wheel bearing question

[91rangerxlt]

ok guys. how do i tell if i got a wheel bearing going out/out. i know my front passenger wheel locked up cruising around 20mph. backed up a bit and it was fine till we got into town. regreased the hub and bearings and it still makes a little noise. what do you all think?

 

[ranger_mclaren]

Well, you should hae been able to tell when you had it apart, but once it's all together and hub tighted to spec put wheel on and tighten lugnuts, take the wheel at 9 and 3 and start rocking back and forth if you feel some play in it they would probly need replaced it should be snug. (try going from 12 and 6 as well) make sure you replace both sides too, on my truck the the inner bearing on both sides was the ones I needed to replace. But when it comes to wheel locking up might want to check your rotor or caliper. I ran my bearing down to nothing and it never locked the wheel up but your truck is newer so I'm not sure. Heres what was left of mine after some weekend wheeling: (don't be stupid and let it get this bad if i wasn't so far from my tools when it was really bad I would had fixed it sooner)

[the Inner part was the only part left of it I had to cut it off with a angle grinder, I had to grind the shaft down to fit a new one on. Because it warped.

 

[91rangerxlt]

yea you can grab the wheel when its jacked up and with the lug nuts tight it will wiggle a little bit. does it on both sides. ill get some wheel bearings when i get paid and put em in and see if that does the trick.

 

[canyoncritter]

rockauto.com has the best price, 10 bucks for timken's.(atleast the last time I looked)......and goolde, rock auto coupon, and you will find a 5 or 10% off discount code.

might also want to check your ball joints, as those can get some play in them and make you think its a wheel bearing...

 

[91rangerxlt]

how hard is it to replace wheel bearings? im starting to think its my break caliper on the passenger side. if you turn it sounds like somethings rubbing.

 

[ranger_mclaren]

Not too hard only problem you may have is finding hub nut socket but, Advanced Auto parts you can rent a set of different sizes and the one for the rangers is in there.
(Going off the top of my head on this so bear with me )
-Just pull off wheel,
remove caliper,
then pull off hub,
then remove hub nut with socket there are two,
next would be a c-clip then a series of washers,
next would be a bigger sloted washer then a couple of large washers,
next should be outter beaing then pull off rotor inner bearing should come with it pluse rear seal unless it's really bad like mine and it'll stay on shaft.
(make sure you lay everything out in the order you remove it so you can put back on in correct order)
now the top part of the bearing is pressed into the rotor and it'll need to be pressed out but mine looked tobe in good shape so i didn't worrie about'em
make sure you pack new bearings really good and put back together I always clean and recover all the washers and parts in new grease.
but... I have manul hubs if yours are automatic hubs I've heard those are more difficult and I've never replaced those.
Good luck
Guess it would have just been easier to post this but O'well:
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Summer2003/ChangingBearingsInManualHubs.htm

 

[91rangerxlt]

they are manual hubs. what will happen if i dont fix it and it is my wheel bearings?

 

[ranger_mclaren]

Probly simular to what happened to me just wear down to nothing, you'll have lots of shaking, with grinding noises the bearing will warp the shaft from getting very hot, possibly so bad you'll half to replace it too. Mine warped but I didn't think it was bad enough that it needed replaced had to cut bearing off, too warped to remove then had to grind shaft down to put new one on.

 

[91rangerxlt]

hmm. im not thinking its the wheel bearing. im thinking it has to do with the breaks.

 

[ranger_mclaren]

Yea I've heard of bad breaks locking up a wheel before, I've only had one car I let go real bad 'cause I couldn't afford to fix at the time didn't have any issues of exept of course brake skeel and lack of brakes, but i've heard it happening to friends. If your not machanicly inclined and it's ok if your not you might want run your truck by your local garage to have it checked out to save you in the long run.

Edit check this out too: http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54039