My truck is a 1988 F150 XLT 4x4, with OEM? manual locking hubs. I just noticed yesterday, that my plastic locking dial looks like it has melted! I know this just happened, but it looked normal when I bought the truck a few weeks ago. Could worn bearings cause enough heat to melt the plastic dial? I am pretty sure my driver's side front bearing needs to be repacked or replaced, it makes a groaning noise when I make hard right turns.

 

Yes, you should pull that apart and do some maintenance/replacing stuff etc.

 

Either bearing issues or you have a stuck brake. Which I'm sure you would have noticed.

If the bearing is making noise then you can count on it being failed. I'd tear it apart right now, you're only causing more damage. That groaning sound is your rollers and races being destroyed... keep doing that and spin the bearing, you'll be looking for a new spindle and hub as well.

I let a wheel bearing go for a while one time and one time only. It was an old car that I used to have and it barely made it back home. Tore it apart and the hub was trashed, spindle I was able to clean up the damage and save it but just barely. When I jacked it up to see how much damage my dumb **** had caused, that wheel had like an INCH of play in it. Another few miles and it would have probably disassembled itself and turned my car into a three wheeler.

 

Thanks for confirming. I'm going to start disassembly after football :-). Between my Haynes manual and this video, I should be able to figure it out. I just need to rent the special socket for removing the set ring.

 

I finally found a store that would rent me the locknut socket, and barring rain I am going to tackle this after work (don't worry, I haven't been driving the truck). A few questions;

Should I plan on replacing both the INNER and OUTER bearings and races? Remember, it only groans when I make a right turn. However, they share the same grease, so it's probably best to replace both.

Do I need to replace the seal? I think this requires removing the spindle, and I'd rather not...

Which bearings should I buy? This is complicated because there appears to be different part numbers based on the manufacture date of the truck. My door tag says 11/87. So do I need these CARQUEST - Product Information:CARQUEST Premium Bearings or these CARQUEST - Product Information:CARQUEST Premium Bearings ?

My guess is the second one, since it says "Drive Type Name: 4WD
Manual-Lock Hub, To 02/29/88". I don't know if my front axle is limited slip or not...

Thanks!

 

You really need to get a hold of a shop manual. If you do a quick search Im sure you will find a parts diagram here on the site. I always plan to replace the rear seal, you will likely destroy it during removal. You may need a new hub lock/and/or some of the internal parts as well if things have really overheated. Depending on what you find you will likely need inner and outer bearings and races. The races are press fit...have you ever done anything similar to this before?

If things are really trashed you could need a new spindle...but lets hope not just yet.

Here is a nice write up on the full size bronco site...

Wheel Bearings and Spindle Bearings - FSB Forums

 

My dad has a 1987 F150 4X4 and the right caliper stuck and it caught fire as we were going down the road. He ended up having both sides rebuilt. BTW, the ride got bumpy, we thought it was a tire, pulled over about a mile down the road after it started getting bumpy, and the bitch was burning. That's why we carry fire extinguishers. If no fire bottle, use dirt,sand,etc.

 

You also have the "hat type" hub. Unlike the one in the video.

Just warning you in advance.

 

I realized this last night when I started to disassemble! Is this a newer style hub? Anyway, it gave me flashbacks to my '93 Explorer and I figured it out pretty easily. The only PITA was getting the caliper off the disc. It was definitely dragging a little, but not so much that I couldn't turn the disc by hand. But it was tight enough I had to whack it several times with a hammer to get it out. I will push the piston back in before re-installing, and grease the slide pins really well.

I got the spindle cleaned up and it looks good to me. Not scoring or pitting, just slightly discolored...maybe from heat? Here is a pick before I cleaned it up (too dark to take one after);




The outer bearing came right out as I pulled the rotor off the spindle, just like it should. I used the back (flat side) of the spindle locknut socket to tap the inner bearing and oil seal out. While cleaning all the old grease off the races, I noticed a lot of small metal shards. It actually looked just like gold flakes. Not sure what component this is from... The inner race looks fine to me, but the outer has two small gouges;




I am assuming I should go ahead and replace the outer race and bearing. Is it better to go ahead and replace the inner as well? Or should I just re-pack it? I will definitely be replacing the seal. Locknut looks ok to me. Here are the parts that came off the spindle, left being outermost, and right being innermost;




As for the hub, there are some gouges on the outer edge. I don't think this acts as a race or even a seal, so note sure it's worth worrying about. Thoughts?




I need to rent the slide hammer race puller, and race press-fit kit after work tonight before I can put it all back together. Thanks for the advice!

 

If you have a long drift you can drive the races out from the inside out by working around it carefully. Be careful not to gouge anything. Then you can use the old race to drive the new one in with a heavy ball peen hammer... that's how I do em anyway.

 

That's how I do it too SAF.
I also use a 6 inch C clamp
leaving the pad on to compress
the caliper.
Dirt Bag do both sides inner and outer.
This is not the place to get cheap. Do it
right and do it once. Would be a great
time to replace the brake pads even if
they are only a 3rd worn or so.
They are cheap. Than when you think
your done grease every zerk fitting you
can find. You may well find ball joints
and u joints needing attention as well.
Look up packing roller brgs on you tube.
There is a knack to packing the new brg
with grease using the palm of your hand.
It does a better job than the tool made for this.
Good luck bud. Try and make it fun to do.
I have done so many I could do them in my sleep.
I wish I was there to help ya Bud. It's really
an easy, fun, and rewarding little job.

On Edit: You may consider a set of Warren hubs.
the good ones as they don't melt.

 

Well none of my auto parts stores had the right claw to use with the slide hammer to pull the races out, so we just used a drift. I was a little unsure of the locknut tightening sequence, since I have the top hat style hubs. I went off these instructions (FSB Forums - View Single Post - Wheel Bearings and Spindle Bearings) and cranked down to 70 ft lbs, backed off 90 degrees, then tried to tighten to 20 ft lbs. I never got completely there because the castle socket kept popping out. It's very hard to put enough pressure inward on the socket while tightening. Anyway, it feels solid and I can still spin the wheel by hand. I am worried about going any tighter and creating excess heat. I didn't have time for a test drive last night, damn this getting dark early... I am going to tighten the lug nuts (75 ft lbs?) and take her for a drive after work today.

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

Went for a test drive last night, about 3 miles, and both front hubs were warm to the touch. Definitely not hot enough to melt plastic, but I had only driven 3 miles. I am also still hearing some moaning noises from the front. Could be coming from the right side (which I did not service). I don't think it's as bad as before, and I am not getting the associated vibration that I was before replacing the bearings. Is it normal for the front hubs to generate heat? Once I mounted the wheel, I checked for play and didn't find any. Felt pretty tight.

Could old or low diff fluid generate heat at the hubs?

 

The warmth you feel probably came from the heat generated when you stepped on the brakes. Sounds normal. Definitely check the other side and figure out what the noise is. If the right side is fine, repack it at the least. If the noise persists, rotate the tires and see what you got. The differential is far enough away it shouldn't transfer heat that far, but if it was transferring that much heat that far, there would be no doubt where it was coming from!

 

I'm wondering if my hubs are creating the heat? By the look of them, I wouldn't be surprised if they are the originals. It turns out Warn doesn't make a replacement for my truck. My model is is '88, but the truck was built in late '87 so it has the "top hat" or "flange" style hubs. What do most people replace these with? I need to keep cost low...