tapered bearings for 2006 ranger?

[adsm08]

referencing the outer bearing. if the inner race has a couple of thou's between it and the spindle, how is pressing a flat washer/nut up against it going to eliminate side to side play?
What about in and out play? taken care of by the pressure from the nut.
slight side to side/rocking play? those couple of thou's are multiplied by the distance to the outer edge of the wheel and may be noticible.

I'm not saying there is absolutely no movement of the wheel due to clearances.

I'm saying that the level of play there on a properly adjusted bearing should be so little that you can't feel it when you grab the tire.

Obviously that may not be 100% true if you have huge tires, but I don't, and I can't feel any movement when I grab mine and shake them.

lets not forget that both inner races don't stay exactly aligned as they were installed, they can rotate slowly and cause wear on the load side/bottom of the spindle.

Which is why you are supposed to have some grease on the inner race as well. It keeps water out and prevents heating and galling of the inner race and spindle surfaces.

If you ever want to know what happens when you don't grease, send a PM to mudseeker. He doesn't post much, but has some first hand experience driving with ungreased front bearings.

 

[killj0y]

I would just change them. That reminds me I do need to change them lol. Damn...