Wheel Bearing Replacement

[ribbert]

........but I am smarter than the subcontracted temporary independent contractor bearing packer machine operator.........

How long do you reckon it's been since a machine to pack bearings on a production line was manually operated, 20, 30 ....50 years?
I have replaced thousands of bearings and I agree with those that say they don't appear to have enough grease in them, but the evidence is overwhelming, they do!

I have said here many times you need a pretty good case to challenge the R&D departments and engineers of major manufacturers. Yes, they get it wrong sometimes but then everybody knows about it when they do, I've never heard of such a thing with sealed bearings.

Having said that, I only buy from specialty trade bearing suppliers whose ongoing existence depends entirely on the quality of the goods they sell.

Note: I refer only to brand name bearings (or at least from a reputable supplier), I'm sure there's plenty of rubbish out there. On the other hand, I recently found "Timken" bearings in a cheap and nasty product which surprised me.


For those of you not convinced and who like something to worry about, those sealed for life steering and suspension components in the front end of your car only have a fly speck of grease in them too.

Sometimes you've just gotta have faith that these guys know more about their product than you do, it's their business, unless they give you reason to think otherwise.

Noel

[FJ_Hooligan]

Do whatever you want.  My concern is that some youngster, new to FJ's and learning the ways of maintenance and repair, might read your bad advice and think it's true.  Because it SOUNDS like good advice.  But it's not.  "More" is not always "Better."

Or still another way to look at it:  You're smarter than some bearing engineer that has dedicated his life to designing, testing, and evaluating bearings?  Nah, I don't think so...  

I never said I was smarter than anyone.  I was only relating an experience that I thought people could learn from and you say it's bad advice.  I have no doubt that the bearing industry has invested considerable effort in determining the absolute minimum amount of grease that's adequate for a given application.  It's directly related to their bottom line.  For 2 minutes of my time and a fraction of a penny of grease, I can guarantee that the bearing has at least an adequate amount.  I've never seen or heard of a wheel bearing that failed for too much grease?  Anyone?

If it was some turbine bearing that spins at 35000RPM, then packing it full of grease would be bad advice.  But we're talking a wheel bearing application.  More grease in a wheel bearing is far better than not enough.  I've had plenty of successful experience with wheel bearings that are filled 100%.  On my trailer the fitting pumps grease to the rear bearing and pushes it forward filling the whole hub until it gets to the front bearing.  And guess what?  When I come off the highway after running 70 to 80 MPH for a couple of hundred miles, the hubs are NOT smoking and puking frothed up grease.  

And what of those original bearings that I "overfilled?"  They've been serving me just fine for the last 14 years.  Yes, it may be overkill and yes I do over think anything that relates to my motorcycles.  Over thinking everything on a motorcycle helps keep me alive.  You are, of course, free to ignore anything I may say.  If you don't think it's worth the effort to inspect a bearing before installation, then that's fine. But unless you have evidence that proves I'm wrong (and I'll grant you that a "bearing expert" would probably call it "unnecessary") then you are just substituting your opinion for mine.  And that doesn't help anyone.



Noel, I was shocked to find out my wife's suburban had sealed front hub "assemblies" rather then the conventional separate bearing and hub arrangement.  And I would agree that they have very little grease in them.  After listening to the right front hub moan and groan on a trip to Colorado I took it to the local Firestone (where I unfortunately bought new tires from) for them to rotate the tires and "check the front end."  Sure enough, the hub assembly was junk.  They wanted almost $500 to replace it.  Looking through a repair manual I decided to do the job myself.  Spent a fraction of their quoted cost and even bought a spare assembly.  That proved to be a wise choice since the left side hub failed the next year.  Had I been able to service the bearings when I replaced the brakes, I probably would not have had a problem.  The manufacturer turned $10 (for new seals) and an afternoon spent repacking wheel bearings into an inconvenient and expensive repair.  Spinning the old assembly, I could feel and hear the bearings grinding.  When I removed the speed sensor metal powder poured out of the opening.  

Perhaps it was just too much grease?

[4everFJ]

Do you also take your chain apart to check that there is enough grease behind alle the o-/x-rings...

[FJ_Hooligan]

4everFJ, thank you for contributing 2 worthless posts to what should be an otherwise informative thread that people might actually learn something from.  

Your awesome +1 and single comment really bring the message home.  Bravo!

I never said the bearing industry didn't know what they were doing, I simply presented a method for avoiding being the person that gets the one in a million bearing that may have a grease problem.

[4everFJ]

In case you don't know, +1 means that you agree with someone, without the need to explain further.

About the chain reference.... Geeez..., not much humor there.. I'm out..