Bubonik Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Just changed over my right side wheel bearings noise is gone !! yay !! gotta love the canadian tire "loan-a-tool" program free tool rental rocks !!! as this is the first morning driving with the new bearings i'm not sure what to expect how hot can i expect the hub to be getting after driving around ? i drove to work (only about a ten minute drive) and felt the hub (more exactly, the metal between the disk and the hub) to see how hot it was and it seemed warmer than before i fixed it not hot enough to burn or anything close to that just warmer (maybe it's just i'm tired, and its morning) after my drive home i'll have to compare it to the other side which i've done nothing to maybe its brake rub from the fact i had all that stuff off and just put it all back together last night, and it hasn't had time to set back into place ?? don't even know if its something i should worry about this board rocks, saved me hundreds !! thanks folks any opinions ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 It's always a good idea to inspect/repack bearings periodically, but if this is your first go-round, you may want check it at say - 500 miles. The temp should not be a concern. Only that there is enough grease to lubricate the bearing, and perhaps that it is seated properly. You'll know next time you get in there... good luck, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Compare the temp to your other three. If it's drasticly hotter than the other 3 corners than you have some extra friction going on. From what exactly is what you'd have to find out. Just helped my brother replace a wheel bearing and hub assembly. That corner was WAY more hot than the other three. Too hot to hold your hand on the center of the hub; could only touch it quickly. Steam poured out as we used the garden hose to cool it off prior to working on it. Other three were hot but you could easily hold your hand on them. This is pretty shade tree for diagnostics here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 i've "heard" they can run hotter if too much grease is packed into them. doesn't dissipate heat as well i believe is the theory. i have no proof or claim to know that as fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubonik Posted July 22, 2005 Author Share Posted July 22, 2005 cool i'll do more heat checks when i get home on the to much grease thing, how much is to much ? does it expand into the empty space beside the spacer ? i packed the bearing pretty good (full, but not to full) but left about a 1/4 - 1/2 of the space empty in the open space around the spacer is that the wrong way to go about it ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 I have always packed them completely full. I'm not sure I buy the theory about "overpacking" causing more friction. I don't think the hub can seal well enough to hold that kind of constant pressure. If the bearing is not packed in grease, it is partially packed in air. Grease lubricates better than air. ("Alley" logic). Grease would also displace other foreign substances like water and dirt, and this helps prolong bearing life. good luck, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 You want the cavity about 1/3 full of grease. More than this will cause extra friction, and will decrease the life of the bearing. If you dont "buy the theory", you can find confirmation in any bearing designers manual, and even most bearing catalogues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 dont forget the hub bolts directly to the brake rotor, so heat will be different depening on the amount the brakes are used (obvious logic) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahag1978 Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 This is interesting because my '78 seems to eat front passenger bearings like snack candy. I know the previous owner had it go and he replaced it. The hub was also replaced and next set went immediately too. My guess was incorrect grease and packing. A professional replaced the set for me and in less than 100 miles it was shot again. There could have been some extraneous reasons (cheap $11.00 from Autozone and an improperly installed axle) for the last set's failure. I bought high quality bearings this time, packed them with the proper grease and seals correctly. We shall see. What other reason, besides incorrect grease/packing would cause premature failure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubonik Posted July 23, 2005 Author Share Posted July 23, 2005 so i hope 1/2 full isn't going to kill it to soon and this make me wonder other bearing things .... what is the average life span of a set of bearings ? barring bad axels, hubs, incorrect installation, etc and i had another question ...... more like a "could it be done?" would there be any way to install a grease nipple into the side of the nuckle ? would this be a bad idea ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyromanic Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 so i hope 1/2 full isn't going to kill it to soon and this make me wonder other bearing things .... what is the average life span of a set of bearings ? barring bad axels, hubs, incorrect installation, etc and i had another question ...... more like a "could it be done?" would there be any way to install a grease nipple into the side of the nuckle ? would this be a bad idea ? I was told by my dad back in '69 that a Timken tapered bearing has a life span that is indefinate , providing the are never over heated, run dry, pre-load is maintained correctly, never contamanated with water dirt, so on and so forth. Don't know if this is true. I do know that I seen lots of old Chevy trucks and such with original bearings still working just fine. It's all about maintainence. Of course the ball bearing setups in the front of our Soobs are a different can of worms. Impossible (as far as I can see) to inspect them properly. I consider this a good argument for replacement when the age/miles of the unit is unknown. The grease zirk (nipple) question is a good one. We do it with our boat trailer hubs. Drill and tap a hole in the hub and anstall a zirk. Only thing is