need to know how to replace front wheel bearings

[jaynes]

Hey guys. I need to do an emergency wheel bearing transplant on my truck. Front wheels to be exact, non 4X4. Can someone give me instructions or point me to a place where there are instructions on how to do this? I did a search but couldn't find anything. Thanks alot!



jaynes

 

[flightmedic]

I have a $x$, so my exeprience is not necessarily the same, but... .

It is actually a very easy procedure on most vehicles. Even on my truck, taking apart the hubs and all I can get it done in less than 45mins. a side. Just remove the front wheel, and there should be some sort of center cap that looks like it should be pried off with a screw driver. Get it off, then there should be a retaining nut with a cotter pin through the snout. Snip the pin (buy a new one as they are cheap and the replacement value is nothing considered to a front tire bouncing off!) Back off the retaining nut and you should have a washer/seal assembly come out. Then pull the bearing out (keep it clean as you never can take for granted that it is bad; I put them in zip lock baggies). Your wheel at this point should be ready to come off the spindle, Or maybe there may be another retaining nut? But the gist of it is that you then either back that off and/or pull the wheel off. That's it! The most important thing is take your time and keep the old bearings clean as you may be able to reuse one of them. Also when packing your new bearings, use alot of grease. When you think that you have used too much, use a little more. And be especially carfeful in packing those new bearings. I use a fine brush and fill the backside of the race first and then roll the crap out of the bearings, and then pack the front race and roll the bearings as best as possible. Then pack more grease into the races to act as a resevoir. Finally coat the entire bearing in a 1/8" thick coat of grease.



Also, an easy way to remove the rear seal on the back of you hub is to put the wheel back onto the spindle and screw the retaining nut/washer assembly half-way on and give the wheel a couple good yanks towards you and this should pull the seal out. That's the hillbilly method when you don't have a seal remover close at hand.



Sorry so long... . I just know what it's like to tackle a job and not be really sure as to what I am doing.



Oh yeah, and don't forget to clean and coat the inside of the hub liberally with grease.

 

[TKingsbury]

You will need to remove the brake caliper and secure it out of the way, do not let it hang by the hose. Once you do that, follow the above. To pack the bearings, go to a decent parts house and get a cheap plastic bearing packer. It is two cone peices that sandwich the bearing and you use a grease gun to pack the bearing. They work great and you get grease where it needs to be, deep inside the bearing.

Travis. .

 

[jaynes]

Thanks alot guys! That should be very helpful. If I have anymore questions I'll post them.



jaynes

 

[dan brooks]

If you must replace the bearings, you'll also need to replace the bearing races in the hub. Use a brass punch to drive them in and out - the brass is softer than steel and won't nick or damage the race. Make sure you get them fully seated - it's usually pretty obvious by the feel and sound. I've found that a good, square cut piece of 4x4 wood works great as a seal driver - just put a paper towel between the seal and wood to keep any debris out of your freshly-packed bearings.



I have one of the plastic bearing packers and it's about worthless - I've always had better luck just packing them by hand... but it sure is messy.

 

[flightmedic]

I thought I was the only person out there cutting down scrap wood as a seal driver?!?!



Dan, you must have been hanging out over my shoulder the other day as I was doing my bearings. Looing around my cluttered shop, I couldn't find any thing but a paper towel to place over the seal, between the wood/seal. I felt kind of inadequate using it, but sometimes the simple things work the best... .



Also, I haven't had the chance to use one of the "bearing packers", but my assessment was the same looking at it. The only thing different I would do di is maybe get a large syringe ( 50cc "toomey" that is specific for irrigation of gastric contents) from work w/ a large diameter catheter and inject the grease in between each bearing. Time consuming, but that way I know the grease got to the right place.

 

[dpuckett]

I would suggest removing the caliper first, then removing the hub. You can also take a hammer (not a 16# BFH this time) and punch and CAREFULLY drive it against the old bearing (I invert the hub on the taigate to get it into position) to pop the seal out. I havent messed up any bearings thus far.



You'll also, upon reinstall, need to torque the bearings to a certain setting while turning the wheel. I'll see if I can look it up in my FSM. I think it'd be better to have it a hair loose than too tight.



Daniel

 

[jaynes]

Thanks Daniel! Long time no talk. I'll shoot you a pm to let you know whats been going on with this blasted thing!



Josh

 

[Paychk]

A neater way to remove the inner bearing and seal without damage is to: 1) remove outer bearing 2) re-install spindle nut 3) grab hold of the tire and pull outward (letting the inner bearing slide down the taper of the spindle) 4) when the inner bearing catches on the spindle nut, it will pop the bearing/seal out of the hub.



Using this method will let you re-use the seal, if it passes the drag test. I usually only do this if a new seal needs to be removed for some reason. Usually I won’t make use of an old seal.