Front Hubs

[JApol]

I got my truck back today, 24 hours after the dealer started to look at it. Left front hub has some play but got replaced anyway. The right front is another story. The bearing parts and pieces are spread some where on God's creation. I will post pics when I get ahold of my g/f's camera as words cannot describe the carnage that occurred in there. Service writer said I had about 50 miles before I lost the whole shebang on the right side.

is there a procedure that will allow me to check the bearing in the hub to prevent this from happening again?

EDIT: For you big time off roading types, have you ever heard of this or happen to you?

 

[RJWEST]

emsoffroad.com or dynatrac... real bearings and locking hubs...

 

[JApol]

rats I had looked at those before but didn't want to spend the money on them. The EMS heavy duty is about $50 more then what I paid for the repairs. I wish I would have remembered about them.

 

[BJMarshall]

Nearly the same thing happened to the 2003 a couple of weeks ago. My brother was on the road in with it and called and said ABS light was on, and brakes were mushy and pulled to one side. Within 30 minutes, the left front wheel bearing was on fire. I was too far away to look at it so towed it to a dealer. Same problem. Only thing holding the front wheel on was the rotor and caliper. Spent a little more and had new brakes and rotors at the same time. Bearings were totally gone. Absolutely no warning.

 

[Kirwin]

Jeff, check your warranty book

In my 2003 waranty book page 10 it states "Axle housing and all internal parts; axle shafts; axle shaft bearings". Your 2005 waranty book may be different, BUT; I'm pretty sure this has be covered on the TDR before. The "axle shaft bearings" on a 4X4 are in the hubsOo. . There are no other axle shaft bearings until you get internal to the differential. Stick to your guns. Post over on the Carson Dodge website. Let John Holmes look into it for you. You don't have anything to lose. Good luck, Ken Irwin

 

[Regcabguy]

Dynatrac free-spin contest

rats I had looked at those before but didn't want to spend the money on them. The EMS heavy duty is about $50 more then what I paid for the repairs. I wish I would have remembered about them.

Sorry for your misfortune,but Dynatrac is having a contest for people like yourself who have had the stock front bearings fail. They are offering a Dynatrac conversion and two other prizes for the worst story and pics. of the calamity. Check it out. Dynatrac

 

[bighammer]

Nearly the same thing happened to the 2003 a couple of weeks ago. My brother was on the road in with it and called and said ABS light was on, and brakes were mushy and pulled to one side. Within 30 minutes, the left front wheel bearing was on fire. I was too far away to look at it so towed it to a dealer. Same problem. Only thing holding the front wheel on was the rotor and caliper. Spent a little more and had new brakes and rotors at the same time. Bearings were totally gone. Absolutely no warning.

I just got donereplacing upper and lower ball joints and when reassembling the right side, I noticed the bearing had sort of a click at a certain position. I decided another 200 bucks was worth the peace of mind and replaced it.

 

[JApol]

That would have been nice to try but

CONTEST DEADLINE AND DISCLAIMER

Contest Deadline: May 31st, 2007. Winners to be selected by June 15th, 2007

 

[Regcabguy]

Dynatrac

That would have been nice to try but

OOOOOPS! Sorry about that!

 

[JEstes]

Anybody know what's causing the failures? I'm assuming it's a lube problem.

 

[RJWEST]

poor design, big tires... . my guess

I noticed that after the hub conversion, there seemed to be less steering
force required to start the wheels turning from center, before it felt like
there was a notch holding the wheels straight,( kinda like tighting the steering box to tight )once the steering got pass this notch it seemed like less force required. My opinion. due to narrow bearings , one side of the bearings is loaded more than the other, the wider the tire the more side pressure on the bearings. .
and faster the wear.

I did the conversation at about 70k miles. both bearings seemed Very tight,
quite a lot of force required to make them turn ( they did not spin, not an inch). I don't know if this is normal,
but I figured at 70k and thinking I am going to keep truck till at least
200k miles, I would have to buy front bearings at least once. Since most of my miles are traveling with a TC, any bearing replacement would have to be done by a mech ( I'm pushing 70, don't do major road side repairs ).

So, 1300 for EMS hubs - 800 (400$ a side for hub bearings,installed ) = $500
for greasable/replaceable bearings and 2 wheel low range.
So far I'm satisified with the conversation. .

As for MPG, not enough data to tell for sure, but last trip got best MPG yet. But still not ready to claim any increase...
For the " no cad " trucks I would expect more improvement in MPG . .
than the early CAD trucks...

 

[steved]

Anybody know what's causing the failures? I'm assuming it's a lube problem.

All of the unit bearings I've had apart were lacking lube big time...



As an example... my dad has 265k on his 2nd gen's original unit bearings. We took them apart at 86k (the same time we replaced balljoints) and we packed them full of regular grease (not even the fancy synthetic stuff). They had less than a teaspoon of grease when we pulled them apart.



steved