Technical The front wheel spindle bearing maintenance/fact thread

I wanted to create this technical thread for the younger generation getting into hot rodding like myself and has been spoiled with 100,000 mile / long life wheel bearings, and vehicle maintenance in general that does not require nearly as much effort as cars a few decades and older required. When searching the forum, I did not see a single thread with a good compilation of information from cleaning, packing, installation, do’s & dont’s, etc etc.

I myself have never had the privilege of replacing tapered wheel bearings that needed to be cleaned and packed with grease, so I did a ton of research and based on my own research here and speaking with both Timken and SKF bearing manufacturers, below is what I came up with. Please feel free to comment on any methods/tips/techniques that you may use that has served you well over the years.

To start, there are only a few Ford and Chevy spindles that are popular in the Hot rodding world, I myself have the circle shaped (38-41’?) Ford spindles with a custom disc brake hub to fit chevy calipers, but have a 5 x 4.5 Ford lug pattern. It is not a speedway kit as the bearing adapter is a different size as well as the OD of the grease seal. I’m thinking it may be an old ‘DISKIT’ front disc conversion kit.

A Good chunk of these facts were gathered from a 38 year employee named Rick at Timken, the guy was incredibly knowledgeable about bearings! I also consulted SKF technical support and technical do***ents as well.

Let’s start with the ‘don’t do that’:

1. If you have obtained someone else’s project with already completed front spindles, and you’re doing only maintenance (re-using the wheel bearings), it is recommended to not mix grease types. All red grease’s look the same, but aren’t exactly the same, as they have different additives and detergents and may not live together nicely long-term. Your safest bet it is to completely clean everything and use a wheel bearing grease.

2. If you need to clean the wheel bearings, DONT USE Gas, WD40 (penetrating oils in general), acetone, water, or MEK.

• RECOMMENDED to use kerosene, mineral spirits, or lastly brake cleaner. If you are not going to install immediately, you can use motor oil to store the bearings long-term if you do not want to pre-grease to prevent corrosion during storage.

3. Completely remove any solvent used to clean the bearings

4. Don’t re-use bearings with signs of corrosion or pitting.

5. DONT spin the bearings with compressed air!

6. Don’t skip putting a light coat of grease along the inside of the grease seal lip.

7. Don’t put on too much grease! If you’ve added too much to the bearings and inside the hub, too much grease could trap additional heat heat and not allow proper movement/distribution of the grease, resulting in burnt up bearings if not closely monitored.

8. Don’t over tighten the spindle nut, if you do this, not only could you burn up the bearings, but also weld the bearing adapter to the spindle, good luck with that mess!

9. Lastly for the young guys, don’t go 60k-100kmiles without maintenance! I understand that most people are not going to be putting those kind of miles on their project, but it is important to keep your regular schedule. I’ve seen this vary quite a lot as there are a lot of different variables and personal preference between mileage and simply time in between maintenance.


My take on the procedure for front disc hubs. The bearing information should apply to general spindles with tapered wheel bearings:

1. Remove wheel and spindle nut, take a look at everything you have going on. Since my car sat for a couple decades, the wheel seals were leaking a bit and needed replaced. They also caused some slight surface porosity to the bearing adapter, which I sanded down with 1000 polish smooth.

• Noticed that my hubs and bearings were not only potentially overpacked but also had a mixture of a slightly tan grease with a bunch of red grease. This was not from discoloration due to heat or. Bearings there was originally a different grease used. Because of this, I decided to get new tapered wheel bearings, but reuse the bearing caps and completely clean the hub and caps out very well with rags, did not use any solvents.

2. Remove the grease seal, hopefully you can read any print left on on it to find the proper replacement, but otherwise you’ll need to measure the OD of the grease seal, if not heavily distorted and the OD of the spindle bearing adapter that the grease seal rides on to get a proper replacement. if the OD of the grease seal is distorted, you will need to measure the ID of the spindle hub. I am not going to list my wheel seal to cause confusion as this appears to be a quite old disc brake conversion kit. 18562 looks to be the popular seal that goes on the speedway kit.

3. If doing maintenance only and both the bearings and bearing cups look to be in good condition, you can leave the bearing cups in place (that’s what I did at least). If any of them look corroded or rough, you will need to punch out the bearing caps. Take heed that on the speedway kits the smaller outer bearing cup I believe is custom where is the inner bearing cup is a standard size. Since mine looked good, and I didn’t know if both of mine were custom, I left them be until I have to mess with them.

• my bearings looked good, but I do not have the time to mess with them properly, clean them with mineral spirits, and what not. I stored them with extra grease all over them and will clean them up to keep as spares in the trunk just in case. I bought new bearings and found that buying the bearing sets (bearing & cup) were actually cheaper on Rockauto than buying just the taper bearings only. Luckily I have The same bearings that the speedway kit also uses, these tapered bearings may be common elsewhere.

