[jokester00]

Well, last week, the wife and I took a trip to NE Oregon and on the way, I started feeling a vibration in my steering wheel and floorboard at freeway speeds. Truck is the one in my sig. Long story short, I jacked the front end off the ground yesterday to start "operation find the vibration" and i'm pretty sure my wheel bearings on both sides are bad. Driver side has a buzz/hum/drone when the wheel is spinning and the passenger side isn't as bad, but doesn't sound very happy either. I don't have any side to side play in either of them, but the sound is what bothers me. Plan is to R&R both sides next week as well as install new both front axle dust seal and knuckle/hub seals while i'm in there. Never done this before, but i'm pretty good at following directions (except if you ask my wife LOL). Between this site and youtube, I feel like i'm armed with enough info to try and tackle this. Wanted to run my list of parts past you guys to see if i'm missing anything as well as ask a few questions for you guys that have done this.

Parts list:
Timken wheel hub assembly with ABS sensor (x2)
OEM Knuckle seals (x2)
OEM axle dust seals (x2)

Anything else i'm missing?

I plan on renting the seal installer from O'Rileys for the axle dust and knuckle/hub seals. Other than that, it seems like i'll just need the basic hand tools, right? Also, any tips/tricks to getting the mounting studs out of the old assembly and into the new? That should be the only parts I need to transfer, correct? Am I safe in assuming that the oldmounting studs from the OEM part can be used with the new Timken part?

Any piece of info or insight that you guys can think of is appreciated!

Thanks.

-jokester

 

[ZMANN]

I doubt Orileys will have the install tools so make sure

thread moved

 

[ZMANN]

you can reuse the mounting studs but you may hate yourself if they are rusted

i think the Timken comes with the big o ring but you will want two hub seal kits

 

[ZMANN]

ohhhh


and find the proper snap ring pliers or you will be dead in the water

 

[jokester00]

Which ones are the hub seal kits again? Isn't that the big seal that fits in the knuckle?

-jokester

 

[Durapig Eater]

So there's an o ring on the 4x4 hub,
a big o ring on the wheel bearing hub assembly
Knuckle seal
Axel dust seal

I would look really really hard at the ball joints and u joints

You will need a 1/2" torque wrench, a big hammer, long snap ring pliers, knuckle seal installer, big pry bar.

To get the studs out jamb 2 nuts together and wrench them out.

 

[JustinOOO9]

X2 on the snap ring pliers... I had to barrow a pair of mac tools brand from an oil change shop because craftsman, cobalt, harbor freight broke.

 

[jokester00]

Gotcha! Wheel bearing hub assembly comes with the o-ring and i've got the 2 other seals coming, so looks like i need the 4x4 auto locking hub oring. I checked ball joints with a pry bar last night and didn't see any movement, and i'm not getting any snapping, popping, or indications otherwise. I am debating on the ujoints while the shaft is out...now would be the time to do it for sure. Unfortunately, i'm in a bit of a crunch for time though as we leave for camping a week from today and I work Sun-Tues this coming week (parts should be in on Tuesday).

Thanks guys. Keep 'em coming!

-jokester

 

[ZMANN]

well i would call your local parts store and start looking to see if they have the hub seal tool for an 05 up ( not 04 - ) to lend out

i really doubt they will

 

[Durapig Eater]

I wouldn't go past the bearings if in a big crunch for time and your ball joints are good unless you have a vacuum leak at the knuckle already. It's not worth digging in that far for a dust seal.

There's no need to pull the knuckle or axel for bearings.

I have a pair of Sunex 30077 9" straight snap ring pliers with .09" tip I got for 20 ish from amazon, work great and strong.

Timken is 30 min from me, good choice on bearings.

 

[00t444e]

You can make your own hub seal installer with a 10" piece of 1.5 or 2" black iron or galvanized pipe a cap and a coupler or adapetr on the other end, or a base-plate but you have to ground it down some so it will hit on the inside part of the seal. I took the seal with me to the hardware store so I made sure I had the right size to drive it on with.

 

[jokester00]

I wouldn't go past the bearings if in a big crunch for time and your ball joints are good unless you have a vacuum leak at the knuckle already. It's not worth digging in that far for a dust seal.

There's no need to pull the knuckle or axel for bearings.

I have a pair of Sunex 30077 9" straight snap ring pliers with .09" tip I got for 20 ish from amazon, work great and strong.

Timken is 30 min from me, good choice on bearings.

I'm usually a proactive guy rather than reactive, meaning, if i'm going that far in, I would rather replace them. However, this time, because of my time crunch, I tend to agree with you that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I questioned doing the seals going into this because I have no issues with them other than they're flopping around a bit (don't they all). Auto 4x4 works just fine with no leaks on either hub. I might just do the bearings and call it a day. Would save me some time...

