Wheel Bearings

More
02 Nov 2012 21:22 #1 by dandjcr
dandjcr created the topic: Wheel Bearings
Forum Home > On the Road > Wheel Bearings

Rod Lyons
Member
Posts: 12
Whatever you do dont do a long trip without servicing your wheel bearings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You could come unstuck like me.
Make time!!!!
Rod


--


June 28, 2011 at 6:19 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Ewart & Vivian Halford
Member
Posts: 117
Rod, Tell us what happened.
I assume you are back in Perth.
Ewart
June 28, 2011 at 6:48 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Rod Lyons
Member
Posts: 12
50ks past Cobar NSW the rh front wheel bearing collapsed, spun on the stub axle & inside the hub. had to get tilt trayed back to Cobar, (thanks Telstra for mobile coverage). It took about 4 hours to seperate the hub from the axle. At this stage i am glad we were in Cobar because it is a mining town & most east / west trucks pass through!! The inner cone of the outer bearing & the lock nuts & tab were welded to the stub!!! The bearing were available in Dubbo but I didnt have my hub socket this I had to get a2 1/2 impact socket modified. New lock nuts & tabs, these ended up coming from OKA Perth. Anyway three days later we were back on the road again on our way to Coffs & North coast NSW & southern Qld coast for two weeks of surfing, the reason for the trip.
If you do break down out that way a few people i can recommend are Ces towing 02 68363355 & KML industries 02 68362777, very helpful.:)
I now have spare bearings, socket & other bits in the OKA again!!!!!

--


June 29, 2011 at 6:24 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Peter_n_Margaret
Member
Posts: 198


On the Kalumburu Road, 2008.
No idea why.
I suspect that the circlip on the end of the shaft came off and got into the bearing somehow (it was broken and squashed).
I had all the bits to fix it with me, but subsequently replaced the shafts with 35 spline.
--
Cheers Peter, OKA196 Motorhome. www.oka4wd.com/xt196.htm



June 30, 2011 at 2:01 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Dean & Kaye Howells
Member
Posts: 79
Is there some clever way of bending the tab over the outer lock nut? It took me about an hour to replace both front wheel bearings but a further 2 hours to bend the tab OUT and over the lock nut. In the end I ground half the head off a 6mm bolt and managed to slide the mangled head behind the tab and lever it out a bit so it could be properly flattened.
This description probably makes no sense to someone who has not attempted to do this before, but this would have to be the most difficult tab washer I have ever set before.
Dean.
--
July 1, 2011 at 9:26 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Dandj
Member
Posts: 367
Dean, I agree it can be a pain.

A couple of suggestions:

1) Bend the tabs outwards slightly before fitting, but not too far or the locknut can't tighten properly.

2) Make a small puller. I used a tent peg bent over 95ยบ at one end so it fits behind the tab but can't slip off. I tapped the other end and fitted a large washer and and nut and used a breaker bar to lever the tab forwards.

Once they're bent forwards a bit, twist a large screwdriver blade against the tab to flatten it.
--
David and Janet Ribbans, Oka 148

July 1, 2011 at 11:46 PM Flag Quote & Reply

joseph baz
Member
Posts: 332
hi All,check www.stage8.com/offroad ,i have purchased some of these,not cheap but certanly the best system i seen
cheers Joe
July 2, 2011 at 4:18 AM Flag Quote & Reply

Tony Lee
Member
Posts: 540
joseph baz at July 2, 2011 at 4:18 AM
hi All,check www.stage8.com/offroad ,i have purchased some of these,not cheap but certanly the best system i seen
cheers Joe
Link doesn't work for me.
--
Tony

picasaweb.google.com/114611728110254134379

July 2, 2011 at 6:52 AM Flag Quote & Reply

Chris J
Member
Posts: 56
Try this link www.stage8.com/offroad.html
regards.
--
Chris and Janice Jones - OKA 166





July 2, 2011 at 8:00 AM Flag Quote & Reply

Dandj
Member
Posts: 367
Stage 8 locknuts are available from www.4wdfactory.com/store/products.php?pr...ock-spindle-nut-sets , $US75 per side.
This is a seal puller, but is similar to my tapped rod, and you could make something like this to make things easier.

--
David and Janet Ribbans, Oka 148

July 2, 2011 at 8:52 AM Flag Quote & Reply

Rod Lyons
Member
Posts: 12
Dandj at July 2, 2011 at 8:52 AM
Stage 8 locknuts are available from www.4wdfactory.com/store/products.php?pr...ock-spindle-nut-sets , $US75 per side.
This is a seal puller, but is similar to my tapped rod, and you could make something like this to make things easier.

