2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Front Wheel Bearings (Long)

[dieselburner]

I replaced the drivers side wheel bearing hub on my truck on Saturday. It was a piece of cake compared to the passenger side that I did a couple of years ago. Thought I'd pass along the details for anyone that may be needing to do this repair. First noticed the problem on Friday when driving on a winding road. The drivers wheel area was making a noise very similar to the brakes when the pads are worn out and the metal warning pads are scraping on the rotor. I took the truck home, jacked up the front end and sure enough, the wheel assembly was rocking on the worn out bearings. Last time I did this job, I used the repair manual and it instructed me to drain the front differential, open it up and remove the carrier. I the pulled the axle along with the hub, replaced the hub and seals in the axle and put it all back together. If you don't need to replace the axle seals, don't mess with the differential. It took me two days to do the job the first time and only 90 minutes to do it the second time. To just change out the hub, pull the wheel, remove the calipers and set them up on the frame rail, take a piece of weld rod or an old coat hanger and wrap it through the hub's universal joint and tie it up onto the suspension so that it won't come down and ruin the seal in the axle when you remove the hub. Spray a good deal of WD40 or other rust remover into the well on top of the hub. Let it set for a few minutes. Take a the cotter pin out of the axle nut and use a socket and a impact wrench to remove the hub nut. I think it was an 1 11/16 socket. Loosen the four 9/16 12 point bolts holding the hub to the suspension. Don't remove them yet, leave a couple threads engaged on each of them. Take a puller and pull the hub off of the axle. I didn't even need to put a wrench on mine, I just turned it by hand. The four bolts are still supporting the hub and helping the weld rod to support the axle. When the hub is broken loose and moving on the axle splines, remove the 4 bolts supporting the hub and pull the hub off. I just put a new one on from Napa for 253 dollars. Put everything back together in reverse order. I think the torque was 125lbs on the four hub bolts and 175lbs on the big hub nut. I saved my old hub and will rebuild it with new bearings for next time. Hope this helps somebody.

 

[Nate]

AFAIK the hubs are not rebuildable. I know for sure the unit bearings on Jeeps aren't.

 

[dieselburner]

I haven't really had a chance yet to look real hard at the old hub to see what can be done to rebuild it. I did take and pull the outer bearing out of the assembly and it was a KOYO372A which is available. This bearing was also the bad one. The inner bearing is still pressed onto the hub. I just haven't had time to get it apart to see which one this is.