Hey guys. I replaced both my front wheel bearings about 1.5-2 years ago, because mine went out. Well, I just recently replaced the passenger side again, and now tonight, my drivers side wheel bearing is gone again.... What is the problem?? I cant handle this at $180 a pop every time. The axle nut is only supposed to be a little over hand tight, right? What else can i be doing wrong? I farm a little, but im not off road that much, and when I am I ALWAYS drive slow. And I very rarely get in much mud. Can anyone give any advice, or help me out here? Thanks

Eric

 

From what i've read, the bearings aren't big enough to support the load, there is an upgrade out there, but its around 1200 dollars (parts only) to swap over to manual hubs. the manual hub upgrade has bearings about twice the size as the stock hub, plus they are spaced farther apart, reducing some leverage against the bearings.

 

Same here. I went with napa's cause the dealer's were a rip off, already replaced the right front under napa warranty, 1.5 yr 15k later. I guess thats why there lifetime warrantied, gonna be replacing them the rest of my life.

I don't even have a snow plow, or run in the mud or deep in water, mine had a really easy life and didn't last very long.

 

Well, thanks for the replies guys. I went to Napa, and got the bearing, and got it back on the road. I just hope it lasts for a good while. Are the ones on the 94's smaller than the 98's? My dad has never put one in his..

Eric

 

Eric
I'm pretty sure my repair manual said the nut should be torqued to 160 foot pounds? I dont know what difference, if any it might make but?

 

I agree with ratsun, the bearing should have a pretty good amount of preload on it. 160 sounds about right to me when I had mine off to do the rotors. This could be a reason for the failure, because that's quite a difference in preload, a little over hand tight vs. 160 ft. lbs. I would find a Hayne's manual and double check the torque on them and retorque both of them. Good Luck on this set.

 

Wow, you guys have bad luck with bearings... I had one let go at 135 000 miles, driver side , replaced it, i think it was origional , because it was rusted in there good and solid. I never touched the passenger one , and it is still holding at 150 000 miles.

What was left of the driver side:

 

Can anyone find out for sure for me on the ft lbs of the nut? I have a hanes manual, but all it shows is for a 2wd and its says not to use a wrench at all on it, just to get it hand tight, and put the cotter pin in it...

I was thinking the first time i replaced both of mine, they were original because of how they looked, but I dont know. If I drove it rough, or 4 wheeled a lot I might see them going out, but thats not really the case.

Oh, and nice bearing JKM

Eric

 

I just did a quick search and checked a few threads and sure enough, the axle nut should be torqued to 175 Ft. Lbs. The 4 12 point bolts are at 125.

 

What I've noticed is trucks with oversized tires tend to go though front bearings faster.

There is no preload on the sealed bearings, tighter than snot (which is probably 175 ft/lbs) works for me

 

Yeah I have the originals still with 177,000 miles on them but I still run the stock size tires. I've had mine off to turn the rotors and just socked that nut down with a 1/2" impact gun.

 

napa told me 190 ft. lbs, and its their part. so thats what I did

 

Thanks guys. Sounds like ill be tightening the crap out of em ASAP. That must be my problem. Thanks again

Eric

 

is there an easy way to tell if my wheel bearings are bad? I have 218k on mine and have a feeling mine might be bad.


Thanks, sean

 

Jack the front end of the truck up, and if you can make the tire wobble any, then they are probably getting worn.

Eric