G,day David, thanks for the idea!!! I looked it up in the Snap-on cattle dog & its a cotter pin puller ( # S9094B ) I have ordered one + a thread repair kit.
--


July 5, 2011 at 1:58 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Hal Harvey
Site Owner
Posts: 510
OK, now that Rod and Peter have put the wind up me about my 'if it works, don't fix it' servicing attitude, and I'm heading bush at the end of September, does anybody have any recommendations about who in Perth I could take the OKA to to get the front wheel bearings serviced? I won't be physically capable of doing it myself - I know I could just take it to Major Motors but I'd prefer somebody with the TLC touch - any thoughts?

The other thought (thanks Terry) is to drive it to Coolgardie and catch the train back; which is an option. Leave it with Robin Wade for a few days.
--
Hal

August 25, 2011 at 12:01 AM Flag Quote & Reply

Dean & Kaye Howells
Member
Posts: 79
Definitely a good idea to check your wheel bearings before your trip. I very nearly didn't check mine before this years trip (just returned). I'd re-packed them after last years holiday and had only done about 5000 Km since then and it is such a pain to reset the tab washer. Well just as well for me that I decided to rotate the wheels. Jacked up the front and spun the RHS wheel. Graunch....graunch went the wheel bearings, jacked up the LHS and the same. Blast. A week left to go before departure and still a heap of things to do, just what I needed. SWMBO, made it quite clear. Get it fixed in time or I'm going in the Land Rover (alone was more infered than stated, I didn't press the point).
OKA Paul came to the rescue with the bits, including a pair of very good Viton triple seal grease seals. Whilst these are more expensive than the normal seals they are much better quality and seal on different parts of the hub than the originals ensuring a better seal. What I'd forgotten was the driving I'd done during the floods in Feb. The rear wheel bearings were OK fortunately. The front bearings, particularly the RHS were seriously corroded and would not have lasted very long at all.
As to getting your wheel bearings re-packed/replaced, with the exception of the afore mentioned difficulty in setting the tab washer the job is a very basic one and is the same set up on every 4WD I have owned. I would suggest any reasonably competant mechanic should be able to do the job properly. I really liked the look of the after market set up in the stage8 link. These would definitely be the go for ease of assembly / dis-assembly but are a tad expensive.

Deano
--
August 25, 2011 at 1:00 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Cando
Member
Posts: 199
Hal, put it on a truck to Darwrin we have heaps of good truck machanics? shouldn't cost toooooooo much
--
Happy trails

Cando and Bron XLT 112



August 25, 2011 at 4:46 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Dandj
Member
Posts: 367
One suggestion for the front bearings is to pack a ring of grease around the locking nut and tab washer after fitting, to reduce the possibility of water entering through the freewheeling hubs (which are not sealed) and getting to the bearings.
Regards,
--
David and Janet Ribbans, Oka 148

August 25, 2011 at 9:22 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Hal Harvey
Site Owner
Posts: 510
Some other replies I received to my question came by emails and phone calls, and basically amounted to a couple of kind offers to do it for me, much appreciated, or recommending Robson Bros in Perth as mechanics who charge for what they're worth, which is more than most. Robsons specialise in 4WDs and I haven't heard a bad word about them.

However given we have a bit of free time at the moment, we went down the route of doing a run to Coolgardie and leaving #260 with Robin Wade for a couple of weeks. There are a few things on the list for Robin to check out, and of course front wheel bearings were number one. He just rang to say we must have had a premonition - water ingress in the front RH side - to quote, "if you were crossing the Nullarbor you wouldn't have got to Ceduna"! That was saltwater too - betcha from a particularly difficult boat retrieval off the beach at Wedge Island earlier this year.

Robin says if the bearings are serviced with the right grease every 50,000km they will last a very long time. Many of the problems arise from people not having a regular service history - particularly when ownership changes - or, as in my case, a combination of a damaged seal and submersion.
--
Hal

September 5, 2011 at 6:03 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Peter 334
Member
Posts: 118
Put new bearing in the front end of ours dont know how long they were in there and the right hand side was stuffed as it had at one stage looked liked she had spun a bearing on the axel, in the end i will allways bend over the tab before fitting it back in .
September 6, 2011 at 5:27 PM Flag Quote & Reply

Dandj
Member
Posts: 367
Peter, if the spindles are badly worn through the bearing cups spinning, they can be repaired by metal spraying or re-plating and regrinding. Cheaper than new spindles.
I had mine done by Adelaide Grinding, see here.
You can also use some Loctite bearing retaining compound to prevent spinning but I found there was so much grease around that it was unlikely to be successful.
--
David and Janet Ribbans, Oka 148

September 7, 2011 at 8:07 PM

David and Janet Ribbans - Oka 148
Oka148 profile here.
Visit our technical and travel blogs: here.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Powered by Kunena Forum