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Smoking Front Bearing/Hub/axle/brake

I have a jeep cherokee 1995 sport with just over 151K miles on it. I noticed the harmonics were off, even after having the tire shop rebalance and rotate.

Took it in to the local shop and they said the front bearings were going bad--come in "when I wanted the noise to go away".

Yesterday, I noticed a metalic smell right after the AC controller quit (had to replace the unit twice already becuase of bad switches). I assumed it was the AC fan switch burning out again and continued driving.

After driving the rig another 20 miles (lots of stop and go traffic) I noticed the rig was jerking to the right when I braked at 50 mph. At an intersection the front left wheel assembly started to smoke and I pulled over. A grey/white smoke was pouring through where the brake cable enters the wheel assembly.

I have yet to pull the wheel off--but I do know when I orginally jacked it up to get a better look and tried to rotate the wheel it was seized. After 10 minutes, I tried again and the wheel began to rotate slowly. After 20 minutes it was rotating freely again.

Has this happened to anyone before? I will be looking at it today/tommorow and I expect to find that it is the bearing/hub. If I am lucky it didn't damage the rotor/brake assembly/axle. Real pity about the rotor as it is brand new :/

Thanks for any input anyone might have!

Dustin

Reply to
Dustin Grimes
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Reply to
L.W.(ßill) Hughes III

Bill,

"Thanks" doesn't quite cover the level of gratitude here! I know these forums sometimes take on something like asking a doctor at a cocktail party to diagnose a symptom for free--so your advice/info/expertise is really appreciated.

The link you attached was also right on topic and gives me some idea of what I am in for.

Dustin

Reply to
Dustin Grimes

You might also want to replace the flex hose going to the caliper. Internal failure of this hose is most likely what caused the brakes to lock up in the first place. Of course, since Jeep uses a composite piston in the caliper, you'll have to replace it also as the heat has probably melted it..

Funny, I, too, had to do this to my '95 Wrangler within 2000 miles of replacing the front pads and resurfacing the rotors.

-- Old Crow '82 Shovelhead FLT 92" 'Pearl' '95 Jeep YJ Rio Grande ASE Certified Master Auto Tech + L1 TOMKAT, BS#133, SENS, MAMBM, DOF#51

Reply to
Old Crow

Old crow,

Thanks for the tip!

The brake caliper, hose, and pads were suprisingly clean with no crumbling or discoloration of the brake surfaces, caliper, or rotor. The hose, on the outside and when represurizing, did not show any signs of wear or leakage--but then again any internal damage wouldn't show. The only thing that looked out of place was that the auto shop who had worked on the brakes last applied some sort of sealer on the pad-to-caliper assembly. The axle looked good with no broken teeth or other indications of damage.

Replaced the bearings/hubs with new units, put the caliper assemblies back on, and ran it 20+ miles. So far so good with no indication of leaking, pulling to one side, or any "metalic" smells. The almost total elimination of road noise (other than the stearing pump that has whined/nashed it gears since the day after it came off the dealers lot) is a good reminder of how easy it is to "forget" what things sound like in the begining/what we get used to.

Reply to
Dustin Grimes

Reply to
L.W.(ßill) Hughes III

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