I've tried searching, but to no avail i couldnt find what i was looking for. My question is: Does anyone know where I could get a heavier duty Wheel bearing / hub for the front axle of my truck? I currently got a 95 Ram 4WD, with the Dana 44 up front, and I keep going through the cheap Timken bearings (about twice a year). I would like to buy something beefier without having to upgrade to a Dana 60 axle. Anyone have an idea?

 

There is nothing that I know of. What you could consider, although very expensive, is replacing the hub bearings with a good ol' lockout kit and regular serviceable bearings. EMS has one but its nearly a grand.

Although the stock hub bearings are known to be quite weak, they should be lasting you much longer then less than 1 year. Are you torquing the hub bearing bolt to the correct spec (175-180 ft. lbs.)? I have over 160k miles on one of my original bearings.

 

have you got stock wheels or other ?
are they stock backspacing ? or do they stick out ?
do you have wheel spacers ?
what size tires ?

somethings up. wheel bearings on stock equipment should be lasting a long time. but if your backspacing is out, it can drastically shorten their life.

 

i just replaced my wheel bearing with a Timken on thursday (198K original bearings) i was told Timken was the best one to get, and now that you say that, im worried...

 

They pretty much are. I have not heard of anything better.

 

Yeah, I got stock tires (265/75/16), and the stock wheels. I do have a limited slip in the front instead of an open diff, but that shouldnt matter. Each time i install the Timken's I do torque it to about 180 ft/lbs. I just have an ability to thrash em, and shorten their lives. Does anyone know if Timken has a warranty with their ****, cuz i do have to change both front about once every 6 months, and thats too much money to just be throwing away.

 

my timken came with a 1 year warantee

 

When you say "trash em", just what is being trashed. Are the bearings comming out of the races, or making noise and when you pull them apart being dark blue, or are they rusty? I have'nt had these apart yet but are they roller or ball bearings?
Timkens are ussualy a very good quality product although you can always run into a defective one.

 

There is something else causing this, they just don't wear out in 6 months! There is a brand of hub bearing that's industructable, and has a lifetime warranty, but, I can't think of it right now.

 

Oh please do fill me in.