why am i eating wheel bearnings?

[Techmonster]

i have a 94 explorer 4wd with warn hubs on it. Ever since i went to the warn hubs about 10,000 miles ago i have just been eating wheel bearnings up.

Am i doing something wrong. I have replaced all four once, two a second time and now i have the same problem, not sure which bearning(s) now need replacing. I'm pulling it apart tomorrow to figure it out.

I am using good quality bearnings(timken's) and kendall blue grease. Is there something i should be looking at that casues these to go so often. Never had problems before, the races/cups are in fine shape. I just don't get it.

Thanks for any help that is offered!!!

 

[RiverRat]

I haven't had any problems with bearings after installing warn hubs. Make sure your preload is correct and everything is to specs. Replace the races if you replace the bearings. Check all the seals too.

 

[Rhett]

Is the grease leaking out?

 

[Rick]

Have your lock nuts been coming loose? That is a common problem for that front end. Once they come loose you eat bearings. If you can check them often and keep them tight the bearings hold up well.

Also, what size tires are you running?

 

[Chew_12]

How do you know if your wheel bearings are shot? Thanks

 

[Muskrat]

you'l know if the bearings are shot, the cage can be bent, worn, well, it's just an ugly mess when the bearing goes, little pieces of matel in the grease and all that good stuff

 

[Techmonster]

yes as a matter of fact my lock nuts have been coming loose. I've been tighting them to specks, but they always seem to back off. What is the deal. the grease is not oozing out of the seals or anything. I had one bearning that became destroyed(metal all over), and i've caught some of the other ones in time.

Can you over tighen the spindle nuts or something? I have never replaced the races beacsue there is absouletly no where what so ever on them. they look brand new with no scoring or anything.

this is really pissing me off

stock tires also

 

[455 Jet]

Do you do a lot of water wheeling? I tried the blue grease in my boat trailer bearings and I've noticed that it doesn't seem to work that well. The grease actually revoved itself from the bearings and clung to the inner hubs, leaving the bearings to fail.. I destroyed a set in about 3 weeks.

 

[tkauf]

Wheel Bearings

The Warn kits call for some really serious torque settings to tighten the lock nuts. When I changed mine out I didn't have the right size socket toll to use my torque wrench. I ended up hammering the lock nut on; not hard but I knew they were tight. Have not had a problem. Your Warn kit should have lock rings included that utilize the keyway on the shaft and are pinned. I can't see how they can come loose if they are torqued to spec it's like 150/lbs. Try this url http://www.glue.umd.edu/~singletn/web/pages/hubconv.html. I am wondering if you didn't get the outer nut torqued heavy enuf in the first place? Also some posts have said really oversized wheels and tires can increase the problem. Good luck.

 

[AlaskanJack]

Check your spindles next time they may have excessive wear

 

[Techmonster]

UPDATE AND MORE INFO NEEDED THANKS A BUNCH

I put the new inner bearing in, and torqued them to specs.(150lb on the outer like mentioned) Reassemblied everything fine and i am still getting a humming noise. I thought of something else i may noticed I have wrong...

The night before i noticed the noise(wheel bearning hum) i roated the tires(front to back) I noticed the humming noise the next day. Is there a possibilty i have a wear spot on the one tire i moved to the front from the back and i just can't hear the noise in the back because of the less weight on the rear of the vehicle and it is so small it only get picked up when the tire is on the front where all the weight is?

Thanks for everyone being so patient with me. I'm really trying to figure this one out becasue i leave for a 1200 mile trip into canada in two weeks and the last thing i need is to be straded up in the middle of the wilderness.