that you have to install the inner seal backwards, so that when you pump grease into the hub, it passes on through and squeezes out the backside. Makes a mess, but with a boat trailer, it doesn't matter. If you just intall a zirk and put the seals in normaly, when you pump grease in, you'll blow out the seal. Guess you could do it with a Soob. If you try it let know how it works out? Pyro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 You want the cavity about 1/3 full of grease. More than this will cause extra friction, and will decrease the life of the bearing.If you dont "buy the theory", you can find confirmation in any bearing designers manual, and even most bearing catalogues. Well, I don't "buy this theory", and have explained why. As Pyro stated, the best test is the road test. Constant maintenance is probably more important than the amount of grease in the cavity - provided that the amount of grease is at least adequete. The bearings themselves are designed to last 100k or more, but the grease is not. Good luck, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 the bearings should last the life of the car, or at least the life of the seals. new bearings should have new seals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 I have a car (not subaru) that has done 320,000kms on original wheel bearings, and have never been re packed. Soobs seem to go through them a bit more - probably just the rough crap they are driven over i suspect. As long as you put them in carefully, and pack roughly 1/3 full, they should last at least 100,000kms no matter how poor your roads are. Although whenever you design anything using bearings, you generally specify a grease re pack every so many hours, when you're dealing with very common cheap bearings its really not worth the effort in my opinion. A good grease will last a very long time if you dont drive through rivers, and have good seals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgd73 Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 Has anyone encountered the options for bearing replacement? My OEM has brass looking rollers (they dimpled and pitted!) but will no doubt save hub and race, the replacemnt one one side is clearly a harder steel (I wondered if it could take out race of rear end, needing a whole rear axle on my 2wd). One makes a bit of noise at slow speed, the other (the OEM) starts noise @75 mph. I'd definately go for symmetry and stay with the harder ones for performance.Even if it went beyond the axles strength, I'm sure its quite a few years to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 The brass colour is probably due to the bearing being overheated. All bearings of that sort should be alloy steel - unless you get ceramic ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgd73 Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 "My OEM has brass looking rollers (they dimpled and pitted!)" Heat didnt do it.they are definatley softer than thier surroundings. my guess is some brass bronze weak alloy intentionally made softer. The other side with steel bearings is quite obviously just that (steel).I guess I have another priority to get rid of this:rolleyes: ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 "My OEM has brass looking rollers (they dimpled and pitted!)" Heat didnt do it.they are definatley softer than thier surroundings. my guess is some brass bronze weak alloy intentionally made softer. The other side with steel bearings is quite obviously just that (steel).I guess I have another priority to get rid of this:rolleyes: ... That is Very odd. I'd definitely replace it with a "real" one. What makes you say it is OEM? I'd say it would have long since worn out if it had soft rollers from the factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgd73 Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 I wasn't sure for certain if it was OEM until I realized the 2wd may have been treated differently, (lightweight buzzing rear end).Also when I cleaned out car I found package for the steel bearing that was installed on passenger side. I am still assuming they put weak bearings for acoustics, and that they are under less load than a 4wd, as well as the sedan not even trailer hitchable.I will be replacing for the purpose of longer highway trips and speed (that damn thing is incredibly loud @75mph and disappears again at a uhh.... faster speed:) ) .I could check subaru dealer or parts store, but I've made my mind up to put steel in.The steel has downfall of noise when cold (and its brand new).My old 4wd did it in every cold spell, for the 17 years of needing nothing, I'll gladly live with it for the case of longevity, durability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyromanic Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 I'm pretty sure all automotive wheel bearings are STEEL. No brass, bronze nothing like that. Steel. If you don't believe me put a magnate on them. Let us know if I'm wrong. Pyro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Ditto, ive never heard of a rolling element bearing with soft metal rollers. You shouldn't get noise in the cold. How cold are we talking? Maybe you need a special low temp grease. If you can ever hear your wheel bearings, there is something wrong, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgd73 Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 I can only blame god for maine.... -30 to 100 sometimes.Every one of my 15 cars did something unexplainable here, as well as some bizarre cures to keep them dynamical.From a towel wrapped around the old holley carb, to washing the windsheild 300 times from feb to june because the physics pits refuse to leave until it decides july is a crystal clear miracle ... The bearing noise is cold to warm weather, 5th soob to be familiar with same common thing. some quiet quicker than others.It will do it again from fall to december solstice..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 This with rear bearings? They may be incorrectly adjusted. As i said before, you shouldn't be able to hear your wheel bearings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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