Wheel bearing question

[Torqueluvr]

Hello all,

Did my wheel bearings around christmas time. Had it diagnosed by a couple shops. I knew it needed to be done because a month earlier the front end howled like no other - I'm happy it didn't explode on the highway! However, when I did the wheel bearings they were in decent shape other than this washer/thrust washer disc. Both of them looked like this and I don't think they were machined like this. It looks like the end of the wheel bearing was digging into it - which I think was the howling noise that I heard. What do you experts say? Have you seen this before?

Because the peice was universal I flipped it 180 degrees so the new bearing was not adjacent to the pitted side of the disc/washer. What do you guys, and/or gals, think? Should I be worried?

BTW, I dodged a $420 labour bill for doing this on my own - yeehaw! I may or may not have the old bearings on my 'trophy' shelf in my garage.

[.:FoRuM56:.]

Looks exactly like mine when I pulled it all apart. I just re-packed the bearings and gave everything a good greasing...No worries!

[Dino]

That's the bearing preload adjuster/retaining nut. It's essentially all that keeps your hub/brake disk/wheel assembly on the vehicle aside from the circlip on the axle. If it is deeply grooved I would recommend replacing it. If it's just a minor scoring on it you will be ok to reinstall it. After re-packing your bearings, thread the nut on by hand, then take a hammer and punch and tap on the smooth bore holes to snug the adjuster up (avoid tapping on the threaded holes as these must not be damaged). This will push the bearings snug up to the outer races inside the hub. Then spin the hub and brake disk to even out the forces applied to the bearings. Then back the adjuster off untill it moves freely by hand, and snug it back up to a moderate tightness. Make sure the hub rotates very smoothly and do not overtighten. Then put the locking ring in place over the adjuster and put the screws in tight (you may want to use a hammer driver).

If the bearings were not adjusted properly the inner race could have been spinning on the spindle stub causing the wear patterns on the adjuster and noise you were experiencing. If you suspect that was the case, remove the hub assembly completely and inspect the spindle stub for the same scoring marks that were on the adjuster. If it is damaged enough that there will be free play between the inner race of the bearing and the stub then you will need to replace the spindle.

[Torqueluvr]

Thanks fellas.

I ended up driving to Vancouver and back after this repair, with no problems. So I guess it should be OK. Oddly enough the bearings weren't too bad, but considering the rig has 150,000 KM on it and it was only $100 for the bearings, I replaced them anyways and now have a set of have decent spares.

T