• Inner larger bearing is Timken L68149, based on speedway kit the outer cup is L68110 (did not confirm mine matches). Ordered Timken P/N SET13 as it was cheaper than the actual bearing by itself.

• Outer smaller bearing is LM11949, I believe the outer cup is a specialized machined part. Ordered Timken P/N SET2 as again was cheaper than the actual bearing by itself.

Since this car will be staying with me as long as I live, and hopefully onto my next generation, I decided to go with the Lisle 34550 Hand Bearing Packer to pack the bearings, rather than using the grease in palm pushing method. My plan is to do this every three seasons as I don’t plan on putting crazy miles on the model A.


***embly procedure:

1. Pack Bearings: Pack the inner and outer bearings with wheel bearing grease. I decided to go with the Timken GR224TUB Automotive Wheel Bearing Grease. Otherwise the guy at TimKen recommended NLGI No. 2 grease.
2. ***emble Hub/Rotor: Install the packed inner bearing and new grease seal into the rear of the hub with a seal driver or appropriately sized socket. Don’t forget to add grease to the idea of the grease seal.
3. Lightly coat the spindle and inside of rotor/hub with grease to help prevent corrosion.
4. Install on Spindle: Slide the hub/rotor ***embly onto the spindle, ensuring the inner bearing seats properly without damaging the seal.
5. Outer Bearing & Washer: Slide the packed outer bearing onto the spindle, followed by the spindle washer.
6. Set Preload (Crucial Step):
   • Tighten the castle nut to approximately 12–33 ft-lbs while rotating the hub to ensure the bearings are fully seated.
   • Loosen the nut completely (until it is loose/no torque).
   • Re-tighten the nut just until snug while spinning, then back it off enough to align the cotter pin hole to the next hole (usually 1/6 turn or less).
7. Secure Cotter Pin, recommended to use a new cotter pin.
8. Dust Cap: Install the dust cap, may not hurt too lightly coat inside with grease.

Let me know if I am missing anything or if you guys have any good techniques that have proved useful!

 

Great write up. This should help the younger ones.
I've been doing it to every car I've owned over the past 40 years.

 

One thing I've been doing in recent years, when I clean and inspect the bearings, if they look good, ie. no pitting or corrosion, I grease them and reinstall, rather than replacing them.

They don't make bearings like they used to.

It's strange to think that younger folks never have the opportunity to pack wheel bearings. That's just a part of old car life!

 

I don’t know if anyone else ever did this, however I was shown a neat trick by an old timer many decades ago for getting all of the used grease out of bearings. Boiling water!

Put the bearings in a pan and cover with water. Don’t use one of your mom’s best sauce pans. Bring to a low boil and simmer just like you were making soup or something. The grease melts and being less dense than the water, floats to the surface. The bearings won’t be overheated, 212 F, and you end up with really clean bearings that also don’t have any junk in them. Skim the goo off, pull the bearings out and oil them immediately to prevent them from rusting. Later, a quick rinse with brake cleaner will remove the oil and any remaining bits of smeg. Then grease with the appropriate grease. Sounds odd, but it’s easier than solvent washing, ***uming you don’t use your mom’s sauce pan…

If you do that, you’re on your own

 

I think the most important part is to push all the old grease out through the rollers until new grease emerges. I've seen inexperienced guys just wipe grease around the outside and call it good, and a lot of videos show guys not pushing grease all the way through the rollers. Not every new guy knows what "packing" a bearing actually is.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/myT5CCJbn0Q?feature=share

 

I agree with this, and I kept my wheel bearings, my problem is the lack of time to spend properly cleaning and decreasing them thoroughly. I stored them in some plastic bags with a bunch of grease, my plan is at some point this summer to clean and pack them and have one set in the trunk for a longer trip just in case.

This goes against the water recommendation, but I really like this idea, I would probably use compressed air carefully to remove the water. Another idea would be to use the bake out method in the oven or something similar, this would remove all the water but during the cool down method, you would need to keep it somewhere dry and immediately oil it or put some sort of anti-corrosive on it for storage if not immediately using.

This is why I bought the bearing packer, but honestly, I will probably let them soak in mineral spirits for a day or two. And yes there are a ton of YouTube videos about packing bearings and the “right way “to do things, but there were definitely a number of them that I wouldn’t 100% recommend following their procedure.

 

Most modern (preferred) greases are synthetic and most solvents will not break them down.
It’s important to use compressed air to blow the old grease out of the bearing.
Obviously do not spin them with the air.

