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My Bearings Went Kaput!!

Okay, so I got up this morning and my wife and I washed away all the dust and grease off the bug from when we put in a heater channel and a new pan these past few weekends. It was a good weekend to go show off the car to the family on our Easter rounds. Here is a nice picture of my clean 68'.

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It felt a little spongy on the breaks, and so I thought I might want to bleed them again. I had removed the peddles when putting in the drivers side pan, and I thought I might have gotten some air in the cylinder. After removing the lug bolts I noticed the left front rotor was very strangely sitting in place, loose. I removed the grease cover, and the bolt (with the alan in it) and out started rolling what was left of my outer wheel bearing. See the picture ...

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What the hell happened? I have heard of peoples bearings locking up at high speed. But I used the 'good stuff'. I spent the extra ten bucks to get high-temperature dura-lube made specifically for high performance wheel bearings (NOT the general purpose garbage). I packed it pretty tight too! Now it seems to me that the bolt with the alan in it (someone tell me what this is called) could not have been tightened around enough. Is it possible that it came loose? I would think that the backward threading would prevent it from spinning at high speed.

I removed the right front tire, and found it in fine condition. Also, this freaks me out a little bit because I was hauling my family around all weekend in a death-mobile.

If anyone has some ideas for me, do share!!! I will be running by the auto-part store tomorrow to pick up a replacement, and I will be paying good attention to see that it goes down really tightly.

-Ray

Reply to
Ray Dios Haque
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and I will be paying good

....careful. You may have had it TOO tight. You should be able to move the washerwith a screwdriver when it is tight. Too tight and the bearings cannot properly spin. I usually tighten it down and back off a touch...this allows me to know everything is well seated and yet I have the proper amount of tension.

...Gareth

Reply to
Gary Tateosian

This hadn't occurred to me. I wish I could turn back time to the night that we put that wheel back on. Thanks for the tip! I will keep this in mind when I put the new bearing in.

-Ray

Reply to
Ray Dios Haque

Ouch! I've had them come loose but never apart like that! quite possibly a failure of the bearing itself maybe or a slight piece of trash inside the cage. How does the spindle and where the race sets look? Hopefully none of that got damaged.

Something I learned to do with bearings when I was building my Radio Control boat motors was to take and submerge/clean them in in laquer thinner beforehand. You would be amazed at what would come out of them. Those bearings turned 30,000 rpms in some of my motors and that little trick would double the life of the bearings (short lifespan on them).

Also I just found the rightside of the splitpanel I just bought was was loose like that (bearings were alright though) I'm attributing it to 2 things, a lousy install by PO and sloppy steering components (tie rods drag link sloppy) putting increased forces on the tires as they are both not moving in unison at all times.

I also have found my Baja to loosen a bearing up now and again after it has been towbar'd. allthough the frontend is nice and tight, its very diffucult to get aligned properly due to lifted spindles, super swampers, and smacking into stumps frequently! I did put another one of those lock bolts (I can't think of the proper term for it either right now) on it the last time it did it and things seem to be better now so maybe they just wear out in time.

Good luck! Mark Detro Englewood, FL

Reply to
Mark Detro

Ray, you may have answered your question by the statement you made: "I packed it pretty tight too!"

Too much grease will cause the bearings to overheat. Too tight on the nut will cause the bearings to overheat.

Reply to
Karl

I worked in a bicycle shop for a few years, and I saw quite a few cases of destroyed bearings. A bearing gets destroyed like that by being too tight, no questions about it. Bearings are designed to work with a little bit of play, but not so much that the rotor (disc brakes, eh?) will woble noticably. If they're too tight, grease can't even get in to the bearing and it will self-destruct. Make sure that your new bearing isn't too tight. Snug it down good and hard, then back off a little. If you move the thrust washer slightly with a screwdriver, you're good.

~Anthony

Reply to
Anthony

It seems that you had the lock nut (the one with the allen screw) over-tightened, so the bearing got stuck and thrashed. You must not tighten this nut with force, the allen screw is what secures it in place. This nut is used to set the bearing preload.

After you have installed the new bearings, adjust the locknuts with the following procedure. After a test drive around the block, needed for the bearings to sit properlly, remove the front wheels and adjust the locknuts again. To adjust the locknuts: Remove the wheels. Turn the drums with your hand as you tighten the locknut. If you feel that the resistance while turning the drum increases, you have overtightened the nut. Untighten a bit and secure with the allen screw. You have to remove the wheels cause you cannot feel the resistance while the drum turns with the wheels on.

Another thing is the grease to use. Use only high quality lithium grease for bearings (the yellow stuff). It lubricates the bearings better. Do not use grease that contains graphite, molybdenium, etc.

As Mark Detro mentioned, you should thoroughly clean the new bearings before installation.

Bill, '67 Bug.

Reply to
Bill Spiliotopoulos

I just wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions. I put the new bearing in with an average amount of grease. Not too much, not too little. I tightened the lock bolt down and then losened it a bit to allow the wheel to rotate freely. Not too lose, not too tight! Then I tightened the alan screw down real good!

I have been driving on it a few days now. Nearly 300 miles. I removed the wheel tonight and had a look. Looks like a winner! Thanks to everyone for your advice.

-Ray

Reply to
Ray Dios Haque

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