My wheel bearings were loose

[wrcsixeight]

I replaced them no more than 10k miles ago on my '89 dodge b250 van.

There was about 1/8 inch of play at the tire tread on 30x9.5x15 tires

Pressed for time, I wound up just tightening them slightly until there was no play and reinstalling the cotter pin.

I feel I should have removed, cleaned and inspected the bearings for wear, but am just too pressed for time, and money.

There was not any play 500 miles ago. There is no wheel bearing noise.

Should I expect to have to replace the bearings in the near, or far future?

 

[Donald]

Do the roller bearings in wheels like these actually wear out, or does the grease get contaminated with dirt or water and that does in the bearings? My Dad would wipe all the grease off the ouside of the bearing and look over the rollers for rust or a non smooth surface.

 

[yonyon]

Are you running oversized tires? That can cause excess wear of bearings and spindles. Either way, be sure to clean and repack those bearings. If you see a rust color to the old grease you need to replace the bearings and the grease seal.

 

[wrcsixeight]

The tires are marginally larger than stock tire size.

On my previous set of bearings, well the bearings were slightly discolored, but the races were pitted. I bought new rotors and installed new bearings at that point.

Guess it is time to get some new seals and hope for the best

 

[bluestream]

The bearings should last more than 10K miles. You need to clean them and repack them now and then. They should never wear out IMO, except for the large tires...

 

[mechtech2]

Also. temperature is VERY important for consistent end play readings.
They may not have changed as much s you think.
And some seating did occur.
Check them again in 5K.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Finally got around to inspection. My driving has been very limited since the Original Post, but I am bothered it took me so long to get A round Tuit.


I installed these Timkins bearings on new Duralast rotors and races in early '07 and ~10k miles ago. The Duralast rotors came with races installed, and I apparently convinced myself that the races had to be identical, so I used the duralast races with Timkin bearings

.

In the last 2 months since the original post, I started getting bearing noise on my passenger side, but today I removed the driver's side rotor first.

While cleaning, I noticed I could spin the outer race in the rotor with my gloved fingers. Look close and you can see the shiny ring that half wore away the lettering proudly indicating country of origin.

There seem to be very strong opinions on how much grease to pack in the hub. I remember my friend influenced me to the lighter side at the time, and while these bearings failed, I do not think there was starvation going on. Never the less, the new bearings will have more than this in the hub:

On first glance at bearings and races, before I noticed the spinning race, I thought I was going to get away with a cleaning and repacking, but then I cleaned them further, and took these photos, and after looking at them on my laptop at full size, I decided that would not suffice. The grease was conventional valvoline p# w614.

Looking at the wear pattern, I believe the Duralast races were tapered slightly differently than the Timkin bearings.


I do wonder if the rotor that had the spinning race is worthy of new races and bearings. It is as far as the braking surface goes. The race was spinning so smoothly in the rotor... I never removed a race before so have no basis for comparison, until tomorrow when I remove the other races.

 

[Donald]

You do know how to grease a wheel bearing correct?

The grease in the hub is not all that important, its the grease in the bearing that is important.

Your using wheel bearing grease as opposed to chassis grease?

The bearing should have been used with the included race.

 

[Kestas]

The pictures don't show anything wrong with the bearings. What caught my attention is the dark grease next to the clean grease. Was the grease cleaned out completely before regreasing? Or is the dark grease next to the seal? I'm wondering if the seal did its job.

 

[wrcsixeight]

The seals were replaced the same time as the bearings, they were doing their job There was no contamination in the hub, all the old grease was removed. The grease is dark because it is burned.

No way are these bearings going back in. They were not riding in the dead center of the races, and almost each one shows more wear on one end of the roller and race than the other side indicating to me the races and bearings were not a good match, and I was a fool for presuming the races which came in the duralast rotors would be fine with Timkin bearings and wish to alert others who might foolishly assume the same thing, and be where I am now, walking to Napa for some SKF's

 

[Cardenio327]

Originally Posted By: Donald
The bearing should have been used with the included race.


^This^

Always use the new race included with the new bearing. The races in the rotor are Chinese garbage; they are just there for customers who throw a fit when an estimate for new rotors includes new bearings. Even if I were to install used bearings in new rotors I would still knock the old races out of the old rotors and install them in the new rotors.

The grease that turned black looks like two incompatible greases were mixed, as said by others above.

The ideal amount of grease is about 30% of the hub's void space; too much grease would make the cap pop off or grease to push through the seal. The important thing is that the bearing rollers are properly packed, also noted above by others. Not enough grease in the hub shouldn't be a problem as long as the rollers are well packed, it is just in there to prevent corrosion.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
The pictures don't show anything wrong with the bearings. What caught my attention is the dark grease next to the clean grease. Was the grease cleaned out completely before regreasing? Or is the dark grease next to the seal? I'm wondering if the seal did its job.

The rollers are scratched up is what I see.

 

[Kestas]

This "scratching" is actually normal for a used taper or cylindrical bearing. What you call scratching are actually bands of abrasive microdebris denting. They make for pretty pictures using SEM magnification. It's difficult to have a perfectly clean bearing cavity. There will always be some contaminant. This type of wear is excessive when the length of the rollers develop waves that can be seen in the reflected light.

The passenger side inner appears to be in good enough condition to be put back in service.

The passenger side outer rollers may have a darkened surface. It's hard to tell if it's the part that's dark or if it's an artifact of the lighting. If it's truly dark, then this bearing should be retired from service.

 

[2oldtommy]

There is heat damage to the bearing labeled 'passenger side outter'. Notice the change in color of the rollers. Some of the other photos show a lesser amount of discoloration. FWIW--Oldtommt

 

[wrcsixeight]

There was only one grease used. The dark grease is simply burnt or turned black from wear.

I got all new SKF bearings and races installed with valvoline synpower vv986. Which is charcoal black BTW. Yes they grease was pushed through the bearing till it squeezed out the other side. Oh so satisfying to do that. Took extra precautions to prevent contamination.

Some of the photos were adjusted for maximum contrast, But the discoloration noted exists on more than just the PS outer, it is just most pronounced on that photo.

The striations were not nearly so apparent until I sprayed them down with brake cleaner. I wonder if that removed the moly or other ep agents

All quiet now.