Quick question on front rotors / wheel bearings

[Doppleganger]

More like a stupid question.

Getting ready to assemble the front rotors. One of the inner bearing is well packed with grease.....so after I smear some grease on the inner race and set it in - probably smear the whole spindle down good too? How far does the inner seal go in? Flush?

I've done many seals but never these - just dont want to screw this up. Always the little things.

Thx.

 

[FireTruck1984]

More like a stupid question.

Getting ready to assemble the front rotors. One of the inner bearing is well packed with grease.....so after I smear some grease on the inner race and set it in - probably smear the whole spindle down good too? How far does the inner seal go in? Flush?

I've done many seals but never these - just dont want to screw this up. Always the little things.

Thx.

I’m also doing this job soon, I’ll be looking for this to be answered.

 

[bucket]

Install the seal until it's flush with the hub surface. Pack the bearings with grease, the races and spindles don't really need anything then.

 

[Doppleganger]

Install the seal until it's flush with the hub surface. Pack the bearings with grease, the races and spindles don't really need anything then.

Thanks bucket....you da man.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[shiftpro]

I wipe my greasy hands off on the spindle just for rust protection.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Install the seal until it's flush with the hub surface. Pack the bearings with grease, the races and spindles don't really need anything then.

Do you mean pack the race as in smear some on them so that a greased bearing placed into all that would haves fair bit of “excess” smush out covering things but not littlerally packed full of course

a hub lock in 4x4 then needing a bit more for the added stuffs

 

[Octane]

I like to put a moderate amount of grease on the spindle and put a good gob of grease in the hub before putting it onto the spindle.I use a bearing packing device also. I've never had too much grease,and never too little.And I also repack every 12 to 15k on my 77k10.That stub axle bearing especially. Im the second owner and nary a problem.Also since I dont have the hublocks I put some grease on those splines and hub gears too

 

[bucket]

When I pack bearings, I get as much grease as I can squeezed into there. Then I glob a bunch of grease all around them and install them. It's how I was taught when I was young and it has always worked for me. The excess grease is enough to end up in the hub and keep the bearings all nice and greasy-like.

 

[Doppleganger]

FYI.....the inner lock ring (one that goes against the outer bearing) - the special socket for that is on sale at the moment at Advanced Auto. Most all those sockets are $22-36 each. The particular one for my 85 is on sale for $9.95 and seems to be of great quality. For that I picked it up - much easier to snug down in a controlled way than using needle nose pliers or screwdriver.

I picked the outer lock ring socket up there a couple months ago for $17 too.

 

[AuroraGirl]

I like to put a moderate amount of grease on the spindle and put a good gob of grease in the hub before putting it onto the spindle.I use a bearing packing device also. I've never had too much grease,and never too little.And I also repack every 12 to 15k on my 77k10.That stub axle bearing especially. Im the second owner and nary a problem.Also since I dont have the hublocks I put some grease on those splines and hub gears too

not related to the spindle on a truck but i got a new spindle for the john deere last year and the damn thing had a grease fitting, thats good. but bearing had its dust cover on the side where you pump in the grease. and it wasnt even greased either. that was funny, because if i didnt peel out the seal and pump that puppy with grease it would have been a very short, sad existence despite efforts to grease.

 

[Octane]

not related to the spindle on a truck but i got a new spindle for the john deere last year and the damn thing had a grease fitting, thats good. but bearing had its dust cover on the side where you pump in the grease. and it wasnt even greased either. that was funny, because if i didnt peel out the seal and pump that puppy with grease it would have been a very short, sad existence despite efforts to grease.

I had a sealed hub on a Challenger once that went bad at relatively low mileage.Being curious I pulled the sealed back cover on the hub to inspect the bad bearings and check to just see how much grease the factory had installed.There was very little grease in it and most of it was just stuck around the edges of the bearing carrier,bearings were pitted but no signs of overheating discoloration.Maybe I should have drilled and installed a zerk on the replacement sealed hub.

 

[Blue Ox]

Just an add-on thought. I always make sure the seal has a generous dose of grease where it rides on the spindle. Never put them on dry.

 

[AuroraGirl]

I had a sealed hub on a Challenger once that went bad at relatively low mileage.Being curious I pulled the sealed back cover on the hub to inspect the bad bearings and check to just see how much grease the factory had installed.There was very little grease in it and most of it was just stuck around the edges of the bearing carrier,bearings were pitted but no signs of overheating discoloration.Maybe I should have drilled and installed a zerk on the replacement sealed hub.

I got life out of worn parts by keeping up on them with grease. like a ball joint that the boot was just shot, the grease I used plus kinda sealed the boot back togetherwith a intentional part left not as secure, and it would split at the weak point in a fair time in the future
the grease would be icky anyway and then i pump it into the hole and it would seep out of the small imperfections elsehwere. went till now on my car lol. but trans,. rip.. not sure what a wheel bearing would do , that grease is special usually a polyurea on a sealed hub
john deere would be a good source for htat

 

[MrMarty51]

Professionally doing this types of work for over 30 years, for the DOT.
Pack them bearings until grease pushes out the opposite side from which You are packing the grease into.
Smear a light coating into the hub and onto the inner races. Just enough to prevent hubs from rusting. Smear the spindles with a nice light coating of grease and the seal area too.
Install the back bearing into the hub and drive in the seal.
Install the hub/drum onto the spindle and shove on the outer bearing and screw on the nut.
Tighten down the nut, rotating the hub/drum, tighten it down real tight while spinning the hub to force the excess grease from the bearings. NOW BACK OFF THAT NUT. Turn it down to about finger tight. Using fingers You will not get it too tight that it will burn out the bearings. If there is a cotter key, back the nut off until a slot in the nut aligns with the hole in the spindle. Never tighten the nut to make it align. You want a very slight movement between the hub and the spindle.
If there is an outer nut, leave the inner nut slightly loose. Install the outer nut so it is to torque spec. Now grab the hub/drum and pull out, push in, is there movement between spindle and hub ? Yes, back off outer nut, tighten inner nut slightly, repeat until a very slight bit of movement can be felt.
If the outer nut tightens the inner nut too much so no slack is felt, then slightly back off the in er nut and repeat the steps.

 

[MrMarty51]

Oh yeah, dont forget to put a nice smear of grease onto the seal.
Also, if that seal begins to leak, any excess grease can be forced out and make a mess of brake shoes and hardware contained within the drum area.