98 Chevy Wheel Bearings

I replaced the rotor/hub, wheel bearings,seal,caliper,hose and pads on my 98 Chevy 3500 tractor hauler a while back. I started hearing a popping sound when turning at slow speeds. I took it all back apart and the bearings have been turning on the shaft. I cleaned it up and re greased it and put it back together and tightened the nut enough that the hub turned but wouldnt spin, put it back together and test drove it. Okay at first,but it started popping again when I got home. Took it all back apart and inspected everything. Inner and outer bearings have both turned on the shaft and left score marks on the shaft and inside the bearing bores





On a slow speed hub, I would hit it a few times with a center punch and put it back together and run it. Not sure if this is acceptable for highway speeds. Should I replace both bearings and then dimple the shaft before assembly??Both bearings turn smooth, just not sure about the inside markings. How tight should they be, on farm wheels, I tighten them until they wont turn and then back the nut off a little and put the cotter pin in. Same procedure for highway use?? Thanks, Chris

Without seeing what the outer races look like I would say you are still a little tight. Too tight of bearings are forced to spin on the shaft (it is the place of least surface area and therefore least resistance). Proper bearing preload is: tighten until hub will not spin then back off 1/6 of a turn, (1 flat or 1 point on the nut). The wheel should have some wiggle when you grab the top and bottom of the wheel and rock it back and forth. You may be chasing a red herring, I have never heard of wheel bearings popping. That is usually what you hear from worn steering or suspension components. My guess is worn ball joints or A-arm bushings.

first that sure looks small for a one ton. next those brgs are junk. and if that spindle has grooves in it once checked, once cleaned up with emery and calipered it is scrap also. once the spindle is scored its junk. this is a vehicle and these things are not acceptable on the hyway. only farm use maybe different. plus u need zero endplay with a slight preload on them. the procedure is to tighten to a torque spec ... say 30 lbs rotating wheel then backoff till loose then tighten to next hole with a slight preload. make sure no endplay. you are either tightening them too much as when a brg gets warm it grows increasing the preload.

if you have wiggle how is the brg preloaded? never heard of that,... you do not want wiggle,... if it wiggles the brg. is too loose.

Rusted I agree with you never have wanted slack or wiggle.

There is now way I would risk my life on that spindle. It sound like you are putting them together too tight,the wheel should spin after tightening the nut.

That spindle appears to have been extremely hot from the picture, unless that's a shadow. If it has been hot enough to turn blue, I would not trust it at highway speeds.

But if you want to use it, start with some new bearings and races. Try the bearings on the spindle. They should slip fit with minimal up and down play. Usually a spindle will wear on the bottom when a bearing spins. If the underside is worn, another strike against it.

The races must be a press fit inside the hubs. If the race is loose, the hub must be replaced.

Dimpling with a punch is not going to be a long term fix.

As for setting the preload, I snug the nut down while turning the rotor. This is just to seat everything. Then back off, and tighten just enough to take out the slack and get the cotter pin in the first available notch without having to back off.

The manual for the Dana 60 states to tighten the nut to 125 foot pounds back the nut off to get 1 thousandth end play on the hub . Clean it up set it right I set mine do there is a tiny tiny bit of drag did it that way on semis steering and drive axles and trailers you could put just a tiny bit of blue loctite on the inner bearing races but it shouldnt need it how tight do the bearings fit the spindle ?

(quoted from post at 18:36:33 10/18/21) Rusted I agree with you never have wanted slack or wiggle.

Click to expand...

Wheel bearings of that style are NOT supposed to be "preloaded", 0.003" of endplay is desired.

Setting them up with "preload" will result in damage EXACTLY like the O.P. is seeing.

jm and rust, you should know better!

Yes I know better. Its hard to describe things sometime but
yes its zero endplay is what I go by . Been doing wheel brgs
all my life and yet to have a failure like that. There is not to be
a wiggle. You will get a wiggle once u put miles one them and
the grease goes away. As I said once they are warm they
should have a bit of preload not looseness.

And another thing is once it is backed off and you go to tighten it just the weight of the wrench on the nut and its good. Thats my way. Dont need a lesson on here about brgs. Have been preloading a heck of a lot bigger Timkin brgs like 12 to 18 across than these tonka things.