 

.....so the preload on the ball bearings in my '39 Chevrolet....
basically the factory service manual says....tighten the spindle nut, while turning the wheel by hand, using no larger than an eight inch, open end, adjustable wrench. Tighten until you feel resistance then back it off one c***ilation to align the cotter pin (1/12) turn

 

This popped up in my feed yesterday:
https://youtube.com/shorts/W4_-1qoWBZk?si=T55rpnZ9k-hQQ4Ta

-rick

 

I remember seeing a mechanic using a tool to grease bearings with a grease gun; it was a couple of cupped washers with a zerk on one end that you would install on either side of the bearing.

 

Not terribly hard to do but it does require a little patience, it's kind of a lost art.
I always think about the old boat trailers and utility trailers you would see parked on the side of the interstate jacked up, no one around, you know they are off to find "that guy" that the local parts store guy said can get you back on the road.

 

That is exactly what I was taught by my high school auto shop teacher in 1962 and what I did on an untold number of wheel bearings in the years I was doing several brake jobs a day and what I taught my students to do for the 13 years I taught auto mechanics.

I was taught to never wash a roller or ball bearing that you intended to reuse, clean it with a shop rag inspect it and repack it correctly. The solvent residue causes the grease to not want to stick on the bearing.
Also you don't need more grease in the hub than what you pack the bearing with and spread on the bearing after you pack it, that half a tub of grease you stick in the hub is never going to flow and move into the bearing nor will that grease you rub on the spindle, It will still be in that same spot after 10K when you pull the hub off to pack the bearings again.

I was not taught to preload a bearing with X lbs of torque though. I have done every bearing I ever did the same way Snug the nut up to take all the slack with a preload, back it off and turn it back in until it just stops and at most turn a tad until the slot for the cotter key lines up. In all those years I never had a come back or complaint that a wheel bearing I packed failed. My instructor said "neither tight nor loose" and I have stuck with that for 64 years and it has always worked.

 

Thank you. sir. That is what I have done since the first one in 1951 or so.

Ben

 

If the car sits a lot also be sure to inspect the outer bearing race for fretting, as shown. It will eventually get worse...

https://www.nsk.com/adobe/dynamicme...ing.jpg?quality=85&width=1600&preferwebp=true

Also, always both replace the cup and cone at the same time.

 

Great post. One little nitpick, when adjusting the preload, you should not be backing the nut off 1/4 of a turn. Back it off as little as possible, just enough to get the cotter key in. Maybe 1/16 of a turn or so.

 

That’s a pretty slick trick! And thanks for the info from your vette manual, it’s probably applies pretty close to most p***enger vehicle spindles with tapered wheel bearings. But you know what they say about ***uming…

I agree, I have edited the original post. Wasn’t paying attention close enough when copying that from the SKF technical do***ent, quarter turn doesn’t even make sense when it’s split into six sections, unless you weren’t paying attention to the rotate directions, really reefed on it tightening it too much. Good catch.

 

As a rule of thumb, I will repack the front wheel bearings every 2-3 years.
Years ago I bought a 5 gallon bucket of wheel bearing grease at an auction from a closed repair shop. The bucket was 3/4 full and was sealed closed. I've been using it ever since, what a great investment that $3 was. The bucket of wheel bearing grease came with a hand pump with a tapered lower base, and a spin down center tapered cone. The grease pumps up through the center of the shaft. You put the larger inner wheel bearing over the center shaft with the small end facing down until the outer edge makes contact with the lower base cone. Then you place the smaller outer wheel bearing over the shaft, with the small end down, so it sits inside of the larger bearing. Then you spin the upper taper cone down, with the the small end against the smaller wheel bearing with a slight pressure. Then you slowly pump the handle (usually about 3 strokes of the handle) as you watch the grease come through the bearings.

If you did not clean the grease out of the bearings before hand (I'm using the same grease I've used for years, compatibility is not a concern, but even if this was the first time, I wouldn't be too concerned, you can watch the old grease get forced out of each bearing), the double cone set up will push the old grease out of the bearings and replace it with the new grease. Once the old dirty grease has been replaced with the new grease, you can just wipe the old grease off the ends of the bearings with a paper towel. Then give the handle another pump so there is fresh new grease visible.
Then you remove the spin down cone, and remove the smaller bearing, use some of the grease captured between the two bearings to coat the outside of the smaller wheel bearing and set it aside. Then remove the larger wheel bearing and use the grease that was between the two bearings to coat the outside of the larger bearing. Then I will use whatever may be left of the grease that was trapped between the two bearings to give each bearing race that is in the drum or rotor a light coating of grease, if need be, I will give the handle a partial pump for additional grease, but that usually is not required. Then I do a clean up of both of the wheel bearing packer's cones to be ready for the next time.

Before I bought the grease bucket, I bought a manual wheel bearing packer that had the two tapered cones, with a shaft with a hollow center and a grease zerk on the end at a local auto parts store. It works the same was as the bucket with the "professional" wheel bearing packer, except you need a manual grease gun with a tube of wheel bearing grease.

