1990 F-150
4.9L 300
278k Miles - No Oil Leaks

I am in the process of replacing the wheel bearings on the right side of the vehicle. I am sure something has gone wrong with them. They were making a roaring noise and then the right side start driving funny. I thought I had a flat, but no flat tire. The vehicle pulled the right real bad and the brakes were not working very good at all.

I removed the tire, outside bearing and hub. There seems to be a lot of loose metal in the grease inside the hub. I have new bearings for the inside and outside as well as a a new seal.

Here are my questions:
1. Should I clean all the old grease off the spindle?
2. Are the wheel bearings the only thing that gets greased?
3. Could the hub be damaged?
4. Anything else I need to do after replacing them.

I am going to go ahead and replace them on both sides.

Thanks for any help,

Donnie Penney
dwpenney@dwpwebsites.com

 

 

Also, fill the void between the bearings with grease immediately before slipping the outer bearing onto the spindle. You can see it here.

 

there is absolutly no reason to put that much grease in there, it will leak past the seals and make a mess everywhere over time.


a good coating on the races and pack the bearings with a bearing packing tool and its good enough

 

I'll second that. We have never packed any wheel bearings where we put grease in between the bearings in the hub. It's a waste of grease and thats about it.

 

It'll only leak out if you have other problems, like adjusting nuts backing off or imporperly set. It occupies space that would otherwise hold air, which contracts MUCH more than grease does when it's suddenly cooled (like when you hit deep water) so nothing gets sucked in thru the seals. It also prevents the grease in the bearings from just getting squirted out into that area, leaving you with dry bearings after driving 30ft.

If you check that link, you'll see what happened to a set of bearings that didn't have grease there (from the factory) - they're not pretty.

 

if it was ment to have that much grease in there from the factory then ford would have put that much grease in there.

i dont think you quite understand how a wheel bearing works steve, and i am tired of clicking on all of your links.

and besides you used the wrong type of grease to boot.

heres what it says in the chiltons (yeah yeah we all know you love your haynes manual)

7. inspect the bearing cups for pits or cracks. if necessary remove them with a drift. if new cups are installed, install new bearings.

8. lubricate the bearings with multi-purpose lubricant Ford spec ESA-MIC7-B or equivalent. clean all old grease from hub. pack the cones and rollers. if a bearing packer is not available, work as much lubricant as possible between the rollers and the cages. (this could be missconstruded, it does not mean to fill the area between the 2 bearings rather the bearing itself)

9. drive new cups into place with a driver, making sure that they are fully seated.

10. position the inner bearing cone and roller in the inner cup and install the grease retainer (seal).

11. carefully position the hub and disk assembly on the spindle.

12. install the outer bearing cone and roller, and the adjusting nut.


sorry if i seem like i have an atitude thats not how i am trying to come off, rather trying to inform people the right way to do this , after all i only have 18 years of experance at working on cars and trucks.

i will admit i have seen this sort of thing on a few trucks that have come in the shop , and well needless to say they dont go out with as much grease as they came in with, and man what a mess it makes when you take it apart.

 

Well, it definitely starts off sounding like an attitude, but OK - I'll take your word that it's not.

If you don't like links, don't click - they're for people who want more info than just the text. You're the only person I've ever seen complain.

The grease I used was rated for disk brakes, but I generally don't like QS products. I thought I had some good stuff before I started, but the tube was nearly empty and I had to ask my gf to run to WM to get that. (It was late at night, as you can tell, and I was working on 2 trucks at once.) My bearings are standing up fine since, with plenty of hard miles on them.

My problem with Chilton's isn't with what it SAYS - it's with what's MISSING. I think Haynes has more info on many topics, but on 4WD wheel bearings, it says substantially the same as your post. In the 2WD section however, it mentions "Put a small quantity of grease inboard of each bearing race inside the hub. Using your fingers, form a dam at these points to provide extra grease availability and to keep thinned grease from flowing out of the bearings." That's exactly why I do what I do with my bearings, but I add extra for the reasons I've already stated. What exactly do you think will go wrong from having extra grease in there? Do you not think the conditions a 4WD sees warrant the extra grease for the reasons I gave?

BTW I've been working on vehicles about the same amount of time (if it matters), but it certainly doesn't take that long to understand grease, so I don't think it matters.

I'm not looking for a war, and I don't intend to start one, but you're arguing that I'm wrong without saying what bad thing will happen if my suggestion was followed. Just a leak? None of the hubs I've done this to have leaked. Wasted grease? OK So I splurged and used an extra 50¢ worth to try to save a couple of hours of work after hitting deep water, and my experience has shown it to be worth it. If you don't need to, don't do it.

