Project X = Wheel Bearing Issues

...Today I took the pass side off and pulled the broke axle shaft out...The inner bearing had showed some heat and I could not get the spindle nut off with a cheater...I broke it too...

...I have never had a spindle nut problem on the Ranger and until this weekend, never tightened, loosened, or replaced them...

...I say this as I was thinking maybe I was over tightening them on the X...I have noticed that the bigger (thickness) rear nut always goes on nice and easy while the smaller nut seems a little off thread in spots when they are newer...:scratch:

Edit: ...:shifty_ey ...I don't know who done it but, that is perfect...

...I figured out that I was snapping stock Dana 35 outer nuts...They are thinner than the replacement part Spicer kit pn# 28068X which in fact come back to a Dana 44 replacement part...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232754

..Spicer part on the left and stock Dana 35 on the right...

Good luck with this! I have only had minor issues like these... well, not so minor... I was snapping lug studs like crazy on the passenger side due to the nuts walkin out and gettin a wobble to the rotor. Its not an easy feeling driving on 2 lug studs on opposite sides of the hub.

Have you tried different wheels? My issues started when I got the 15x10 steelies and stopped when I went back to my 15x8 Ultras. The 35's may not be helping much either...

Just giving you different ideas to experiment with...

...Yea, I had resolved my spindle nut loosening problem about a year ago...and I recently resolved the cracked outer spindle nuts...I'm all good for now...

I just found this thread;

I have had a few outer nuts develop cracks, but never split like yours are doing. I have the Warn manual conversion nut kit and it seems pretty sturdy. I must have three complete sets of inner-lock washer-outer nuts. Warn replaces them for free, but sends the entire kit. I have not had any problems with wheel bearing in a long time. I think the last time I lost a wheel bearing was about four-five years ago. I had not checked them in a long time and went out for a day run. As soon as I hit the highway I heard the familiar buzzing sound from right-front. Made it home and replaced the bearings. I always keep two complete sets all greased up and ready to go, in that little storage compartment where the jack used to be.
Every season, I repack the bearings. Winter suggested using lock-tite (blue) on the outer nut, which has worked great for me. You have to use a little disc brake cleaner on the spindle and nut to make sure there is no grease on them.

..WARNING...

..Valuecraft Bearings that were $10 at Autozone are total JUNK...:thumbdwn:

...Through all of that abuse, my bearings have held up fine...And these are the $10 a piece bearings I found at autozone...

Click to expand...

..^^^That is a quote from me in post 88 of this thread and is no longer a true statement...I had to look this back up since I had only put a couple hundred city miles on my truck since I had another bearing failure back in August...

...I pulled the X out of it's long slumber since my accident and used it as a trailer puller for work...I drove 15 miles on the freeway and parked it...Worked till 10:30 at night and jumped into the X when I shortly noticed a hub buzz...

...Pulled over about five houses down and realized I would have to repair it where it sits the next day...I had previously installed new bearings a couple months back with one Timken and the spare pos Valuecraft to just get rid of it as I new I would replace them again before it went Wheeling next season...

...This time there was no sound or warning of any kind and yes, top quality bearing grease was used and this was an empty vehicle and trailer...In Fact, the Timken inner bearing looked Immaculate and the Valucraft exploded like the last time, and I mean exploded...

...The trailer I was towing before I tore down the 12x30 covered patio...


...Carnage pics...and those small pieces are actually the remnants of the Dana 44 spindle nuts...



...And it totally trashed the snout...I just sold a pair of snouts off 4 days earlier for $40 bucks and when this happened I could not find any...Well, I found out the Toyota guys are buying the Dana 35 spindles out for race trucks so, I found 1 complete spindle down in San Juan Capistrano for $100 bucks so I could get the X and rented trailer home...I also had to buy a brand new rotor with the races already pressed in...


...When I jacked the truck up the wheel literally fell off as there was nothing at all holding it there.....Even though there was scarring where the outer bearing was, both races came right off...The quick heat was so bad it actually warped my Warn hub so I'm looking for spares if anyone has any locally...

...Let this be a lesson to all those who thing they are getting a bargain with Valuecraft bearings...

You might want to replace the pre-pressed-in bearing races in your new rotors.

I left some in a brand new Napa rotor - they ate a set of Timken bearings. Seems the races were made in china quality (last time I buy a Napa rotor, too.)

...How many miles before that happened??..Hopefully it lasted a lot longer than these pos bearings...

...The left side will be getting new bearings and dust cover (only) soon also, although they are not needed yet but just doing maintenance...

I'll have to look to see how long they lasted - I think less than 20K...

Thanks for posting info on bearings. Gotta go back and look at my build thread to check on what make bearings I used on the D44.
I priced a new spindle from ford when one of my bearings went out on my old D35...$300+
Went to junk yard and pulled some. Still have a spare used one hanging on my garage wall.

So what is the Best of the Best bearings to use? It just seems even the best stuff like Moog are being outsourced to forging countries.
I bought two identical bearings from Timken and one made in USA and the other side in Mexico...

rookieshooter said:

...So what is the Best of the Best bearings to use? ...

Click to expand...

I use Timken - only. I have used some not-made-in-USA parts, and have not noticed any shorter lifespan.

However, I really push/look for made-in-USA.

I go to a bearing shop to get my bearings. They are supposed to be better timkens but i know every set i have gotten from them has USA on them

~Mark

OK, guys made a mistake. I went back to my collection of parts containers that I used on my SAS. I was wrong. These bearings are for one side only, an inner and an outer.
I replaced the old Timken with these from NAPA. One from Mexico and the other of all places from Germany.
How in the world (literally) do you control quality control?
It will be interesting to see how they hold up.
The other side still has the old Timken bearings in there which seemed to be fine.

...Timkens are pretty darn good bearings but that is interesting to see yours being from two other countries...

...But in my defense I had mentioned earlier I was going to try the El Cheapo's since Timkens had gone up to $20 plus tax a piece last year...I figured they would be at least good for trail spares but I wouldn't even want these things around me...

...When I just did the repairs the Timkens were now 14.99 a piece..

...Picked up another pair for the left side today and they were $15.99 a piece ...And another dust seal for the left side..(not shown)

$11 from RockAuto...

...I had to add this as I looked at the Timken dust seal today...At least the bearings are U.S. Made...

I've used those before.

I try to buy National seals whenever possible - they are made in USA.

Scott B. said:

I use Timken - only. I have used some not-made-in-USA parts, and have not noticed any shorter lifespan.

However, I really push/look for made-in-USA.

Click to expand...

Some are made outside the US..
I purchased a set of Timken "knuckle" bearings for one of my veh. Inscribed "Made in Brazil"

in the words of my hero Lois Black: "Un-b-f*cking-leavable" how Autozone can continually sling this Chinese crap they call a bearing is beyond me. I almost died this week because of these valueCRAP bearings that failed in less than 3 months.... Put em on in September it is now November (hell actually LESS than 3 months!) and they seized on my truck Wed nite on my way home from work...read here: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298275

FYI they were torqued to spec and packed with M1 wheel bearing grease (been doing this since I was 15-now 32) Total BS!