Hi all,
I had my front driver side wheel bearing blow on me, out of nowhere, while doing about 70mph on my '03 Supercrew 2wd. it really f****d up my spindle and rotor. i replaced everything from the spindle out (rotor,pad,caliper,caliper mounts, bearings,etc). i packed the bearing really good and put it all back together. Well, it happened again, same thing. Doing about 70 and it just blew out of nowhere. Anyone ever hear of anything like this before? Any ideas on why it could be happening??

Thanks
Ty

 

Replaced the spindle as well? Did you use OEM or aftermarket parts?

Pretty odd to have the same failure twice like that.

 

I used OEM. I pulled it from a junkyard.

 

Quite unusual to have the same failure twice.
Inspect the parts failure very close to see what is causing it.
Is it the outer or inner bearing assembly that is failing?
Once a bearing roller chips, peels or a race surface has defects it's just a matter of time before more chips begin to lock up the rotation.
When that happens the outer and inner races can begin to turn.
A round part with an inside diameter will get larger as it's temp rises as will other parts change dimension with heat above it normal average operating temp..
When this happens the spindle and everything gets hot and begins to tear apart.
Once this happens the action avalanches into a fast destruction until something gives, comes apart, then it all, over.
Over tightening, faulty used parts, a defect left in place.
This doesn't happen everyday.
.
Had it happen once on an 85.
.
Had a single cylinder race motor blow a rod and broke the block.
Close inspection showed one rod bolt came loose, rod cap stretched out of location hit the case, broke the rod in half and shot the bottom half out the hole in the block as the last part of the 'thrill'.. You can see the chain of events and how it started and ended..
Good luck.

 

I hate to say it but that's kind of what you get with junkyard parts, you have no idea how they were treated or how long the've been sitting and usually no clue as to the miles on them.

I didn't dig too far into it but a new OEM spindle would be $246.14 from us, they retail for $372.93.

-Steve

 

junk yard parts are fine, but you should have used NEW bearings ? That being said, how long did the bearings run before failure ? I question the preload on the bearings. Do you know how to adjust ?

 

i did use new bearing, just got the spindle from the junkyard. spindles apperently dont do so well after a bearing blow doing 70 haha. but no i do not know how to check or adjust preload for bearings, honestly not even quite sure what it means

 

how tight did you adjust the nut holding the bearing in ? On a hub "unit" like a 4 x 4 you toque the nut to 200 ft pounds. On a 2 x 4 you have individual bearings and they need to be adjusted to a few thousands clearance, but NOT TIGHT. Since you said you dont know what preload is, im assuming you tightened the bearings too tight and they failed ? How did you adjust the bearing nut ?

 

unless the used spindle is broken or bent, or the bearings spin on the journals... the spindle is not the problem.

 

...Hows your upper and lower ball joints? Play in the ball joints will cause extra side load on wheel bearings

 

Junkyard parts can be fine, I used plenty myself back in the day, these days I try to stick with new and OEM.

 

well, after the bearings blew, it kind of f****d the spindle, so it needed to be replaced...bad. But i have a 2x4 and was told by the local Ford dealer to torque the nut to 100ft/lbs...and I checked the all the ball joints. and they were good, but i slapped a little bit of new grease in them just for good measure

 

Well isn't that fine!
100 ft/lbs.
You certainly got what 100 ft/lbs had to offer.
If you really did tighten that much, didn't common sense tell you it's not right?
Look at page 1-26 center bottom column of a Haynes manual.
It tells you to be sure the hub is seated then turn nut by hand.
Tighten to no more than.....12 ft/lbs...... then spin the hub to be sure it's free while tightening up to 30 ft/lbs. max.
Good luck, you need some.

 

obviously that was a typo. i dont even think you could get that nut that tight, i meant to put 10ftlbs. No need to be a deushbag, theres plenty of people who can answer questions on here without being a deushbag, so if your gunna be one then just stay the hell off and let someone else answer

 

Thank you for the personal attack.
Good luck.