need help quick bad wheel bearing?

[dhughins]

was diving in town today and noticed a slight squeal coming from front passenger side. then all of a sudden it pulled hard to the right. after that it feels like brakes lost a lot of their stopping power. i pulled over and smoke was coming out of front wheel center cap. i removed center cap and the cover for the wheel bearings fell off. it's all black in there like burned up grease and stinks.

i suspect a bad wheel bearing, but would that affect the stopping power?
i'm gonna have to leave it parked in town over night and go back in the morning (i hope it's still there) to try and replace wheel bearing. I just installed disc brakes a few weeks ago and maybe didn't get it packed good. what do i need to take with me to remove the wheel bearing? i remember hammering the rear one in will it need to be pressed out? maybe a right sized socket and hammer?

[dhughins]

i went and got new bearings, cant get to the truck til the morning. the new ones look like this. i dont remember there being a race with the ones i put in before?

[rsavage]

There is an inner bearing and race, an outer bearing and race, and a grease seal. If your outer bearing is destroyed, chances are there are metal fragments in the hub. Needs to be removed and washed out thoroughly in a parts washer, inner bearing inspected closely. Race installation tools (discs) are better than sockets, but I've used correctly sized sockets myself before. Did you get the number off the bearing in order to get the right one since it has non stock hubs on it now with the disc conversion?

[dhughins]

i called ECE and Stan gave me the part numbers. do i have to use the race?

lm48548 and m12649 he said parts for a 1971.

these are timken, the others were national maybe they were all 1 piece?

[dhughins]

when you say hub you mean the inner rotor or the spindle?

[PanelDeland]

It's best to use the race.Most bearings are "matched".That said,I have used the old race before but will not again( some beariing co schooling).To properly hand pack a bearing,start with a glob of grease in the palm of your hand.Press the flat side of the bearing(part with rollers) with the side in the pic down and press the bearing thru the grease.Continue doing this until grease comes out the side that is up.You need to do this all the way around the bearing.Don't pack the entire cavity with grease,this is overgreasing and will cause premature failure.I have learned that more bearings fail from over-greasing than undergreasing.

[PanelDeland]

He means the inside of the rotor.However you should clean both really well,dirt or grit will kill a bearing.

[68gmsee]

Yes, replace the race with the bearing. If you don't, you may be repeating the process some time in the future.

[425HP409]

You didn't have races when you did the conversion because the new rotors came with them installed. There is a chance that the outer bearing will be "Welded" to the spindle, or the race will have "Spun" in the rotor. If the bearing is welded to the spindle, it will have to be cut off and the spindle inspected to see if it can be used again. If the outer race has spun in the rotor, the rotor will have to be replaced. This is not a repair that you want to attempt on the side of the road. Having the truck taken to an experienced mechanic would be your best bet. As far as the cause, if the bearing were packed with grease it was most likely caused by the spindle nut being tightened too tight. To properly tighten the spindle nut, snug it while turning the rotor, then back it off so that the cotter pin will go in. Good Luck.
Charles

[oklalawnboy]

I understand about maybe tightening the nut too tight causing the bearing to fail.... What I'm wondering about is why did you have to hammer the inner bearing in? It should have sat in the race and held in place by the rear grease seal.

[dhughins]

http://www.earlyclassic.com/images/c...y1998pg3-8.gif



14. The bearings need to be liberally packed with high temperature wheel bearing grease, along with the spindle pin itself. The inner bearing installs into the rotor and is followed by the inner grease seal, which needs to be tapped gently into place.
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[dhughins]

Lightly tapped is what I meant not hammered. Sure.

[dhughins]

well ended up having to call a local shop that's open on saturdays. they are working on it now to try and get the welded bearing off without damaging the spindle.

this brings me to another question. How many of y'alll ever take your project truck to a mechanic? I know I don't sound too smart with some of my post, but I'm learning. I like asking questions on here so I don't waste time. I don't have a lot of expierence and some of y'all do. With the last 2 problems i've had someone has posted for me to take it to a mechanic. I thought that was sacreligious. What is y'alls opinion?

[PanelDeland]

If it's brakes,suspension or steering and you don't know what you're doing,take it to a pro.There's more than what the truck is worth riding on it.If you have a mentor that will walk you thru something,then by all means learn what you can from them.We all learned by doing or by being taught.We all started where you are though I suspect some of us were raised in a manner where it was second nature to fix it yourself.

[PanelDeland]

Originally Posted by oklalawnboy

I understand about maybe tightening the nut too tight causing the bearing to fail.... What I'm wondering about is why did you have to hammer the inner bearing in? It should have sat in the race and held in place by the rear grease seal.

The inner(rotor side) race should be a press (or interference fit).The spindle side will be held in by the seal until installed.

[dhughins]

Well $250 later and she's fixed, but the wife is hotter than !@#$ right now.
that was all really labor I already had new bearings and seals, they had to repack them cause they said the grease i used wasn't up to snuff. they went ahead and did the drivers side also since the same grease was used on it. told me to come back in 1oo miles for a recheck.

here are some broke pictures.

[VWNate1]

OUCH ! .

If you google " wheel bearing service " I know there's a lot of videos , watch a bunch and listen to the guys here , it's not terribly difficult , I'm amazed you were able to ignore the vibration in the steering wheel and the rumbling noise it made as that outer bearing went dry and ground itself to death ~ it takes time and always gives lots of warning .

You can do this , not to worry .

Next time when you replace the brake pads , you can practice .

[dhughins]

It didn't take long for it to go. Cause I just put them in there a couple of weeks ago when I did a disc brake conversion. The first sign I had was a little squeal that I first heard Friday, a couple hours before it broke. It sounded like a brake squeal. It didn't feel funny at all til it broke. I had an alignment done on Monday and it all felt fine. The place that did the work on it said my bearing grease wasn't good enough. I used Coastal high temp bearing grease I picked up at Autozone.
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