got some new bearings to install
 

well as I was saying at the meeting I had this growl when I get 65+ on the highway and it turns out my inner wheel bearing is shot on the driver's side. I had replaced my lockout hub on sunday that was on the passenger's side so today after work I was going to do the other side but when I pulled off the hub I found a lot of metal shavings in there. So I have everything off and bought new bearings, rotors, and pads but I cannot get the spindle to seperate from the knuckle. I have removed the 5 bolts then heated it, used kroil, smacked it with a huge plastic mallet and it will not come off for anything. In the haynes book it says that it's two pieces and it does look like it is but geez....

Me and dad just got it off with a big sledge hammer and a long block of wood. That thing was on there pretty good too and it took a lot of wacks to knock it loose. Also it doesn't appear that we damaged it so I must've gotten pretty lucky. Hopefully tommorrow I'll have better luck getting everything back together.

just thought I'd give another update... I'm also going to replace the axle joints as well. It felt a little loose so I felt like I'm not going to chance it since I'm already this far into it. I had to order the joints so they'll come in the morning so looks like it'll be tommorrow till I get this thing put back together. I don't really know how I got from just replacing the lockout hub to all new bearings, brakes, and joints but it'll all be new in the end.

Hey! One thing always leads to another. You would have never known till you started taking it apart. Besides, I'm a big believer in that everything happens for a reason. That bump on the jersey wall was for a purpose ie; replacing the joints. Sounds like you and your dad have it covered though. You never know what might have been........................:)

yeah I know what ya mean, remember I hit that one thing and I should have replaced th hubs then but just kept putting it off because I didn't need 4wd and I should've gotten into it then. If the bearings are what was causing my "growl" then it's been doing it a long time so like you said maybe this was an omen for me to get in there and fix it. I have practically everything to do the passenger side as well so I told Ray at work that I'll work it with him to where I can pull the other side apart one night where he works the next day so he can do all the pressing for me then that evening I'll put everything back together and it will go a lot smoother next go around, at least I'll have all the parts so I won't have any downtime from that. Right now I have the new bearing races pressed into the hub and that is together with the lugs and new rotor, I also have gotten an axle seal that goes on the backside of the knuckle and hopefully tommorrow I'll get the correct seals for the bearing that is closest to the end of the axle and also the axle joints. I made sure to tell them I want ones with fittings so I can grease them.

Good karma man!

You don't need a press really to seat wheel bearing races. They sell nice bearing and driver sets for like $35. I set all my races with just a small punch and hammer. Only takes a minute per race :-wink

Getting me motivated to get mine together :-D

yeah but we have two presses at work so it's totally free :-D but yeah let me tell you this is way more involved than I had intended to get into. I know the metal shavings had to come from the spindle bearing because when I got the hub off I could move the axle around and when I had installed the new hub on the passenger side it was tight.

your spindle isn't damaged is it?

nope, well it sure doesn't appear damaged at all. I even checked the axle real good and it doesn't look like it's wore on the bearing surface.

Thats good.

BTW, your in box is full. . .so heres your spindle seal answer:

Spindle bearing goes in first, then the spindle seal. That little thing is supposed to keep water out and grease in. . .the big outer seal is more of a dust boot lol.

yeah I got it all back together but the growl is still there. When I first went up the road I could hear the bearings chinging but after I went up the highway and came back through town they were fine. I'm still going to do the passenger side but so far I'm thinking that the noise could very well be in the transmission.