through the caps. Since I corrected the u-joint problem I have no bearing problem.

Off set wheels also take out bearings. Those style hubs need the wheels centered. If you want big tires you should have adjustable inner and outer tapered roller bearings. Not straight cut sealed roller bearings.
 
dartfreak75 said:
In these sealed hubs is there any way to add grease to them tho? I don't see any fittings or anything
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I buy the bearings only, from a bearing shop. I pop the seals out, wash em out, and regrease them with real grease, making sure the grease goes where it's supposed to be. Then I cram the outter faces full. When they warm up, the grease will flow to where it is needed. If you're not careful, these Bearings will breath. When they get hot, the expanding air trapped in there migrates out the seals. When the bearings cool off atmospheric air forces it's way back in. There's only two places this air can come from; the seal around the stub-shaft, and thru the splines.I coat the splines with anti-seize. And I seal the stubshaft as best as is possible, then coat the outter perimeter with water-proof grease.
I have a press so I take the hubs apart, clean the rust out, and press the new bearing in. I refuse to pay someone else a ridiculous amount of money to do that for me. The bearings run about $80C to as little as $40C depending on application.
To pop the seals out,damage-free, I took an old mini-screwdriver, and dressed the tip down to a blunt knife edge. I insert it into the inner side of the seal which is not attached to anything, and pop it right out. Some are tougher than others, and need to be straightened after removal.Take your time and make it perfect. The outer perimeter is sorta pressed in, but you can pop it right back in with your thumbs. I take out both sides, else it is impossible to properly get rid of the washer solvent.
You may have to remove one bearing from the hub to get a manufacture's pn to take to the bearing shop, because not all bearing shops have a cross-reference for automotive applications. Sometimes they have to match it up by measurement. If you don't have a press, it doesn't take much of a press to do the work. I would hire somebody local before I would buy a pre-assembled unit, for the price they demand. Course I live in a small town, and just about everybody knows me, and for the most part, they are kind to me.lol.
 
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AJ/FormS said:
I buy the bearings only, from a bearing shop. I pop the seals out, wash em out, and regrease them with real grease. I have a press so I take the hubs apart, clean the rust out, and press the new bearing in. I refuse to pay someone else a ridiculous amount of money to do that for me. The bearings run about $80C to as little as $40C depending on application. I coat the splines with anti-seize.
To pop the seals out,damage-free, I took an old mini-screwdriver, and dressed the tip down to a knife point. I insert it into the inner side of the seal which is not attached to anything, and pop it right out. Some are tougher than others, and need to be straightened after removal.Take your time and make it perfect. The outer perimeter is sorta pressed in, but you can pop it right back in with your thumbs. I take out both sides, else it is impossible to properly get rid of the washer solvent.
You may have to remove one bearing from the hub to get a manufacture's pn to take to the bearing shop, because not all bearing shops have a cross-reference for automotive applications. Sometimes they have to match it up by measurement. If you don't have a press, it doesn't take much of a press to do the work. I would hire somebody local before I would buy a pre-assembled unit, for the price they demand. Course I live in a small town, and just about everybody knows me, and for the most part, they are kind to me.lol.
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Oh ok. Thats not really an option here this is the whole hub assembly not just the bearing. But thanks for the heads up I will remember that in the future
 
dartfreak75 said:
My plan with this one is to grind out all the rust and cap it off its only rusted where those two plates meet
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I found a die grinder with a carbide oval bit worked the best for grinding through the rust to bare metal, a angle grinder worked but the die grinder was a lot faster. Good luck.
 
I think it is an option; you don't need a hub, and you don't need a flange. Why pay $280 times 2 for parts you don't need, when all you need is the bearing pack which I pay about $80Canadian for. You are paying someone else $400US a pair to install them in parts you don't need. You can do the work in less than an hour, meaning you can pay yourself $400/hour to do that work. Even if you pay a shop the exorbitant amount of $100/pair to install those bearings for you, you still save $300/pair. Up here, to spend 300 I have to earn 400; for me that's a weeks wages. Shoot, you can buy both an appropriate press, and a die-grinder with a small wire-wheel, for that, and use it afterwards to do a couple of neighbors vehicles, make your tool investment back, and already be rolling in cash,lol.
But hey, maybe I'm wrong.......
 