-jokester

 

[ZMANN]

you can't just whip together a seal tool out of pipe

besides the floor flange needing ground or turned in a lathe the inside of the pipe needs have material removed since it will contact the axle before the seal is seated

and the diy seal tool doesn't seat the seal to the proper depth

in other words your chances of wiping out or causing the premature death of the seal are great

the tool is about 70 bucks and is ready to use

a trip to home depot for 2" pipe a cap and a flange plus screwing with the diameters just to do it wrong isn't my idea of time well spent

the 1.5" DIY tool may work ok for the 04 under but the 2" DIY tool for the o5 up has ruined a lot of seals

 

[ZMANN]

I questioned doing the seals going into this because I have no issues with them other than they're flopping around a bit (don't they all

not mine because they are the new replacment style that don't fall off

 

[jokester00]

OK, seals are going to have to be put on hold for now till I have more time to do it right. Half the battle is waiting on parts anyway, so they will at least be in my garage. Couple more questions for you guys:

1. Yes/No - blue Loctite on the wheel hub mounting studs where they thread into the new unit?

2. Am I correct in assuming that the wheel hub mounting studs only thread in only so far and then bottom out, and that you can use the 2 nut method that was used to remove it to reinstall as well? I'm guessing there's no set torque value for that...?

3. Yes/No - blue Loctite on the caliper mounting bracket bolts?

I'm probably overthinking this, but that's what I do best

-jokester

 

[Durapig Eater]

OK, seals are going to have to be put on hold for now till I have more time to do it right. Half the battle is waiting on parts anyway, so they will at least be in my garage. Couple more questions for you guys:

1. Yes/No - blue Loctite on the wheel hub mounting studs where they thread into the new unit?
no

2. Am I correct in assuming that the wheel hub mounting studs only thread in only so far and then bottom out, and that you can use the 2 nut method that was used to remove it to reinstall as well? I'm guessing there's no set torque value for that...?
right, they dont need to be super tight it's the streach between the threaded hole and the nut that keeps them tight
3. Yes/No - blue Loctite on the caliper mounting bracket bolts?
I have been told "there's enough locktite on there already" but I usually put a dab on um. the torque value for those are left kidney pucker with a 2' bar

I'm probably overthinking this, but that's what I do best

-jokester

It's easy peasy lemon squeezy, Be a good time for brakes, or at least clean up your caliper pins and pad hardware

 

[G8orFord]

I agree with @Durapig Eater. I might put a dab on the nuts, but not the stud into the hub. I always put a dab on the bracket bolts and maybe even a hint on the caliper bolts. Cleaning up the caliper slides or at least verifying they are in good condition is a must while you have it apart.

 

[thebierguy]

you can't just whip together a seal tool out of pipe

besides the floor flange needing ground or turned in a lathe the inside of the pipe needs have material removed since it will contact the axle before the seal is seated

and the diy seal tool doesn't seat the seal to the proper depth

in other words your chances of wiping out or causing the premature death of the seal are great

the tool is about 70 bucks and is ready to use

a trip to home depot for 2" pipe a cap and a flange plus screwing with the diameters just to do it wrong isn't my idea of time well spent

the 1.5" DIY tool may work ok for the 04 under but the 2" DIY tool for the o5 up has ruined a lot of seals

The first thing I did when I bought my 06 was to purchase the OTC 6697 hub seal installer tool. At that time, they were on back order and took me 3 months to get it (3 years ago). I actually have 2 of the DIY tool for the 04 and under trucks

X2 on the snap ring pliers... I had to barrow a pair of mac tools brand from an oil change shop because craftsman, cobalt, harbor freight broke.

x3 on the snap ring pliers. The one I had didn't work, ended up ordering a set of internal and external snap ring pliers from Amazon. I don't remember if internal or external is needed, but I bought one of each. I really should pull off the hub to see if they will work.



IMO, Since you are doing wheel bearings, you might as well do the ball joints and u-joints. Otherwise, if either of those fail in the future, you will be purchasing new seals to replace when the work is done again. I had a bad wheel bearing and ball joints on my 02, and that is all that I changed. 3 months later I was back in there again changing the U-Joints=New dust seal and knuckle seals along with repeating work done once already.


One question I have: I have 111k on the odometer, for those that have done ball joints, how long have the OEM ones lasted? Do the stock U-joints from the factor come with grease zerks? (My U-joints have zerks so trying to determine if the stuff I have has been replaced.) I bought the truck at 65k.

 

[ZMANN]

One question I have: I have 111k on the odometer, for those that have done ball joints, how long have the OEM ones lasted? Do the stock U-joints from the factor come with grease zerks? (My U-joints have zerks so trying to determine if the stuff I have has been replaced.) I bought the truck at 65k.

OEm axle u joints have zerks

OEM ball joint life expectancy is all over the board my first set was done by the dealer under extended warranty at 60,000

I had my doubts to the need to replace them at that time but it was not my dime

i have over 60,000 on the replacement set with all of those miles pushing 13.5 x 37" tires

I actually have 2 of the DIY tool for the 04 and under trucks

I have a diy tool for the 04 under and one for the 05 up

they don't work great for the axle/knuckle seal IMO but i just used both of them to seat new front and rear output seals in a NP 208 transfer case
they couldn't have worked better since the outputs have stub shafts that sticking thru the case that render a regular seal driver useless

most folks don't understand the knuckle seal is not a static seal it is a multi-piece (unitized) seal that actually turns inside itself so any distortion and you can compromise the sealing surfaces

like this but not this

 

[thebierguy]

I always wondered how it sealed but still was spinning when 4x4 was engaged.