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Driver side Wheel Bearing Issues?

938 views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  Kajo4x4toy 
#1 ·
OK, need some confirmation on my thinking. Today I destroyed my third inside driver's side wheel bearings in less than 1.5 years. I have also went through 2 sets of knuckle bearings. I have been driving straight axle Toys for 19 years so I know I am setting them up properly, I have a nice worn out FSM, and the passenger side is fine. I am guessing that the axle housing is bent but have never been able to "SEE" it bent. What other possibilities are there?

current setup:
Stock Axle, shaved with e-locker
30 spline longs
1.5" spacers
37" MTR's on 15X10" Aluminum wheels with 3-5/8" backspacing. my first bearing went out with my 37" IROK's on 17x8" with 4.5" backspacing.
1/8" Toe-in
 
#2 ·
Have you had a set of tires on it long enough for a wear pattern to develop on the tire? If the bearing was getting loaded unevenly I would think it would show up on the inside of the tire. Maybe try switching driver and passenger sides, it would only cost you one wheel bearing to find out:flipoff2: But its most likely bent, big tires and spacers are hard on stuff but they should be lasting longer. Are the knuckle bearings just wearing out on one side or both? They are not going to last forever being abused.
 
#3 ·
John, I remember vaguely that you had a pretty rapid gear oil leak coming from the driver side knuckle seal. It could possibly be washing out the grease in the bearing if the oil can find its way in there. I know that I have that problem too but, in my case, the oil stays in the axle/spindle/hub/locking hub assembly and might be just enough to lubricate it. I also don't drive my truck regularly as you do and overfill my axle. I am thinking that the leaking gear oil may have something to do with it. I know that Russell also has this problem and pretty much like me, gave up trying to fix inner axle seals and grease bearings.

With the issues of people having a hard time fitting Longfields in their axles, I am starting to wonder how many of these Toyota axles are actually not bent. After all, they are if bought used, coming from trucks born in the 80's. I would think that even from driving on the highways, freeways, and roads, after some point, they will bend.

And that's my 2 shiny pennies for yah.
 
#5 ·
I replaced the spindle the first two times. 808-yeah I guess that side does leak alot. That inner seal never lasts to long (bent axle symptom). The oil could be taking out the grease in the bearings, but I would not think it could possibly get to the wheel bearings since they are on the outside of the spindle. Who knows though. I am gonna call Marlin tomorrow to send me out some of his new seals and also another rebuild kit. If it does not last long this time, it may be time for a Diamond or a 60:D.
 
#6 ·
Even if gear lube was getting into the bearings thru the spindle--the outer bearing gets hit first and takes some time to work its way into the inner bearing. But even so gear lube won't hurt the bearings--look at full float rear diffs that carry THOUSANDS of pounds and they are lubed by gear oil....


So the question lies how do they look when they fail?
 
#9 ·
Have you checked to see if the knuckle is shimmed on the axle correctly? If the shims were off bad then your knuckle/spindle assm. would not be centered on the housing as it is suppposed to be, which would load it unevenly, made even worse by bigger tires. I would think that if the axle was then not centered because the knuckle was pulling either up or down the symptoms would be burning up inner axle seals and eating trunion bearings.
 
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#12 ·
The rear bearing was completely dry, the rear seal was gone and the wheel hub is worn where the rear bearing goes, the FJ 40 disc is worn near the center on the inside and near the top edge on the outside. I repacked these bearings about 6 weeks ago and know it was all put together properly. I am guessing that the hub might have been weakened somehow when it locked up on me on the highway a couple months ago or it was worn a little from that and has slowly gotten worse. There was no noticeable issues with it yesterday morning. I need to locate a new wheel hub, put it back together and see how it goes.
 
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