Front wheel bearings repair?

[Jim W]

Need a little help!



When we were camping with our grandkids two weeks ago I heard a slight bearing noise at very low speed coming from the front. This occurred as I was turning the truck to park the camper no more than 3 to 5 MPH. After on- hooking the 5er; the wheel bearing noise would occur only at very low speed less than 10 MPH in the campground with the wheels turned in either direction, straight ahead no noise. At normal road speed above 20 MPH there is no noise at all regardless of any direction the wheels are turned. When we returned home I did jack up the front end and checked for play in the u-joints to the front wheels; there was none. There is some very slight play in the left front wheel it's self; needed a pry-bar to cause the movement. No excessive heat from the front wheel bearings; cool to the touch. But I still think it is a unit-wheel bearing going bad.



Now to my question; what is the bolt torque for this joint since I will be changing them myself at my sons shop? Too cheap to buy a Hanes manual for just this repair and sometimes the manuals do not list the bolt torque. My other question is should I buy the Timken unit bearing or the Mopar one? Seems to me that the Timken unit bearing would be similar to the Mopar unit bearing and the cost would be less. Auto-Zone is selling them for $351 a pair with a three year warranty.



Thoughts please, thanks in advance.



Jim W.

 

[AH64ID]

Jim,

I think you will find a lot of recommendations for the unit-bearing elimination kits, or spin free kits. I can tell you that they are a bit more money, but you will not have to deal with front bearing issues again, and if you did they would be easy to replace and not require pulling the hub from the spindle (less than fun). I personally recommend the Yukon kit.

If you decide to stick with OE style bearings here are the torque specs.

The 4 hub bolts get torqued to 149 ft/lbs.

The axle nut gets initially torqued to 132 ft/lbs, rotated 5-10 times, then final torqued to 263 ft/lbs and tightened until the cotter pin fit.

The caliper adapter mounting bolts get torqued to 130 ft/lbs, and caliper side pin bolts to 24 ft/lbs.

I have a pdf of the 5 pages for removal/install if you want it. PM me your email.

 

[rscurtis]

If you hear noise with the wheels turned, don't rule out a dry u-joint. I would replace them with greaseable joints when you do the bearings.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Doubt that you are hearing a wheel bearing noise at 5 mph, probably as rscurtis said above, a joint. bg

 

[jelag]

I agree with the last two posters. . I've owned several trucks over the years and its always u-joints first for me... In some cases I've changed the U-Joints and lubricated the bearing housing with the ABS Sensor out of the hub... and put them back into service... For me... it's always been u-joints at around 50-60 K miles... and once the hubs are used, I've seen them go to 150K miles...

Just my thoughts...

 

[Wayne M.]

One heads up. Be prepared for a fight to get the unit bearing out of the knuckle. There are some good threads to read up on. Good luck on the job.

One vote here for the free spin kit. Spyntec here.

 

[Jim W]

When I can get into my son's garage sometime in the next 4-weeks we will be checking both the front wheel brg's and the u-joints too. He has a lift that we can get the truck up into the air so it is easier working on it. He also has most of the tools for this type of work since this is his side business. He just replaced the front wheel brg on his 96 CTD (work truck) that he drives once in awhile instead of his 06 truck (go to Sunday Meetings truck).
Jim

 

[MChrist]

How many miles? My first front axle ujoints only went 36,000 miles. Dry, not loose. Greasable ones lasted 50,000. Grease wasn't making it to all 4 caps. They WERE loose. Installed Spyntek Shorty free spin hubs and some fancy Spicer u-joints with the kit. Single biggest advantage for me is the ability to use 2WD low.
Good luck!

 

[mwilson]

Jim,



Another vote for a bum u-joint.



If you do want to replace the bearings the Timkens can also be found on Amazon at a decent price (with free freight as a rule).



Not much different than Autozone right now, though.



http://www.amazon.com/Timken-HA590166-Wheel-Bearing-Assembly/dp/B0027A7FZY



Mike.

