Replacing front wheel studs

[matt92vr4]

Shoot, I guess we can't agree on this either hehe. Well I drove the car 30 miles to work this morning and the wheels did not fall off so that's a good sign. Kidding aside, thanks everyone for your help. Without this thread the car would still be up on jackstands, I'd be out $200 for bearings, and I'd be frantically searching Craigslist for a press.

 

[prove_it]

I wish I could show you in person how the bearing assembly all works in person. I can't find an animation or a good pick showing how everything works together.

 

[EMX5636]

Quoting GSTwithPSI:
I bet if I mic'd out both bearings, they would be built to exactly the same specifications. If you want, I'll pull out my micrometer and do that for you, Ryan. I don't think the specifications would differ at all, and I simply don't agree with what you're saying. As far as the grease goes, you can repack the bearing with whatever you want. You don't have to rely on the grease that comes in the bearing, and I make it a point to change it out with a good synthetic on every wheel bearing I do. If you use a synthetic, name brand, extreme pressure, high temp grease...you'll be fine. That's what I use when I pack wheel bearings, and have never seen grease cause a failure. If you have been installing the bearing right out of the box, that may account for some of your comebacks, IMO.



Not pointing fingers at anyone or any brands in particular (I've had good luck with Timken), but I have taken a few bearings apart and have noticed on some, there were less but larger balls on the cheaper or aftermarket brands. This places more load on each ball and less contact point overall.

 

[Fiascoxl]

I have a set "dummy" axles with just the outer splines to move rollers around with. I have seen first hand cars loose the wheel without the hubs supported like they were designed to be.

 

[GSTwithPSI]

Quoting prove_it:
I wish I could show you in person how the bearing assembly all works in person. I can't find an animation or a good pick showing how everything works together.



Although this doesn't substitute for an in-person demonstration, it should get your point across I think.

As posted before, here's everything. Bearing, seals and snap ring. This is a Timken bearing, identical to the Koyo unit pictured below.

For those who haven't seen one, here's the bearing disassembled. It looks like one assembly, but it is actually 5 separate parts: 3 races, and 2 bearings in a plastic-ish cage. This is a Koyo unit I removed from my car. The Timken unit I replaced it with was identical.

The outer race of the bearing is pressed into the back side of the knuckle,

It seats against a lip in the front of the knuckle.

Here's the hub. After the bearing is pressed into the knuckle, the hub gets pressed into the 2 inner bearing races through the front side of the knuckle. This hub is pictured with one of the inner races still attached.

Here's the whole thing assembled with and without the ABS ring.

Here's a view of the back side of the knuckle with everything assembled. You can't see it, but the snap ring is right behind the seal in the photo. Also, you can see how the hub is pressed into the inner bearing races.

 

[iceman69510]

Your 7th picture (with the one race still on the hub) is the explanation why the axle holds the bearing together, and the vehicle should not be moved a significant distance without it. The inner race is in two pieces, and the forces on the wheel can move the hub enough to separate the races. May not happen to you when parts are new and tight, but still possible.

 

[vr4play]

The nice thing about the koyo bearing is that it can be dissembled before use to put better grease in them and re-assemble. I tried it with a different bearing and there is a plastic ring inside that breaks.

 

[Vr4junkie]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quoting matt92vr4:</font><hr />
Question...maybe we can agree on it lol. With the axles out, how much wiggle is acceptable in the hub? With my axles in, there is no wiggle and everything spins nice. With them out, I can wiggle the hub a little.

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I had the same issue one of the wheels had a little wiggle to it and took me a while to figure out but on mine the top part of the hub were the arrow is pointing was worn out .003in could be that you’ll just have to check with a dial caliper to be sure.



And like some have said about the wheel I had that happen to me while moving the car pissed me off since it happened in the middle of the street so I just cut up the old axles and bolted them up that way I dont have to worry about the wheel coming off again <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" />


And about this Timken/OEM or nothing stuff I honestly dont see any thing wrong with using Timken Wheel bearings known people who used them before with no issues. I can say this for sure the Timken wheel seals are alot better than OEM wheel seals if I could do it over agian I would have used all Timken seals the build quality and rubber feels alot more superior to the OEM ones kind like when you feel stock rubber bushings and polyurethane bushings.