Destroyed axle bearing

ls1mike

ls1mike

Active member
I don't think I posted this one anywhere else.


Two seasons ago I had a brake fail in the applied position on the front driver side axle.
Got HOT! Tire was wobbling had to pull of the road, disassemble what I could and go into town to get parts.
I put it back together without the brake and limped it into town.
I thought I need an axle because of the gouge in it and I had to clean it up enough to get the inner race off the spindle. Local shopped had it fixed next morning. All new bearings all the way around. 480 out the door. Great shop down in Aberdeen Washington.
Mechanic said "Man you are lucky you can fix stuff, because your trailer probably would have need a flatbed and crane to get in here."
Whole ordeal to get it to the shop took me 4 hours. I carry an extra drum and loaded backing plate now.
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You're not kidding it was fortunate not to have been worse. Couldn't have been much longer before the wheel departed and a real mess. Glad all was damaged was your pocketbook.
 
I grew up on a farm where we had dozens of axles with roller bearings. My dad used to give me $5 a hub to put in new races, bearings, and seals. Of course, all bearings were hand packed, it would have been too easy to get a cheap packer. Now I do it on my own stuff because I'm too cheap to pay someone $150 a hub to do them. I'm glad I know how.
 
I grew up on a small farm as well. Not everyone knows how to set the preload on bearings like this anymore.
 
Too tight or too loose and you drastically shorten the life of the bearing.
 
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