Eating wheel bearings?!?!?!?
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From: Graves County, KY
Eating wheel bearings?!?!?!?
My 01 ranger 2wd sc 2wd eats a front wheel bearing approx every 7000 miles. What's going on? I've had alignments, brake jobs with rotors turned and/or replaced, new tires. I just can't figure it out. I think maybe this truck was wrecked before I bought it. Was the front end knocked out from under this b!--0tch before I bought it?
I'm looking longly at trading on a Dog-dge sc 4x4! (good deal) don't worry, i'll still keep my 77 f150!
I'm looking longly at trading on a Dog-dge sc 4x4! (good deal) don't worry, i'll still keep my 77 f150!
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From: St. Peter
For your truck you have to buy the whole hub assembly right? What brand do you buy? Where do you buy it? There are alot of crap brands out there that i wouldnt be surprised that they would do this.
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From: Graves County, KY
Well frst time I went to Advance (big mistake, they weren't even turned true to begin with). Second set was from napa. They lasted 3 months and are still on there. So I'm on my 3rd set of rotors and 5th set of bearings in a year. It turns out that this was a fleet truck. I suspect that it was either wrecked or has had the miles rolled back.
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From: St. Peter
Then yours isnt like some of the even newer rangers. I was thinking somethig different. Are the races all pressed in nice and square. Could there be a problem with the actual hub itself?
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From: Yes
I think Peter is on the right track, there has to be a fitment problem that is causing the bearings to mate unevenly. If you have an old bearing, try posting a picture of it, especially the outer race, it may show a telltale wear pattern. I'll also ask what kind of grease you're using. I used NLGI #1 rated Lithium grease on the rear bearings on my old Escort ('84 Diesel, R.I.P.) and they lasted about as long as yours, re-did them with #2 rated Lithium Complex grease, and they were never a problem again. Overall milage of the truck shouldn't effect the bearing life at all, new bearings are new, regardless of the rest of the truck's wear.
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From: Aurora
It may sound odd, but could the spindle be bent slightly? Was it ever in an accident? Had you packed the bearings themselves with high pressure wheel bearing grease? Did you get the preload right. To preload the bearings, you torque the hub nut to specification while spinning the rotor, then you stop spinning it, back the nut off and finger tighten the nut to the closest cotter pin hole. If you don't finger tighten the nut after preload, the bearing won't last long.
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From: St. Peter
Lol, i remember when there was a problem with one of the books at work for doing the rear end of a blazer or something. It said to torque the pinion nut to like 150ft-lbs. After a short time the guy was back because he was experiencing some problems with his rear end again. The book never listed to back off and retorque to a different spec.
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From: Aurora
I worry about some of the passages in the haynes manual. Don't get me wrong. They're a good manual for the price, but some of the procedures are direct photocopies from the factory manual and sometimes the last sentence just tails off and oviously continues on another page not included in the haynes manual. Leaves me wondering what was left out.
Tuned
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I can't imagine any alingment problem causing wheel bearings to go bad, tires yes but not bearings.
Just some guessing...
1. Be sure the hubs are washed out first to eliminate grit.
2. Be sure the bearings are getting packed, not just smeared.
I have a problem with a wheel bearing packer I have, it doesn't actually pack the outer wheel bearings the size Rangers have, it's a flaw in the design and it won't do the small ones so you pump away on the gun and the grease just squirts over the bearing. If you have a similar one maybe that's it?
3. I would think even crap grease would go alot longer than 7k.
4. I agree on the torque, a little loose wont' hurt but too tight will ruin them.
I am runing 75-100k on repacks using synthetic grease, most folks only need to replace them once, not all the time, so something is wrong.
Just some guessing...
1. Be sure the hubs are washed out first to eliminate grit.
2. Be sure the bearings are getting packed, not just smeared.
I have a problem with a wheel bearing packer I have, it doesn't actually pack the outer wheel bearings the size Rangers have, it's a flaw in the design and it won't do the small ones so you pump away on the gun and the grease just squirts over the bearing. If you have a similar one maybe that's it?
3. I would think even crap grease would go alot longer than 7k.
4. I agree on the torque, a little loose wont' hurt but too tight will ruin them.
I am runing 75-100k on repacks using synthetic grease, most folks only need to replace them once, not all the time, so something is wrong.
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From: Aurora
I never liked the bearing packers except maybe the expensive ones, which I've never bought. I still use the time honoured practice of using the palm of my hand and 'pushing' the grease into the bearing until I can actually 'see' the grease squeezing through the cage. It' s messy, but it works.
Need lots of rags for clean up and everybody who catches me doing it just shakes their head and says 'why don't you just by a packer'.
Need lots of rags for clean up and everybody who catches me doing it just shakes their head and says 'why don't you just by a packer'.
Tuned
Joined: Oct 2005
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I like the packer but you have to look at it to be sure it's doing the job right, it just won't do the small ones. I keep a spider gear washer and set it on top of the small ones, it has more curve and lets the grease go over and down the cage.
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