 

[cerberusiam]

Doubt that you are hearing a wheel bearing noise at 5 mph, probably as rscurtis said above, a joint. bg

I disagree, you WILL hear a noise at 5 mph, at 40 mph, and at 60 mph if it is in fact a wheel bearing. The problem is by the time you hear the noise in the bearing it is about 50 miles from falling OFF the truck.



If the noise is showing when the wheel is turned, likely a ujoint but if there is any slack in the hweel bearings using a pry bar they are due before it east the fornt tires. They go fast once there is a little slack in them.



The debate for free spin rages on. If one can justify the cost they are a good option. If not, a grease zerk on the bearings and a couple squirts of high temp grease now and then makes a longevity difference.

 

[MarkEkberg]

So has anyone drilled and installed a zert onto a replacement unit? I am getting the same growl when turned full lock in parking lots, but there is no play anywhere else.

 

[cerberusiam]

Drill or source the ABS hold down bolt and put in a 90 zerk pointend to the rear. A hole drilled in the backing plate will allow access.

 

[Regcabguy]

Drill or source the ABS hold down bolt and put in a 90 zerk pointend to the rear. A hole drilled in the backing plate will allow access.

Aren't you just filling the void with this procedure and hoping the grease will find it's way into the sealed bearing?
Hopefully,I can swing some freespins soon. I expect minimal fuel economy improvement,but just want to shut down the rotational mass.

 

[cerberusiam]

That like anything else with a zerk, you are filling the void with some grease under pressure and betting it migrates to the places it is needed. Definitely not like packing the bearings but a common concept used almost everywhere with good results.

 

[B.G. Smith]

A little 90w gear oil might be a better choice? bg

 

[cerberusiam]

Don't think the seals on the back side are rated for oil and the oil itself will not stand extended heat. Gear oil is formulated to be changed out periodically where high temp grease is made to be more or less permanent. At least for the expected life time of the unit bearing.

 

[jelag]

I pressed apart a set of these bearing and can tell you that 5-7 pumps of grease inserted into the ABS sensor port will end up in both bearings... I suggest your consider a full synthetic grease with a drop point in the 450 * range... I personally hate the grease... its terrible to wipe off but does a great job lubricating. .

 

[DennyDay]

I'll second the SpynTec add on - - - the best $$ I've ever spent on my 06

 

[Wayne M.]

I'll second the SpynTec add on - - - the best $$ I've ever spent on my 06

I'm pulling out on a 1500 mile trip in the AM. the hubs are one thing I'm not stressing over.

 

[Jim W]

How many miles? My first front axle ujoints only went 36,000 miles. Dry, not loose. Greasable ones lasted 50,000. Grease wasn't making it to all 4 caps. They WERE loose. Installed Spyntek Shorty free spin hubs and some fancy Spicer u-joints with the kit. Single biggest advantage for me is the ability to use 2WD low.

Good luck!

I only have 67,000 miles on the OD it is a 08, 2500 Mega Cab 4X4. I have had a 4X4 vehicle since 1974 and three of them have been Jeeps or the Ram truck. My other 4X4 vehicle’s where a Ford Explore 1992 that Turned Turtle, a Chevy pick-up truck and Chevy Blazer. My sons have all had 4X4’s either Jeeps, Fords, Chevy’s or Ram trucks.



This is the first time I ever had an issue with the front end other then shimmy to the front wheels do to worn out front steering stabilizers on the Jeeps, stock size tires and rims. The Jeeps were full size Cherokee’s with the solid axles similar to the Ram trucks. I use to take the front hubs apart and repack the wheel brg’s every 12,000 miles. So I know what a good and bearing that is starting to fail looks and sounds like.



I have checked the front u-joints for wear and looseness on both sides. They are tight but the needle brg's could just starting to go bad. This is why when the truck gets up on the lift I will be looking at the u-joints again before replacing the unit wheel brg’s. Usually the u-joints will squeak either under load or not under load when subject to movement such as the front wheels being turned. When I apply the throttle pedal to the engine to apply power to the drive train there is no noise emulating from the front wheels. When I go to turn there is a slight low squeak at or below 5 MPH not under load; faster than 5 MPH then there is no noise. So the truck is on limited disability and only used if the Jetta is not available until I can get it fix.



Jim W.