Are front wheel bearings adjustable?

[Bennyt]

2 things...

If you are running a large or heavy wheel/ tire, usually larger than 20's, you may need to upgrade your drop spindle to a CPP X10 or Wilwood as they use a hub assembly which mostly resolves this issue.

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While I have some expensive torque wrenches...I typically use a inexpensive beam type for anything critical as they are usually the most accurate. You can check your torque wrench by putting a 5/8??? socket on it and testing it against another torque wrench. Mount one in vise and use the other to turn it. Also, many tool trucks and all machine shops should have a torque wrench calibrator.

 

[Bextreme04]

Anyone know how much it costs to have a mechanic do this job? Goofle says $50 - $300.

I'd like to do everything myself, but I don't have a torque wrench to set the bearing pre-load. And I don't trust the rentals when it comes to a torque wrench. It's probably been dropped 100 times. So if the cost of the wrench is cheaper than paying someone to do it, then I'd much rather buy the wrench and do it all myself. These days you can get a good digital torque wrench (Gearwrench brand) for $200.

Just use a rental one. As others have said, you are only trying to get them fully seated and it doesn't need to be precise. You need to tighten it while spinning the hub in the opposite direction. Generally it will be something like "Tighten to 50 ft-lbs, then back off 1/2 turn, then tighten to 15 ft-lbs." Once you get it to the second torque spec, you then back it off 1/8 turn and insert the locking tab or pin. If it doesn't immediately line up you keep backing it off a bit to lock it in.

The final back off and lock in place is to give the bearings a very slight clearance. They need to have this clearance to allow for heat expansion when you start driving, otherwise it will get super tight when it heats up and ruin the wheel bearings.

 

[Dryriver1]

Hello to all the GMSB Buddies. I hope all is well.

This wouldn't involve replacing the races, would it? Seems like you'd only replace the seal.

If you keep the same bearing you can keep the same race and just replace the inner seals IMHO.

Maybe others with more experience can chime in.

 

[Dryriver1]

Yes even timken. I would bet a few bucks that if you grab some timken wheel bearings for your truck from the local parts store and open them up, they will be stamped China. That's not to say they are garbage. They are built to timken's strict specifications.
IMO though, i would (trust) be more comfortable with the originals if they were not showing defects.

Hello @Buck69. I hope all is well.
I have been slowly working on my 1984 Chevy K10.

I have ordered all the front end bearings and seals including the carrier bearings and differential seals all from Amazon.

I ordered All Timken brand.

ALL the bearings are stamped Made in USA.
Only the seals were stamped Made in Taiwan, but they do seem to be of very high quality.

Be well and stay safe out there.
Best wishes to you and all of your loved ones always!

Dryriver1

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Well here's some stuff you may not want to hear,

Some mechanic on another board said that SKF are all he uses anymore and that he's changed over 100 in his shop and never had a return on them. I believe rockauto sells them. Just FYI, because people have been saying Timken has fallen in quality. But they say it's vehicle specific, as though not all the Timken bearings have gone downhill.

Everyone blames all this quality loss we're seeing on the virus.

I never knew that people reused their old bearings. What does the repacking do to help? Where did the old grease go? Maybe they're just inspecting the bearings for wear, and you have to repack them after you do that.

 

[Dryriver1]

Well here's some stuff you may not want to hear,

Some mechanic on another board said that SKF are all he uses anymore and that he's changed over 100 in his shop and never had a return on them. I believe rockauto sells them. Just FYI, because people have been saying Timken has fallen in quality. But they say it's vehicle specific, as though not all the Timken bearings have gone downhill.

Everyone blames all this quality loss we're seeing on the virus.

I never knew that people reused their old bearings. What does the repacking do to help? Where did the old grease go? Maybe they're just inspecting the bearings for wear, and you have to repack them after you do that.

In my opinion the repacking and I have done that plenty of times is like changing your oil.

The grease does not go anywhere it just looses its viscosity and also you inspect the bearings for wear.

One thing I do is when I wash my bearings in gasoline to dilute the grease I place one of those neodymium rare earth magnets to see if there is metal in the grease and what size if any.
You would be surprised to see what you can catch with them. I do it on oil changes too.

 

[Bextreme04]

Well here's some stuff you may not want to hear,

Some mechanic on another board said that SKF are all he uses anymore and that he's changed over 100 in his shop and never had a return on them. I believe rockauto sells them. Just FYI, because people have been saying Timken has fallen in quality. But they say it's vehicle specific, as though not all the Timken bearings have gone downhill.

