wheel bearings -front, and ride quality

['round n' back again]

Just a reminder to you mitsu drivers.
our rigs are old and we spend a lot of time on suspension upgrades -out of necessity, or fun.

An important ingredient to ride quality is tight wheel bearings. Today, I replaced my drivers hub and rotor. Passenger side is original equipment. will get to it next week on that unemployment check.
anyway, on test drive was reminded how bearings, when they deteriorate, will cause rattles and clatter over rough surfaces.
So replace yours if you don't know how old the existing bearings are.
especially if you like to swim with your buggy. even a few miles with water in the bearings will cause thousand mile wear.
and if you want like-new ride quality...

bearings are cheap. use timken.

time ; about 1.5 hr each side, faster if you have a spare hub assembly ready to go on.

seal goes with white nylon surface and dust protector facing inward- i know, thats counterintuitive...

check spindle for cracks knurling, pitting or bearing galling against the shoulder of the spindle.
clean well the seating surfaces. lift the hub gently onto the spindle to avoid tearing or crushing the seal.

use only as much grease as needed on the bearing. any more and you attract : heat, dirt, and blobs you have to clean out of the hub later.
set the unit firmly. back off the nut to where the hub turns with only the resistance of the new, cold grease; that feel should be roughly equilivent to turning the fully greased bearing in your hand when you have greased it. same resistance

clean rotor and pads,

replace caliper

leave your hub/ cover off. drive the heck out of it for a dozen miles. come home,
lift rig off the ground check for play in bearing, tighten as needed , your wheel will feel different now that you have the tire on, worked grease in, and there is some caliper pad rub, but wheel should spin freely.

replace locking hub/cover

recheck next time you have the rig in the air. 12/6 pm give it a shake.

sorry to bore you readers that do this a lot, but many of us are not very versed in this procedure.

 

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

I replace bearings and races as a set, and use Timken. I have a race/seal driver kit from Harbor Freight that works well for seating the new races. The old ones tap out with the grooves built into the hub so you don't scratch the inside of the hub surface. Leave the races in the freezer overnight to make them a touch easier to install (maybe just my imagination) and seat them fully; the sound changes as you drive them in and they seat solidly in the hub. Pack the new bearings well, don't leave any air or gaps in them and never spin them when they are not packed. Remove all traces of old grease before installing anything new. Follow the FSM for seating the new races/bearings, to the point of having an assistant put a foot against the socket while you tighten the snot out of the adjusting nut (I can't ever seem to hit the +100 lbs of torque called for) before loosening them. Costs about $40 for both sides for the set of four bearings and races (Rock Auto) and a set of two new inner grease seals.

John B.

 

[snare]

I have the ADD chromoly idler arm set, all new TREs, ball joints, and pitman arm ready to go in as soon as it is warm enough. I want to do the bearings too.

 

['round n' back again]

a hillbilly bearing race driver: take the old bearing race you have just removed, and take the grinder to the outside circumference. remove a little metal.
this race will slide easily into the hub. use it to seat the new races.
b4 u do this make sure your race step inside the hub is clear of dirt and grease.

another trick. Hubs will go out of round sometimes, and bearing races are not out of round. heat the hub in the oven or with torch.

another tip. if the race don't fit tight, then dimple inside of the hub/spindle with a punch.
this dimple will between the race and the hub or the bearing and the spindle, will hold the race from turning. often you will see this problem with seized bearing that have run without grease (water intrusion).

this is more effective than sleeve retainer as the bearing will be easier to remove.

i never did find a socket that fit my bearing lock nut. where did you get one?

 

[coffeegoat]

A trick I've used to get the bearings to fit is a combo of the previous mentioned methods - heating the hub and freeze the bearing. The hub can be heated oven or torch, but if you really want to freeze the bearing, go buy some dry ice and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. The dry ice alcohol bath will cool the bearing to -109°F, which is way better than your standard freezer. You'll have to work fast to keep them cold, but it works brilliantly.

