billmac

According to my owners manual, the rear wheel bearings should be cleaned and repacked when the brake linings are replaced or the drums are resurfaced. My 02 truck has disk brakes on the rear, so does that mean I should repack the bearings when I get the rotors resurfaced? Since most of the stopping wear occurs on the front rotors, the rears might never need resurfacing unless the truck tows a lot. How often have some of you guys repacked the rear wheel bearings on your trucks?

John Faughn

I do not own that yr/mdl , but I think that they get lube from the gear lube thats in the diff / axial , the next would be that they are sealed [ no pack ]
I could also be wrong but you should hear from someone thats been into that one .

rockwithjason

I believe john is correct.

CTD NUT

Correct....Dana full-floating rear axles do not use grease to lubricate the rear wheel bearings. Gear oil from the center section travels through the spindle and into the bearing hub assembly in order to lubricate the bearings. Aside from the occasional inner wheel bearing seal replacement, the only thing that needs to be done is to periodically check to make sure the wheel bearings have adequate preload. Full-floating rear wheel bearings typically need little to no servicing and frequently last the life of the vehicle when not abused.

billmac

Thanks John Faughn and CTD Nut for the information. I'm still confused because I just looked at the "Rear Axle - 267RBI" section in the DCC service manual for my truck. Under the "Axle Bearings" section, removal and installation, it states to pack inner and outer bearings with Mopar wheel bearing grease or equivalent upon installation. I believe the designation, 267RBI, is the Dana Model 70 which is what my truck has.

CTD NUT

Yes, you have a D70 rear. D70's and all other full-floating Dana rear axles do NOT have axle bearings. The axle is bolted to the bearing hub from the outside and is suspended by the diff carrier on the inside - it does NOT ride on any bearings. There are no bearings to pack in grease since they all run in gear oil.

Semi-floating axles do not have wheel bearing hub assemblies and use the axle shaft to suspend the load from the wheel......the wheel is bolted directly to the axle shaft. This set up requires axle bearings to suspend the load of the axle since there are no wheel bearing assemblies. These semi-float axle shaft bearings do not typically run in gear oil and require similar service to that of a front wheel bearing........but you have a full-floating rear axle assembly so this does not apply to you.

It is possible that the manual might suggest adding some grease to the bearings during initial installation to lubricate the bearings before the gear oil can get to them. I don't do that and have never had a problem.....I don't know anyone else that would do this procedure, either.

billmac

CTD Nut, I'm just telling you what the DCC service manual says. It's under the section that I mentioned above, it talks about removing the inner and outer bearings; bearing cups & inner grease seal. The bearings are cleaned, repacked and put back into the hub. This stuff is on page 3-156 in volume 1. I did notice that to get to the bearings you have to remove the wheel, brake drum, axle shaft and lock wedge and adjustment nut. Since I have never removed the wheels on the rear of the truck except to rotate them I have no experience with this. According to the manual, the hub rides on two bearings at the outboard end of the axle tube. The wheel bearings are opposed tapered roller bearings and are contained in the hub assembly.

John Faughn

Well those owner manuals are kinda generic , and then its a book , and books are not put together by mechanics ,
It seems that today we have people [ that don't do what there talking about ] telling people that do , how to do it [ what ever ,it ,is ]
No wounder the worlds in deep dogy doo.
People that hate and know nothing about guns telling people that have shot them there hole lifes what to do with them , or not.

rush47

I'm with CTD NUT, the only reason to pack them in grease is for the initial dry running after removing the hub. I havent been into the disc brake rear ends so I do not know if you have to pull the hub to remove the disc for surfacing. If the disc can come off without pulling the hub then leave it and the bearings alone they will be just fine, IMHO. Also if you do remove the hub then I suggest installing a new nyloc spindle nut, or better yet change to the old two nut style with a tang washer.

John Faughn

We've had problums with putting [ at least heavy grease ] on axail lubed bearing s , it keeps lube from getting to the bearings , unless you use a light grease that will wash off from the lube in the axail .

Geico266

No need to pack Dana axle wheel bearings. If you have the axle out just spread some diff lube on them and assemble. Dana's are tough.

"According to my owners manual". There's your first mistake!

MKELLY

Thats what I get for following the Haynes Manual, Wish this post had come out last summer. I packed the bearings when I replaced rear axle seals . I'm gonna post my next project to CTD NUT before I begin, He's better informed then the tech's that threw the manual together.

P Kennedy

One must be very careful mixing a "hypoid" gear oil with grease and not all greases are bearing lubricants. I don't really care what the manual says as the lubricant manufacturer is the one who can say what lubes are compatable. If you ever feel that a live oil lubed axle is not going to lube right away then the re-assembly process was not completed properly. With the new seal installed properly and the contact surface completely polished with no groove a little Lubriplate is all that is needed to lube the seal lip. When changing the seal only lift the side being repaired and loss of oil is not a problem, re-install bearings and suck the bearing nut up tight. Back the nut off 1/8-1/4 and hub should run smooth and free with no up and down play. The drive hub has an oil galley between bearing races and this should be filled, turn the hub manually until excess oil runs out- wipe the axle face clean of oil and replace drive axle and gasket with high heat silicone. Place truck down off jack and then check oil level in pumpkin, test drive and check hub for warm not hot (some heat is transferred from the brake drum/disc. This method is used for Dana 60,70,80, Eaton ,Meritor/Rockwell etc. Seal leaks are caused from improper installation, foreign bodies, poor quality seals, loose bearings, rough surfaces and rust/salt impregnation. PK