How do you know when a hub bearing is going? I have a noise coming from my front brake area on the driver's side. Sounds like a dragging brake but it does not go awayor changewhen I step on the brake pedal. Brakesand universals are relatively new. Neither seem to be the problem. So what's the test for the hub bearings?

 

either turn to the left or right fairly quickly and see if the noise goes away. if does, go jack the truck up and spin each wheel and listen for a growling noise

 

Also, after driving a while, I would feel the hub to see if it is hot,(spit on it first and listen for sizzle).

 

well mu hub barring just took a **** i heard the same noises you heard. then it snapped and the barrings were all welded together the brake rotar was gone huge gouges and completly warped. the spindle was gauged out from the rotar and wallowed out from the hub. i am waiting for it to stop raining as we speak to go out and finnish installing the new parts. so deffinatly check out your hub. i also had a question about this too. does the new hub have to be pressed into the spindle? or will the 3 bolts just pull it in?

 

easy way to check, jack up the front end of ur truck and check to see if there is any play from left to right with the wheel, mine recently went bad, plus i upgraded them b/c i just got new 33's, but yeah if it is bad take care of it fast, when they go on the rams, they really go.

 

Jack up the side that you think is bad. Remove the tire. If the rotors "wiggles" then the bearing is bad. I just changed both of mine yesterday.

$200 each for Timken. The pair I just removed yesterday have 103,000 miles on them. Hard miles that is....lol.

The Timken are the heaviest I have found.

Good luck with your ride.

 

Thanks for the recomendations. I'll be checking it tomorrow when/if my neighbor brings my floor jack back.

 

put some anti-sieze on the hub, and tap it in with a mallet. or, you can pull it in with the bolts, just keep moving from bolt to bolt to keep the hub straight

crabman--your bearing is most likely shot. i would change it before your wheel literally falls off...it's happened to me

 

What's the best way to remove the hubs? I've replaced both of mine about two years ago. The hardest part was getting the damn things off. I know there has to be a trick tool or something to make the job easier to take the hubs off.

 

Yeah, good point. I was gonna mention the no seize thing too.

Before you install that new hub, I would take a viscious wire brush, or a wire wheel on a drill, and scrub the knuckle where the hub slides in. Try for bare metal. I take a plastic grocery bag and place the caliper in it to avoid all that dust hitting the slider bolts.

Clean all the dust off with brake cleaner. Wipe it dry, and cake that opening with no seize. Hit the 4 mounting bolts as well as the splines on the half shafts with some lube as well.


It's an easy job if you take your time. The toughest part is pounding the new lugs into place. You won't be able to seat them by throwing on the tire and crankin real hard on the lug nuts....lol. You're gonna want a baby sledge hammer, or a hydraulic press.

And just my experience, nothing else, use extreme care when setting the lugs. Nake sure the new bearing is supported. I use the old one flipped upside down.

When you tighten the hub nut, you need to crank down on it. There is actually some play in the bearings, right out of the box. Securely tightening the axle nut is what takes up that slack.

Also be sure to hang the brake caliper with some cord so the brake line does not support the weight. Try not to let the caliper fall either.

When the hub is removed, that's the time to check the half shaft u-joints and replace if necessary. I would also wire brush the threads where the hub nut screws onto. Makes reassembly MUCH smoother.

Anyway, I hope some of this helps.

Good luck with your ride.