If you are hearing sounds it may be the bearings. The inner and outer race on the shafts, on past repairs I have done. is never a press fit. They do turn on the shaft a bit. I always grease the shaft for the times it does turn. If your bearing is loose in the hub, that is never good. Loctite makes a bearing retainer compound that works good. Stan

Ok everyone settle down before barney has to come be the peacemaker

Do you have a limited slip differential? Those will pop especially if you need a little more limited slip additive

I do not think anyone can make a knowledgeable decision on the possible damage that has or has not affected the ability of that spindle to remain in service from that picture. I have seen hundreds of those spindles on GM one ton chassis of a former employer I worked for. These were on delivery vans and granted the models I worked on were 77 - 92, but I do not think the spindle set up has been changed much on this newer model. I think there is a heat treatment process that is part of the production process of those spindles that make many of them look like they have been hot. I will say that the discoloration I have seen is mostly on the rough machined and forged area between the machined bearing journals. Now if there is heat discoloration and galling on those machined areas that would warrant a closer inspection. I am more concerned to know if the outside of the races are fitting tight in the hubs. A lot of those hubs in replacement rotors do not have the best tolerances and I have seen them not have the proper press fit. Some I saw had a few high machining lines that held the race snug at first, but after rolling with weight on them and a few heat cycles the races then came loose. You just cannot be sure of the quality of parts you get even from reputable sources. Now if the parts installed were purchased based strictly on an economy price all bets are of. If I could see the spindle with my own eyes and felt it was acceptable for service I would drag a weld rod over the area and work down the arc strike BBs to get the bearing to fit snug again. With this method you actually add metal instead of the center punch method that just displaces metal on the surface. My two cents of course the value of it may equal what you are paying for it.

new bearings are cheap enough if the old look or feel questionable. I would do as was suggested. weld or peen with a center punch.

No

Also ball joints can and often do pop on GMs when turning or going through a small dip. First check them for wear or slack. This is done with them being in the position with the least amount of pressure against them or ..free.. position. To get to that position you need to jack the tire off the ground by placing a floor jack under the lower control arm ..A frame.. Raise the tire off the ground just enough to get a bar under it and pry up and down. Also place a short 2x4 in front of the tire and pry up on the the center of the tire and move the bar where you are grabbing it side to side to check for sideways play, I am talking about a bar at least 2 and a half foot long. Pull in and out on the top of the tire with all the heave you can muster, feeling for slack in the top ball joint or the top control arm bushings. All this is best done with an assistant watching for movement where the ball joint and steering knuckle meet. Lastly grease it while you have it in the free position, this sometimes cures the popping. Please have something like a jack stand or cribbing as a safety precaution if the jack fails. Just jacking the truck up with the front cross member or front bumper does not place the ball joints in the free position because they are still containing the coil spring. Sorry if you already knew all this. Also sometimes the rivets to the frame come loose on the front cross member that is basically below the radiator, I hope the frame is still configured like this. Have someone gently steer the wheel back and forth while you watch the cross member and frame joining area, particularly near where the steering box mounts. See if there is any movement between the two to indicate a loose rivet. If you find it loose a quick weld bead is the best fix.

This post was edited by used red MN on 10/19/2021 at 12:10 pm.

Rustred,
The following is straight out of my repair program for a 1998 1 ton chevy 2WD. I do not always do the pretorque of the nut. As stated before, I tighten until hub won't turn and back off 1/6 of a turn or more if necessary. Per the program you are to have some endplay. This is what I referred to as wobble. Endplay equals wobble in my book. In my 20+ years of wrenching I have never had or seen a bearing fail by too much endplay. I have had to replace bearings that failed from being too tight. They came that way straight from the factory/dealer.



Wheel Bearing Adjustment (C3500HD)
Notice: Never preload the front wheel bearings. Damage can result by the steady load on the roller ends that comes from preloading.

Important:

In order to maintain the continuous, smooth functioning of the front suspension, the front wheel bearings must be correctly adjusted.
The bearings must be a slip fit on the spindle and the wheel bearings must be lubricated in order to ensure that the roller bearings will roll and not skid.
The spindle nut must have a free-running fit on the spindle threads.
Raise the vehicle. Support the vehicle with suitable safety stands under the lower control arm.
Remove the retainer cap.
Notice: Refer to Fastener Notice in Cautions and Notices.

Remove the cotter pin.
Tighten:

Tighten the nut to 16 [n-m] (12 lb ft), while rotating the wheel and tire assembly, or the hub/rotor. This will seat the bearings.

Back off the nut one flat.
If the hole in the spindle lines up with the slot in the nut, insert the cotter pin.
If these do not line up, back off the nut until the hole and the slot line up. Do not back off the nut more than one additional flat.
Measure the endplay in the hub/rotor. This measurement should be between 0.0130.20 mm (0.00050.008 in) when properly adjusted.
Install the retainer cap.
Lower the vehicle.