Wheel bearing situation

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Chained_360

Chained_360

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I was finally pulling the old, rotted brake hoses off of my Barracuda today, and discovered that my hub had separated from the drum. Curious, I pulled the drum off and was disappointed to see that the new bearings I installed last winter were in pretty bad shape for only having a few hundred miles on them.

When I pulled the bearings out, some of the grease was still fresh, and some of it was very thin and gray. It wasn't full of metal as best as I could tell, although I was wearing rubber gloves. The spindles look to be heat damaged, as well as the bearings and races. My question is, what should I do? I can put new bearings and grease in and reattach the hub to the drum if that would be a safe thing to do. The other option is to pull out the big bucks and recondition the front disc parts I have laying around and put those on. I'm on a very tight highschooler budget, so it really all depends on if my spindles are still safe to use. They didn't have any pitting or grooves on them, just a little heat damage. They still look straight as well. Thoughts?

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Spindles should be fine from what heat indications I see. Remember when you reinstall new bearings VERY SLIGHTLY loose is better than tight. What grease did you use in the previous bearings?
Yote
 
Yote said:
Spindles should be fine from what heat indications I see. Remember when you reinstall new bearings VERY SLIGHTLY loose is better than tight. What grease did you use in the previous bearings?
Yote
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Okay, thanks. I just used the Napa tub of generagrease that they had, and I thought I packed them properly. When I removed the retaining nut, it seemed a little loose, but I remember torquing it down property
 
Were the bearings making noise? Did you physically push grease (pack) into the bearings or just coat them when installed?
 
And try to buy only USA made bearings, there is a lot of overseas junk out there now that do not last at all
 
Spindle looks OK to me too.
I'm not familiar with that yellow grease, but I think I wouldn't use it again. For the price of new bearings I think I would replace them

I just noticed your self-adjuster spoon doesn't seem to reach the star adjuster; is it hanging off to the side?
 
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Daves69 makes a good point. When packing a bearing with grease it means just that . It should be FULL of grease not just coated. Others have more knowledge of lubricants than I but some greases are better than others depending on the application . FABO members chime in here. No definitely REPLACE THE BEARINGS AND RACES.
Yote
 
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Daves69 said:
Were the bearings making noise? Did you physically push grease (pack) into the bearings or just coat them when installed?
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Not that I can remember, no. What drew my attention to them was the fact that I could wiggle the drum assembly too easily and too much, but this was mostly from the hub being detached. And yes, when I packed the bearings I made sure that I got grease in between the rollers (and boy, was it stinky!)
 
AJ/FormS said:
Spindle looks OK to me too.
I'm not familiar with that yellow grease, but I think I wouldn't use it again. For the price of new bearings I think I would replace them
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I agree also on the spindle being just fine.
Replace those with good bearings and grease made for wheel bearings, and don't tighten them down as much.
The wheel will hold the brake drum in place.
 
TrailBeast said:
I agree also on the spindle being just fine.
Replace those with good bearings and grease made for wheel bearings, and don't tighten them down as much.
The wheel will hold the brake drum in place.
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Awesome, thank you. New bearings and grease I can definitely afford. I'll try to post an update thread if necessary or if I get it done soon enough.
 
Chained_360 said:
Awesome, thank you. New bearings and grease I can definitely afford. I'll try to post an update thread if necessary or if I get it done soon enough.
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No problem, and just so you have another opinion on something:D I tighten mine finger tight as I can get it while I spin the hub in the same direction and lock it down right there.
I run my car for hours and hours at 80+ across the desert and never have bearing problems, but I use a good quality disc brake grease even on drum brakes.
Personally I like Valvoline disc brake wheel bearing grease.

Packing is just a matter of literally filling the entire bearing assembly with grease.
Wheel bearing packers are nice, but not everyone has one, right?
Next best way is to get dirty and use your fingers to press the grease into the bearings through the rollers and cage until it is squeezing out the ends.
 
Before you install the inner bearing into the hub, slide it over the spindle to make sure it will fit without forceing it. If there are any high spots on the spindle where the bearing sits it may not allow the bearing to sit where it should. This would also show as being tightened and actually be way too loose.
 
A tad loose seems better than a tad tight.
I Run my KH discs loose for pad knock back, so they don't drag. She's a stick car run on the street, with near 11/1 compression. Lots of compression braking, so I hardly use the brakes.Good trick for fuel mileage too. They've been in there like that since 1999, never repacked. I suppose I should have a look-see one of these old days...........

I used to put it in neutral at 62mph (100kph up here),and coast to the stopsigns. I had to start from nearly a mile away, and then she would be down to 30ish mph, by the time I had to use the brakes. That's a lot of coasting. Yeah that's right;I'm a hard charger most of the time, but not on the highway, "speed kills" don't you know?lol .
Naw, I just live 20 or more minutes from anywhere, and the ride home is therapeutic, so I take the time to unwind,get mellow, be cool; so I don't piss my wife off the second I get home. You know; unhappy wife = unhappy husband....... I can afford 30 extra seconds on that last long slow traffic-permitting-slide-into-home-base, lol. I can almost smell supper cooking, just another few minutes away.....1 more stop, from 30 now.........and left turn,Clyde, into my parking spot. Yes!,I knew I smelled roast beef,mmmmmmmmmm; man I love that woman!
 
I use this for everything. I leaned years ago that synthetic is high temp, water proof and extreme pressure.
It looks like Mobile is now labeling it as "muti-pupose". (See label).
If you have an Auto Zone in Anchorage, I get it there.
You only have to buy one type of grease.
Also it is compatible with other types of grease.
Look up grease compatibility.
Us lazy people don't always have the option of removing the old grease before putting new in.
The grease people say that greases aren't sometimes compable.
Alternate method:
Put a wad of grease in your palm and slap the bearing around on it in a circular motion till it oozes out of the crack.
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Moparman1806 said:
And try to buy only USA made bearings, there is a lot of overseas junk out there now that do not last at all
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Where can I find bearings made in USA for wheel bearings?
(He says in an excited, squealing voice)
It's been a few years but I saw where even Timken was moving some stuff overseas.
I did actually see some Fafnir aviation bearing still being made in Connecticut around 2001.
But other than that, I'm afraid the OP is going to get Mexican at best.
 
Timken, National, BCA, are basically your normal use choices. Comparable quality between them, these days, I would say. BTW, running wheel bearing adjustment loose enough for brake pad "knockback" ??? My 2 cents says adjust with a slight pre-load on the bearing after seating it in. No torque wrench !
 
adriver said:
Where can I find bearings made in USA for wheel bearings?
(He says in an excited, squealing voice)
It's been a few years but I saw where even Timken was moving some stuff overseas.
I did actually see some Fafnir aviation bearing still being made in Connecticut around 2001.
But other than that, I'm afraid the OP is going to get Mexican at best.
Click to expand...
As much as I hate to say it, you can find a bunch of old stock L&S, CR( Chicago Rawhide) National and original Timkens on EBay. I know that even Timken has been outsourcing for a while and I have been seeing cage failures, rollers pitting within 3 k miles, trust me, we do many bearings, as I work for a huge fleet. Find quality bearings, pack them with good quality grease, and clean and re pack them at least every 20k miles
 
I buy all my wheel bearings through rockauto. Every timken I've ever gotten had MADE IN USA on it
 
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