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brian6pac said:
I found a die grinder with a carbide oval bit worked the best for grinding through the rust to bare metal, a angle grinder worked but the die grinder was a lot faster. Good luck.
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What would be the best way of covering it back up? A solid cap or like a piece of angle? Its illegal to weld on a frame in va so it has to not be obvious
 
AJ/FormS said:
I think it is an option; you don't need a hub, and you don't need a flange. Why pay $280 times 2 for parts you don't need, when all you need is the bearing pack which I pay about $80Canadian for. You are paying someone else $400US a pair to install them in parts you don't need. You can do the work in less than an hour, meaning you can pay yourself $400/hour to do that work. Even if you pay a shop the exorbitant amount of $100/pair to install those bearings for you, you still save $300/pair. Up here, to spend 300 I have to earn 400; for me that's a weeks wages. Shoot, you can buy both an appropriate press, and a die-grinder with a small wire-wheel, for that, and use it to do a couple of neighbors vehicles, make your tool investment back, and already be rolling in cash,lol.
But hey, maybe I'm wrong.......
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Either you know something I dont or you dont understand what im working with. The hub on this truck is one solid unit. The bearing dont just come out. Its not like an Abody hub where you can remove the bearings individually. If you can i don't know how here is the hub. If you can take it apart and put bearings back in it idk how.

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Yes they do come apart. You press the flange out. Then you will see a big circlip. You coax that out, flip it over circlip-side down, go find a press-plug and press the bearing out. Then you clean the rust out of the circlip groove, and off the stubshaft sealing surface, and using the old bearing with it's case split, and the press-plug, press the new bearing in. Clean and reinstall the circlip.Install and lube the stubshaft seal. Support the bearing and press the cleaned up drive-flange back in; badaboom yur done,and $400 richer....

I lube that inner seal with silicon O-ring grease, on the lips and on the face, to prevent it from freezing to the stubshaft and tearing. Do not use any other type of grease, it will either fling out, or just wash out.
You may have some if you own a treadmill. That is what is used to lube the underside of the belt. Otherwise you have to buy some from a company like Permatex, the Loc-Tite people, but up here it might as well be gold, cuz the smallest tube they sell is over $20C.
 
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I use dielectric grease on o-rings it works great for anything rubber to metal
 
AJ/FormS said:
Yes they do come apart. You press the flange out. Then you will see a big circlip. You coax that out, flip it over circlip-side down, go find a press-plug and press the bearing out. Then you clean the rust out of the circlip groove, and off the stubshaft sealing surface, and using the old bearing with it's case split, and the press-plug, press the new bearing in. Clean and reinstall the circlip.Install and lube the stubshaft seal. Support the bearing and press the cleaned up drive-flange back in; badaboom yur done,and $400 richer....

I lube that inner seal with silicon O-ring grease, on the lips and on the face, to prevent it from freezing to the stubshaft and tearing. Do not use any other type of grease, it will either fling out, or just wash out.
You may have some if you own a treadmill. That is what is used to lube the underside of the belt. Otherwise you have to buy some from a company like Permatex, the Loc-Tite people, but up here it might as well be gold, cuz the smallest tube they sell is over $20C.
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Thanks I did not know that!!
 
It took me a while to figure out that you might not,lol.
I have been taking stuff apart since before I could walk; it drove my mother crazy!!
So now, go take that busted one apart and split the bearing race to make an installer tool!
 
Its out off to advance to do some arguing.
Iv worked on alot of different vehicles in my time and never have i seen anything like this. Im lucky to be alive.
I know noone is gonna believe me but that thing gave me no warning signs at all. No noise no steering play no pulling to one side nothing at all.

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I would say that your disc brake caliper and rotor saved you on that one. If it had been a drum brake you probably would have lost that wheel.
 
Well I can say, not having enough grease is not your problem.........as others did mention, check your u-joint.
 
Jadaharabi said:
I would say that your disc brake caliper and rotor saved you on that one. If it had been a drum brake you probably would have lost that wheel.
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Hey @Jadaharabi does the plenum gasket make one miss and spit and sputter and act stupid when cold or been setting for a few days?
 
Well it's back together just finished the test drive so far so good. I'm gonna check the diff fluid and the brakes again tomorrow. It didn't feel like anything was sticking. I'm gonna continue you to keep checking it every month or so hopefully prevent it from getting as bad as it did this time if it does happen to fail again.
 
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