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I have a question that most of you will consider dumb but I just don't know the answer. Are the rear wheel bearings (and front too on a 4x4) lubricated by the fluid that's in the differential or are they the type that have to be removed and repacked with grease from time to time? Thanks for your reply. This week I changed my differential fluids, transfer case and fuel filter. Just getting into this do it your self stuff I can do now that I'm retired.

Paul Welsh
 
the rear is lubed by the gear oil. But the front are lifetime lubed,You run it till it wears out then knock the old one out and put a new one on.
 
The official version is that the bearings are not serviceable. I made a tool that takes them off without damage and they can be serviced. The front bearing runs in grease only and is not lubricated from the differential. I cannot speak to how early trucks hubs are removed for service,as mine is an '02 with rotors that are seperate from the hub housing. Once you get these beasties off for the first time,anti seize makes it much easier the next time.

The fellow TDR member who showed me how has 200K on his hubs with regular service.
 
To Mickey

My tool fits over the spline of the fromt drive shaft. First ,you take off the 2-9/16'' [?] retaining nut. Then take off the four 12 point metric bolts from the rear of the hub bearing carrier. You then insert longer bolts of the same thread pitch from the front of my tool,and the end of the threaded drive shaft acts as the anchor point for a gear puller. Nice thing about it is the whole assembly stays perfectly centered and you never have to heat and beat it. If I ever get a digital camera, I could post pictures.

I do have a two page set of instructions that I could PM you if desired. Anyone with an 8" diameter plate of half inch steel could make one of these tools.
 
This is gonna be long, so be prepared. The worst thing about servicing the bearings is getting them removed. The reward of servicing them is that you get to pick and choose the time and place, and that it is easy to assess their condition instead of having to wait for it to break down and try to guess if it is the bearings or something else like U-joints. This will also greatly extend the service life of the bearing. My ‘’bearing mentor’’has 200 K on a set and counting. . Also once it is done the first time, anti- seize makes it easy the next time. I will run down a list of tools it takes first,how to make a puller accessory second,and finally a rundown on remove and install.

TOOLS: 3/8 drive socket [offset head is nicer to use]. 3/8 drive Torx sockets. Metric hex sockets. 3/8 drive TWELVE POINT metric sockets. Harbor freight 8’’ 3 jaw puller at about 15 dollars. [replace jaw nuts and bolts with grade 5 to avoid breaking ] You will use this puller to get off the outside half of the bearing and you will use a tool you make out of a piece of thick steel to take off the rear half of the bearing / hub assembly . I got an eight inch diameter ½ inch thick round cutout from a company that fabricates stuff for gravel pits If the steel plate you get is not round, it will be OK . Now visualize a pair of dice. Your drilling pattern will look like the five--the four outside holes are 3 7/8 ‘’apart and are drilled to 5/8 diameter. The center hole of the five is drilled at one and a quarter inches . I used a quality hole saw and a drill press. Go slow and use cutting oil. Drill halfway through and finish from the other side. [chips clear easier] Some guys can drill steel plate without a drill press, but I cannot.

To proceed, jack up one side of the truck,jack stand for safety. Have truck in gear with 4x4 engaged. Remove wheel. On 3500 trucks, remove 8 nuts behind wheel and remove wheel spacer. When you remove the spindle nut, please note how tight this thing torques off and on. Value for the spindle nut is 175 ft lbs. Mine has a castle nut and I put a paint mark on it so I could return it to it’s exact spot –no torque wrench required. Next you must compress the brake shoe away from the caliper. It is always best to break loose the bleeder then compress the shoe away from the caliper. Tighten bleeder right away after spreading shoe and no air should enter brake lines. Next remove the two12 point metric sockets that hold the caliper on [from the rear]. Use 12 point socket ONLY. Remove caliper and place on milk crate- never allow caliper to hang by the brake lines. On 2001 and 2002 trucks, the caliper should remove easily. On earlier trucks the caliper and hub are in one piece and a different procedure is required. Do a search of Casey Veldcamp and hub puller and you will see what I mean. Other good stuff about hub pulling there as well.