 

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

The hub socket is a GM 6-point socket with four of the points ground off, leaving one at 12-o'clock and one at six-o'clock. It works, mostly.

John B.

 

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

I hope you guys are talking solely about freezing bearing RACES, not the bearings themselves. There should never be a problem fitting bearings into races already properly seated.
And if you're packing bearings properly, water intrusion isn't going to cook them; it's not even going to reach them. Trust, I've never had a Montero bearing spin in a race and I've never had one come apart rusty or pitted because of what I did when I put them in. Don't be shy with the grease. I've pushed waves with the top of my hood that sits on top of a 2" body lift riding on 35" tires and the running gear isn't what suffers...the drive belt's idler/tensioner pulleys and the alternator on the other hand...

John B.

 

[Sabre]

The bearings are not hard to seat on our Monties. You won't need to freeze anything; they just slip in.

I documented this on my Gen III here: http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/147406-Replacing-Front-Wheel-Bearings-on-Gen-III?highlight=wheel

 

['round n' back again]

if they slip too easily then the dimple method must be employed to prevent spinning of race/bearing.
in fact i would go as far as to say dimple the outer bearing seat on the spindle as a matter of course.

 

['round n' back again]

I hope you guys are talking solely about freezing bearing RACES, not the bearings themselves. There should never be a problem fitting bearings into races already properly seated.
And if you're packing bearings properly, water intrusion isn't going to cook them; it's not even going to reach them. Trust, I've never had a Montero bearing spin in a race and I've never had one come apart rusty or pitted because of what I did when I put them in. Don't be shy with the grease. I've pushed waves with the top of my hood that sits on top of a 2" body lift riding on 35" tires and the running gear isn't what suffers...the drive belt's idler/tensioner pulleys and the alternator on the other hand...

John B.

now wait a second, every post of yours I've read, has been right on, but this one stumps me. the idea of packing properly with grease and water never even getting to them.!!

i wish i had been as lucky that way, like the time my front driver wheel on my tonner ranch truck came off in a turn, a month after the flood of 2007....

im pretty sure i don't understand how you kept water and related debris from getting into the hub.
i would love to know how.i could imagine packing the hub plumb full of grease will leave less cavity for water to reside, but the emulsification of water trapped in grease is what causes the trouble.

 

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

Ever tried to clean a bearing packed with grease in water? Doesn't work. Water isn't going to displace the grease - at all. It takes a solvent, like gasoline to dislodge it. Just pack your bearings thoroughly, drop them into the races, tap in the inner seals, seat the bearings per the FSM and drive. You'll have other water-intrusion related issues long before it affects your wheel bearings, at least in my experience. Your mileage may vary.

John B.

 

['round n' back again]

wow my mileage did vary.

Every time i have a known case of water intrusion, i change bearing grease. im generally very cautious in sealing the bearing. which provides a double cut, its sealed up good, but i dont know the condition of the bearing due to the Seal!

what i have found is that the moisture is rolled into the grease and actually trapped in pockets of grease , like rolling water into bread dough, where it
oxidizes, and causes the release of hydrogen
reduces film strength,
contributes to oxidation and corrosion and
carries microbial debri into the bearing which left to play out will reduce the grease capacity to hold a lubricating film. its also a key element in formation of rust.

and of course grease floats on water., meaning if water does get near the bearing it will lift the grease from the bearing surface breaking the film adhesion.

 

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

Sounds reasonable and well thought out, R and B. I just never have had any issue with my wheel bearings on my Monteros and I've been in lots of water. Taken apart lots of other people's hubs, too and haven't seen that issue, but it certainly makes sense.

John B.

 

['round n' back again]

Sounds reasonable and well thought out, R and B. I just never have had any issue with my wheel bearings on my Monteros and I've been in lots of water. Taken apart lots of other people's hubs, too and haven't seen that issue, but it certainly makes sense.

John B.

you rock !
now if i could learn to upload foto....