I will see if I can get my camera to work to get a few pictures.

 

Thanks for posting. I literally just picked up the king pin kit, bearings, and seals for my project today which has new Ford style spindles (37 - 41).

 

I've done countless bearing service and replacements. I do them like my dad taught me 40 years ago. Packing bearings by hand with a wad of grease in your palm is a rite of p***age. No need for a tool to do it for you.

 

I plan to do it every three years since I don’t plan on putting more than 6 / 7000 miles within that time period.
And good buy, look forward to the pictures!

I can respect that and I almost did it by hand first, but I did some research into the Lisle bearing packer and not only does it help pack the bearings properly and quickly, but it also stores the wheel bearing grease in one place long-term, and when using it does not waste a lot. Since ‘Marty’ or ‘the coupe’ will be staying in the family as long as I live, and hopefully p***ing it along to my kids, it should pay for itself at least within my lifetime just for proper storage and convenience alone, so to each their own.

And besides, I can’t say that I have met a lot of car guy that do not like a good excuse for a new tool… haha

 

After taking off the big nut, take off the outer bearing, put the nut back on loosely. Then you pull off the brake drum/ rotor and the grease seal comes off, being pulled by the inner bearing which the nut held on.

 

Good write-up. It's one of those things that many of us ***UME is p***ed down but isn't.

I'll mention that some rear axle bearings also have service intervals and are packed with grease, not lubricated with the gear oil. The service interval is long, but by this time ***ume it's due!
https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/rear-axle-bearing-re-packing.185500/

I also prefer to hand pack, the tool always seemed like more of a mess, but whatever works for you. I will say it could probably be tucked into one of those new fangled plastic coffee cans with a lid.

 

In my 46 years of working in the maintenance side of the trucking industry, I've been through or participated in dozens of wheel end training sessions with subject matter experts from Timken, SKF, Stemco, Con-Met and others. They all preach that verifying bearing end play is the preferred method of wheel bearing adjustment. Conventional wisdom is that zero preload is optimal for tapered roller bearings, but it's virtually impossible to measure "zero". The recommended practice is to apply torque while rotating the hub to seat the bearings and back it off to achieve .001-.005 end play. It's easy to check with a magnetic base dial indicator. Overkill? Probably, but I don't have to wonder if I got them set correctly...

 

I've never done that and it's never bitten me. Good on you for taking the time. I'd imagine it's more critical in heavy equipment and trucks.
The big issue I see with the zero preload is when? Even tires mention 'cold' checking of pressures.
The operating temps of front wheel bearings is so wide that a few thousandths of an inch is thermal expansion.

 

It is funny you mentioned this, my rear axle seals started leaking pretty bad, I thought it was brake fluid from the wheel cylinder I replaced at first when I noticed it was wet, thankfully that wasn’t the case. When changing the axle seals out it prompted me to start checking everything bearing related.

I also changed these seals with my kids and they learned what used gear oil smells like…. they didn’t care much for it (haha).

I myself have the pre-packed ball bearings (TIMKEN RW207CCRA) rather than tapered for my early ‘small’ Ford 9” (28 spline). The bearings felt good for the most part without being able to roll them in my hand, and luckily the guy from Timken said there should not be any brinelling from sitting for a long time that would lead to accelerated bearing failure. I was concerned about this as I work with some unique equipment and the heavy ones have this problem with the bearings if they sit idle too long in storage.

Since the car did sit for a while, some pitting/corrosion occurred where the lip of the axle seals rides on the axle, so I had to polish that down on both axles with scotchbrite and down to 1000 grit, also had to clean up the bearing and seal seats on the axle housing itself with some scotchbrite. The driver side axle still had more pitting than I would like, but I don’t have much choice and I did not want to takeoff too much material at the moment. If it still leaks, I can try and polish it down further but I really do not want to replace the entire axle just because of the seal surface.

Based on the combination of the bearing and axle seal 9569S and cross referencing rock autos vehicle fit list I believe my axle could have been donated from:

Ford
FAIRLANE 1962-1970
GRANADA 1975-1980
MUSTANG 1967-1973
RANCHERO 1962-1972
TORINO 1968-1972

Merc
COMET 1966-1975
COUGAR 1967-1973
CYCLONE 1966-1971
MONARCH 1975-1980
MONTEGO 1968-1971

 

That’s how my dad taught me grease in hand. Preload on tapered bearings tighten until snug not tight then back up until the first slot.
Dan

 

Do you think it's less effective than the cone style grease packer? I have only used one once and it seemed to do the same thing-except using a grease gun instead of a socket to push through. My dad taught me the palm method, which is what i've always done.

-rick