Now you are ready to pull off HALF of the bearing assembly . Take the harbor freight 8’’ 3 jaw puller and tighten it. This operation will separate the outer hub from the splined shaft. I like to place an old chair cushion under the hub to catch it from falling. It may be helpful to tap the puller bolt with a hammer as you tighten it—it usually breaks free when you tap on it. . Set the first half of the hub aside. IF it is absolutely necessary to re-assemble the unit before proceeding further, you could use the axle nut to bring it back together. The danger is that you would not be able to see if the two halves of the hub were set at full depth. I avoided this by having the puller accessory tool ready to go BEFORE splitting the first half of the bearing assembly. . WHEW – too wordy I know. .
 
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Page two hub instructions

Now for the hard part. The last piece of the hub is held on from the rear with four metric bolts . Same as before 12 point sockets ONLY. Remove the bolts. four metric bolts that you took from Now place the puller accessory tool over the splined driveshaft. Use the the rear and thread them in from the front. Better yet, get four 14mm x 80mm fine thread bolts and use them instead—these longer bolts will thread in further and not risk stripping out. I was able to get grade 8 bolts at a local hardware store Tighten the bolts evenly and the hub will ‘’push’’ the shaft in. This baby is really tight and will be rusted on. As you get tighter, the pulling action can be aided by tapping the bolts with a hammer. The biggest advantage to this home made plate is that it keeps the drive shaft centered and involves no ‘’heat and beat’’ of the metric bolts from the rear. If the puller accessory you made is made from a round plate ,you can add the 3 jaw puller as before , and you will have 5 bolts pressing at once. . Other TDR guys have removed the rear half of the bearing assembly by loosening the 4 metric bolts and using the steering system of the truck to break it loose. They somehow place a socket between the metric bolt and the steering yoke and turn the steering wheel to press it off. Remember your brakes are off the truck before you try this!

Once removed, press out the bearing from the hub . Mine came out easily by just placing it over a standard aerosol [spray]paint can and tapping on it Examine the bearing,race, and clean it up. Some guys leave it in place and grease it with a needle, but mine was easy to remove. Use a high temp synthetic grease and work the grease into the bearing race on both bearings. By the way the replacement cost for one bearing assembly is $ 350 U. S. !

To reassemble, you must join the hub back together A press is ideal. Join the parts ‘’flush’’. If no press is available you can use a light hammer to get started and a six pound sledge to finish. Place the studded side down and place a 2x6 against the back side when pounding it in It sounds worse than it is. Of course ,use never seize on all rusted surfaces. When you put in the four metric bolts from the rear, use green locktite. Some guys disagree with me on this and use anti-seize instead. My first service was 16 months after delivery, and I am just stating that I found green loctite on the four metric bolts.

By doing this maintenance annually, you should be able to prevent a huge repair bill later . As difficult as this is to get apart now, imagine adding more time and rust! I personally witnessed a 5 year old truck that ruined every component on the front end—over 3 thousand to repair. It ‘’let loose’’ with almost no warning and nearly caused an accident. Please let me know how everything works out and feel free to ask questions. Figure 3 hours for the first side and less than two for the second.

EDIT: There has been discussion on TDR of whether or not the hub should be removed in two stages as described above. The other method involves use of a 50pound slide hammer that threads to the wheel studs My method at least gives a controlled pull and keeps the front driveshaft centered during the pull. The bearings are enclosed in plastic , so mabe some people think they will fall apart when pulled as two assemblies

Keep in mind that these instructions are for a 2002 4WD truck and I have not used the tool on other trucks. I would think that so long as the hub carrier has the four rear bolts that hold it on,this tool would ease a lot of headaches. If anyone in the Dayton,OH area wants to see the process, I would be glad to show them.
 
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Hey Dave, can't believe i missed this thread nearly a year ago. I have one question about your process. Is there some danger involved with using the axle shaft as the press-point for the puller? I mean, isn't there some danger in applying gross amounts of force laterally to the front differential assembly?



I'm glad someone with your experience is close to me so some day when I need to do this job you can come help! ;)



-Ryan
 
I'm working on removing the drivers side front hub/bearing assembly today. Interestingly, the 4 retaining bolts are regular 6-point (18mm) rather than the 12-points Dave describes.



Anyway, are these bolts secured with loctite? It sure seems like it, but I don't want to start heating them up unless it's absolutely necessary.