 

the un-needed amount of grease you have introduced to the bearings could produce a drag like condition and possibly reduce gas mileage.

on 2wd hubs you put a light coating between the races to keep the rotor/hub at a cool temp, AKA heat transfer

 

The grease in the void area isn't moving thru the bearings, so it won't increase the drag, and even if it did, it wouldn't be any more than the freshly-packed bearings, so it wouldn't matter. Even if you put parrafin in the bearings, it wouldn't affect gas mileage (until the bearings wore out).

It also can't transfer any heat since it's not exposed to anything other than the inside of the hub, which is where the heat is coming to the grease from. The rotors do all the cooling, but with sufficient grease, the rotors are the only things producing heat (from braking). If the bearings produce heat, it's because they don't have enough grease.

 

I have always wondered myself what is right or wrong on this subject. Years ago I always pumped up the hubs with as much grease as possible and didn't have any problems. I always thought the more the better. On the other hand, I had purchased a set of bearings for a trailer and inside it had an instruction sheet on packing bearings. It suggested to only pack the bearings and don't use any more than this. The company claimed that since grease is a relatively poor conductor of heat, that it would only hinder any heat transfer out of the bearing area and cause premature failure. I've packed 'em both ways and haven't had any trouble either way. I do think, as Steve83 says,that filling the hub would decrease water draw-in and would be especially important for off-roaders. Maybe for the road vehicle that see's normal usage then filling the hubs might not have such value.

Randy

 

over packing the hub will not keep water from being sucked in, as there is no vaccuum within the bearing housing, thats what grease seals are for, to keep the water and dirt out , and the grease in.

 

DD
When there is an air pocket inside a hot container, and the container is suddenly cooled, the air contracts creating a vaccum. The more air or the greater the temperature drop, the stronger the vacuum. An axle can suck water thru several feet of vent line, and so can a transmission or a t-case. The vacuum in a hub is much smaller, but the grease seals aren't strong enough to resist it, so water & grit get pulled in. That's why Ford always says never to ford deeper than the hubs - because the brakes heat them up and the water WILL get pulled in, IF there's any air. Since the hub locks won't work if they're packed, it's impossible to eliminate ALL the air, but every little bit hurts. Filling the bearing area only helps.

Randy
Grease doesn't NEED to conduct heat, and lubricating grease is never expected to, in 2- or 4WD vehicles or trailers. Even if it did, the massive steel castings of the hub (& rotor) transfer several orders of magnitude MORE heat than the grease ever could, especially if it only existed in a thin layer (less material = less heat transfer). Also, the grease can't transfer the heat anywhere but back to the hub/bearing since that's all the grease touches. But since a well-greased bearing doesn't GENERATE any heat, it doesn't really matter whether the grease transfers any heat or not.

 

I definately beleive that pressure (air) and vacuum is created within the hub area. Bottom line, if there is any air at all in the hub it is going to expand as it heats and contract as it cools. The air has to leave or return thru something and without a vent incorporated the air is going to move thru the path of least resistance (the seals). If water is the material that is immediately available when the hub cools then that is what is going to be drawn in (along with whatever dirt particles is suspended in the water). Pretty much every other mechanical component on our trucks has venting to provide a place for the air to expand and contract thru but the hubs do not. Since I've never had any problems with putting alot of grease in the hubs before I'm not really concerned that it is detrimental at all- maybe not necessary under normal service tho. I'm sure the off-roaders have learned the extra grease trick by their experiences and I'm sure not going to argue with success.

Randy

 

Factory Ford Truck Manual
The factory ford manual written by the ford parts and service division says to pack the area between the bearing cups so that grease is flush with the inside diameters of both bearing cups. This accounts for aproximately 1/4 inch of grease inside the hub between the bearing cups. Page 11-10-2 1984 Truck Shop Manual (Chassis).

Factory GMC Truck Manual
Put a small quantity of grease inboard of each bearing cup in the hub. enough grease must be applied to form a dam to prevent thinned grease from leaving the bearing. (In my opinion this means at least as high as the cups if not slightly higher). Page 3C-14 1981 GMC Light Truck Service Manual

From my experience, being a mechanic in the Heavy Equipment/ truck and transport area, if this area is not packed with grease(although filling it right up is not necessary, i've had my truck in all kinds of water and not once have I had even a hint of moisture in them. i once had in it in so much water that the rear diff filled up because the level was over the breather hose) the grease will flow out of the bearings and they will burn up. If you ever get to take apart a wheel end after its been running on the highway all day in the hot sun you will see that the grease resembles more a very thick almost liquid substance instead of a grease. When your dealing with vehicles that put 20-25 thousand miles on a month you find out pretty quickly how things standup.

Personally i would never buy another Chilton or Haynes manual after comparing them to the factory pieces. When you order shop manuals from ford or even GM in some instances you get a manual for the chassis, a seperate one for the engine, and a seperate one for the body and they only cover about 4 model years. Haynes and Chilton combine everything from 1980-1996 in one manual and its olny about half as long as one of the ford manuals. The factory shop manuals are worth the extra cost.