Just changed my wheel/hub assembly

[treegump]

Passenger side last night. I thought it had previously been separated from knuckle when I did my ball joints and steering linkage, but I broke 2 sockets and an adapter before I ground down a 15mm impact socket.

Question though - When I put it back together. I could spin the hub freely - yea, there was quite a bit of resistance, but I could spin it by hand. When I got it on the knuckle and tightened the backing bolts to 59ish lbs, the only way I could turn the hub was with some leverage - and then again, it was an evenly tight resistance. When I got the tire on, it spun more, but again - the same resistance.

I got the hub assembly from Bumper-to-Bumper and it was a Comko...or something with a C. Guy there (its got a small town feel - kind of like carquest feel - they still smoke in there, place isn't sparkling, a guy that gets dirty working on his vehicle is comfortable in there) said that he's/they've never had complaints/problems with the bearing.

I still feel a slight vibration...but it may be my imagination. After driving 5 or so miles, I got out and felt the hub and it was cool to the touch My buddy recommended when I get home tonight, to take the tire off to see if I can spin the hub by hand and if not, then to take it apart and try and clean up the surfaces...maybe something not quite smooth.

Also - it seems like if I unscrewed the lower left bolt (if looking at side of vehicle (passenger side), then the hub would at least be loose enough to turn by hand.

Any experience, thoughts, ??

Sorry for the lenth - thanks for the help!!

 

[whatnot]

Did the axle shaft turn easily when the hub was off?

 

[ak diesel driver]

I took my dremel with a flap wheel on it and cleaned all the rust out of the hub assembly and if went together easily and resistance didn't chang. Possibly rust not letting it seat right and causing distortion.

 

[treegump]

Did the axle shaft turn easily when the hub was off?

seemed to turn easy enough when it was straight and pulled out. when it was pushed in and/or at a sharp turn/angle it was more difficult.

 

[treegump]

I took my dremel with a flap wheel on it and cleaned all the rust out of the hub assembly and if went together easily and resistance didn't chang. Possibly rust not letting it seat right and causing distortion.

Yea, i'll take it apart and hook either a fine sanding pad or wire brush to my grinder and hit it - but i hit with a scraper and toothbrush sized wire brush...

 

[treegump]

I guess another possibility is the hub is a P.O.S. ...BUT...it was nice and tight before I put it on the truck.

Here's a question though. When I called Bumper-to-bumper in the first place they didn't ask me whether it was passenger or driver's side, saying it was the same part. Auto zone though shows a different part number - depending on which side, and the passenger side is 20 bucks more expensive...IIRC.

Another thought/question is - is there a seal or something I should replace in the knuckle, where the axle shaft sits? Cause I didn't. Also, I smeared anti-seize all over the outer knuckle and the mating side of the hub assembly. But I put blue - medium strength lock tite on the backing bolts...not sure how that'll work when it has to go through the anti-seizel...

 

[Matt Bachand]

Tire jacked up it shouldn't bind. Any vehicle with properly functioning brakes the tire should spin freely. If it does, I say you're all set. Unless you know there is something wrong, and hoping we are going to say its ok. Critical part there. If you know something is wrong, fix it.

Have you checked the driveshaft bearing (carrier bearing) if you have one for the vibration? That's the number one cause for my rig w/road vibration.

 

[WarWagon]

Tire jacked up it shouldn't bind. Any vehicle with properly functioning brakes the tire should spin freely. If it does, I say you're all set. Unless you know there is something wrong, and hoping we are going to say its ok. Critical part there. If you know something is wrong, fix it.

Have you checked the driveshaft bearing (carrier bearing) if you have one for the vibration? That's the number one cause for my rig w/road vibration.

X2 on the drive line. I replaced the carrier bearing, U joints, and balanced the 2 piece prop shafts to get rid of my vibration.

Things should not bind when you tighten them up. Do not drive it if it is binding - you will be ruining something.

Did you check to see if the front axle fell out/down of the hub area, aka went tward the engine and dropped down, below the seal and is binding?

 

[bison]

IMO,if the hub does'nt get hot after driving it it aint binding.
The extra turning resistance you felt after torquing the hub's centernut down is IMO normal cause the hub brg play is taken out by tightening the CV drive shaft nut,this action clamps the factory selected spacer between and the 2 brgs inside the hub to the proper pre load.

Yours however could be a bit to tight ( factory goof up?), hard to tell from here.

my 2c

 

[treegump]

I took the tire off and tested the hub assembly Friday night (I don't have internet at home (only on my flip phone-which doesn't make accessing this site easy, or I would have said something earlier). I could spin the hub just fine (still some resistance, but it was normal resistance...I could spin it by hand.

I was talking to my buddy Chuck at the time...trying to figure this out and he suggested I look at my driveshaft. I crawl under and the u-joint at the front differential and shaft appears to be fine with no play, but the u-joint at the top of the front shaft and the transfer case - the 2 caps fastened into the transfer case end has no bearings in the caps. 1/8-3/8" play. Amazing. So - I'm going to buy a u-joint for it and change it tonight.


The rear driveshaft and carrier bearing still appear to be fine, but depending on the price, i may go ahead and buy those and replace them. I have cv shafts up front with my IFS front end, so its hard to say if I need to replace them. I do know that if I rotate the tire or when I last had them out, there was no noise, no stiffness, and no scratchy/sandy feel to them, so I think they're fine.

 

[treegump]

2 questions:
1) - is there a bearing or something that is in the outer knuckle that the cv shaft sits on before it enters into the hub assembly...or does it sit entirely on the hub assembly. I saw something there, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to replace it. If I am - what is it, and how hard is it to replace?

2) - Are duralast gold u-joints fine to use? I want to replace this bad one ASAP, but I don't want to replace everything with cheap u-joints. I had autozone u-joints in my jeep and never had problems off-roading...but this is a HD 3/4 ton...and I want to be smart, not neccessarily cheap.