Ryan
 
rbattelle said:
I'm working on removing the drivers side front hub/bearing assembly today. Interestingly, the 4 retaining bolts are regular 6-point (18mm) rather than the 12-points Dave describes.



Anyway, are these bolts secured with loctite? It sure seems like it, but I don't want to start heating them up unless it's absolutely necessary.



Ryan

They might have some blue loctite (medium strength), but they can be removed without heat. But they are a BEAR! Had to use my 3/4" breaker bar and every ounce of my strength but I got them all off.



... Now I'm working on removing the wheel bearing assembly. Dousing it liberally with PB Blaster in the futile hope that I can hammer it off.



Ryan
 
As expected, the wheel bearing doesn't want to come off. I know, I should try the power steering method. But that method scares me so I'm going to hammer away at it for several more hours... :rolleyes:



Ryan
 
rbattelle said:
As expected, the wheel bearing doesn't want to come off. I know, I should try the power steering method. But that method scares me so I'm going to hammer away at it for several more hours... :rolleyes:



Ryan





Puller (large) on the hub, pushing on the stub shaft (axle nut removed)... add a little heat to the bottom of the knuckle/bearing seam while pulling... insert a small chissle between the knuckle and bearing...



steved
 
steved said:
Puller (large) on the hub,



What size puller? I'll have to pick one up tomorrow.



I think my next plan is to try your method, Steve. Especially after BigHammer's comments in the other thread.



Of course, I assume the key is to apply enough pulling force to pull the bearing and not enough to actually separate the bearing.



Are the two bearing halves tight? Tight enough to take, say, 3 tons?



Ryan
 
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rbattelle said:
What size puller? I'll have to pick one up tomorrow.



I think my next plan is to try your method, Steve. Especially after BigHammer's comments in the other thread.



Of course, I assume the key is to apply enough pulling force to pull the bearing and not enough to actually separate the bearing.



Are the two bearing halves tight? Tight enough to take, say, 3 tons?



Ryan





I had a 7 ton puller on the ones on my 04. 5 and it wouldn't pull them off (or apart)... needed the extra heat and force of the chissle to finally pop them out.



I also will say that it depends on the bearing... my dad's 99's bearings literally pulled apart by hand while my 99's bearings wouldn't split without putting them in a 20-ton press...



steved
 
steved said:
I had a 7 ton puller on the ones on my 04. 5 and it wouldn't pull them off (or apart)... needed the extra heat and force of the chissle to finally pop them out.



Amazing. :eek: I don't think I have any idea what I'm up against here. :rolleyes:



Ryan
 
rbattelle said:
Amazing. :eek: I don't think I have any idea what I'm up against here. :rolleyes:



Ryan





Splitting them apart is not a problem... they can be "pulled" back together with a piece of 1/2" all-thread... you could actually grease them if you have any reason to reuse them... however, you would need a "puller" like the one I made to get the inner piece of the hub out of the knuckle...



I prefer to have them split apart so I can get into the inner portion off the knuckle. I made a puller out of some angle iron and some heavy plate... the angle iron is stood on edge to just clear the outside of the inner piece of bearing... the plate is placed (welded) onto the top of the angle iron "box". Holes matching the pattern of the bearing's mounting holes are drilled into the plate. Bolts matching the thread on the bearing (14MM??) are threaded throught those holes in the "puller" and into the bearing... you are then pulling against the knuckle... you can EASILY pull the inner part of the bearing off the knuckle... I have built this puller and sent it off the several people who have copied it... it works well... you are placing no undue stress on anything but the bearing...



steved
 
I think I'm going to go ahead and make the tool you describe. My only concern is the pulling on the outer part of the hub with the stub shaft as the forcing point. It bothers me to apply tons of force to the stub shaft, which will be borne by the differential.



Ryan
 
Hey ! My 2 cents worth, but if you look into a lockable front wheel (both front) on the 4X4 (my is '03), when you look at the kit(dana-track?) it shows a new machined hub with ez bearing fix/repack... my be seeing things, but the factor bearing are sealed along with the hub...

Eric - '03 SWB QC SLT SRW 4X4 3:73 6SPD LIMITED STOCK but for MOPAR and SCHEFENACKER TURN SINGEL MIRRORS
 
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