Everyone blames all this quality loss we're seeing on the virus.

I never knew that people reused their old bearings. What does the repacking do to help? Where did the old grease go? Maybe they're just inspecting the bearings for wear, and you have to repack them after you do that.

Repacking and adjusting taper wheel bearings is a standard service item. We did it based on mileage or time interval(whichever came first) on the military equipment that used them. The service manual for your squarebody almost assuredly has the same directions to service them every year or 10,000 miles(whichever comes first). Its a quick and easy process and I usually only do it every few years. I'd recommend doing it more often if you drive under "extreme" conditions like high heat, lots of dirt/dust, or lots of offroading.

When you repack the bearings, you wipe them as clean as possible on the outside, then as you press the fresh grease into one side of the bearing, it will push all of the old nasty grease out the other side. You will know you have packed it enough when clean grease comes out the other side.

I have used both Timken and SKF and had no issues on wheel bearings, transfer cases, and carrier/pinion bearings.

 

[PhotonFanatic]

When you repack the bearings, you wipe them as clean as possible on the outside, then as you press the fresh grease into one side of the bearing, it will push all of the old nasty grease out the other side. You will know you have packed it enough when clean grease comes out the other side.

Is there no possibility of reinstalling bad bearings? Could a bearing pass a visual inspection but still be bad?

Next question - How much did yall charge back when you were doing this job? I'm trying to see if I can justify the expense of buying the necessary tools to do it myself.

 

[Bextreme04]

Is there no possibility of reinstalling bad bearings? Could a bearing pass a visual inspection but still be bad?

Next question - How much did yall charge back when you were doing this job? I'm trying to see if I can justify the expense of buying the necessary tools to do it myself.

The bearings aren't bad unless they are visibly damaged(scars, nicks, chunks missing, huge scratches, etc..), they are literally falling apart, or they make a crunching type feeling when you spin them. If none of that is present, then they just need to be repacked and adjusted.

You shouldn't need to buy anything, just go down to your local autozone or O'reilly and rent the tools. You will need to pay for the tool up-front(I just use a credit card) and then when you return the tool they refund the entire amount back to you. You should only need a torque wrench and the proper spindle nut socket.

 

[PhotonFanatic]

The bearings aren't bad unless they are visibly damaged(scars, nicks, chunks missing, huge scratches, etc..), they are literally falling apart, or they make a crunching type feeling when you spin them. If none of that is present, then they just need to be repacked and adjusted.

You shouldn't need to buy anything, just go down to your local autozone or O'reilly and rent the tools. You will need to pay for the tool up-front(I just use a credit card) and then when you return the tool they refund the entire amount back to you. You should only need a torque wrench and the proper spindle nut socket.

In your experience has repacking them ever solved the wheel clunk? When you rock the wheel side to side or top to bottom.

 

[sidschev]

In your experience has repacking them ever solved the wheel clunk? When you rock the wheel side to side or top to bottom.

wheel clunk as you say is bad ball joints plain an simple. replace them all

 

[Scott91370]

wheel clunk as you say is bad ball joints plain an simple. replace them all

Agree. If you're getting the movement in all directions it's ball joints.
If it were only in the left/right axis it's be tie rod ends.

 

[dvdswan]

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Good video, informative, but I believe he should have explained more about the inspection of the bearings. Always replace bearing and races together. Never mix/match them. You will get bearing noise.

This is an image of a S-10 but the parts are the same.

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[CalSgt]

wheel clunk as you say is bad ball joints plain an simple. replace them all

Agree. If you're getting the movement in all directions it's ball joints.
If it were only in the left/right axis it's be tie rod ends.

Hate to disagree on the interwebs but I’m gonna…

Shot bearings can “clunk” in every direction

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Hate to disagree on the interwebs but I’m gonna…

Shot bearings can “clunk” in every direction

That's what lead me to the bearings. If it clunks when you rock the wheel up and down, it's tie rods. Side to side is ball joints. But both ways... wheel bearings. Also I had the suspension shop check everything and all they could come up with was a worn pitman arm and idler arm. I had them replace the pitman arm, and I replaced the idler arm. They said everything else looked ok.

Maybe I have that backwards. Maybe clunking side to side is tie rods, and top to bottom is ball joints. Can't remember.

Just thought of something though - How do you set the load on the inner wheel bearing? There's no nut to tighten down where you can check the torque. Or does it also get set when you tighten the nut on the front?