Wacky Sudden out of control truck and camper on the freeway the other night, was a front hub bearing. It threw me into the fast lane, scared the hell out of me and finally got it off the road in a very squirrilly fashion . $340 towing bill and spent the night in Les Schwab for morning repairs. At least I had a place to sleep. I got repaired before noon and got home but the ABS lite is still on... pain.

 

My question is has anyone figured out a way to lube those factory hub/ bearings? I heard they last an average of 100,000 but longer if you lube them by removing the ABS bolt and squirt grease down in there? They can be a pain getting them off too unless you lube the mating surface before bolting up.

 

Anyhow just to start a discussion.... I like the Dynatrac locking hub option for another thought

1 hour ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Absolutely... Once you put that much heat into the rotor it's going to radiate into the unit bearing cooking the grease. This is why I'm a big fan of manual transmissions and exhaust brakes. Automatics can do well too but with 4 gears it hard to get a selection of gear that prevents long brake usage I've got this problem with mt 96 Dodge half ton with the 46RE transmission.

 

I have just crossed over the 300,000 mile mark on my original front wheel bearings.  I, too, have always wondered if having the six speed transmission and using the exhaust brake daily for the life of the truck has contributed to the long life of the front wheel bearings.  It makes sense that the absence of serious heat would give a much longer bearing life.

 

- John

I'm lucky I made it back to NW Oregon since I cooked the brakes in southern Cali. hauling my camper. Dang... it was about a 7000 ft. drop in 13 miles of road. I got to change the other bearing then too as Mike says. Les Schwab put in Timkin. So that's what I'll do for the right side.

Edited September 22, 20186 yr by JAG1

I am another one who is running original bearings at over 300k miles, I do tow heavy sometimes and have cooked the front brakes good a few times, but it is truly luck that I havnt had to replace my bearings yet.

unlike @JAG1 I’m not carrying my load directly on top and have the ability to use trailer brakes which helps tremendously with the 47re 

I'm thinking of a 5th wheel lately, but can't get around the thought of parking where ever I would want like I can now.

Edited September 22, 20186 yr by JAG1

So I'm tired of abs light coming and going and the result is I got Timpkens from rockauto. They look like a very well made unit, says made in USA right on them, and also do not disassemble lol. I took sensors out to see how much grease is in there and they look well packed, even tone ring got grease all over it. So I'm guessing that was never an issue with having grease on it. Might do this tomorrow if I survive friends b-day party today. 

Here is all the junk I'll probably be changing. Not sure if at 160k I need axle shaft u joints changed but if I'll have it all out, why not. I've been collecting parts for a while for this moment 

Oh and new shields from 3rd gen, they don't offer them for ours anymore. The only difference is they are larger in diameter and little that's all, same with back ones, already did them few years ago.

 

Edit 

Take note of ball joint instructions, wonder if it has anything to do with how long they last.

Another edit.

Wrong slinger ring in picture, does not fit, too small. 

Those slingers are from different model axle I posted above, the ones for 01 and 02 are discontinued you have to buy a whole axle stub to get them slingers, but a smart man at Sadler Power Train figured it out and I just got these.

Edited October 1, 20186 yr by Dieselfuture

Hey JAG sorry to  again 

After few weeks of driving my ABS light decided to come back 

I swear this thing is haunted

On 8/9/2018 at 4:15 PM, JAG1 said:

Thanks greed.

 

 Not to change the subject....Just a thought..... if the dynatrac hubs are about 1900 bucks, it would only take around 8,000 miles at typical .25 cents a mile to pay for themselves. Then you have the benefit of grease able and better bearings that are readily available.. Seems like a real savings in the long run. Are they easy to put on yourself though?

Coming to the party a little late but regarding the freespin hubs and repackable bearings...I have the Yukon ($1700) kit which is very similar to the Dynatrac kit.  I didn't think it was any harder to install than changing out unit bearings.  Just changing out the axle half shafts is a little extra work...have to pull the axle shafts completely out.  But it's a great time to put in new outer U-joints and new axle seals since it's all apart.  And you need to press new lug bolts into the new hub...easy with a press.  The locking hub part and bearings install was fairly easy with directions.  It is a little greasy though since you have to pack the bearings and hand grease a few other things.

 

I can't really tell about the 2 mpg increase cuz I'm not stock and haven't really paid that much attention to it.  But I can tell you that the front driveshaft and axle no longer spins so that has to be good for some kind of increase in mileage.

 

The best thing about them is that the front no longer binds when turning in 4wd.  And you have 2wd low if your front hubs aren't locked when you put it in 4wd low.  Also the kit came with 35 spline outer axle shafts which are bigger and stronger than the ones that came out.  Also much easier to change/remove rotors now...they come off just by removing the wheel and caliper/bracket and nothing else...just like the rear rotors do.  And of course bearings are very robust and repackable and much cheaper and easier to change out in the future. 

That's one thing I don't miss. This is the very first truck without broke hub locks, messy damn bearing that needed packing all the time, broken wheel joints. When you look back in history Dodge had several 4WD drive vehicles with all the time four wheel drive and solid hubs. Typically those vehicles rare had issues. Had several friends with the "all the time 4WD" Dodge vehicles. So in 356k miles I replaced 2 sets of unit bearings not shabby. 

 

The people with big oversized tires like 35-inch and up should be in this realm being the unit bearing are not designed for big heavy oversize tires and huge offsets. This is just way too much leverage force on the unit bearing. 

 

 

5 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

That's one thing I don't miss. This is the very first truck without broke hub locks, messy damn bearing that needed packing all the time, broken wheel joints. When you look back in history Dodge had several 4WD drive vehicles with all the time four wheel drive and solid hubs. Typically those vehicles rare had issues. Had several friends with the "all the time 4WD" Dodge vehicles. So in 356k miles I replaced 2 sets of unit bearings not shabby. 

 

The people with big oversized tires like 35-inch and up should be in this realm being the unit bearing are not designed for big heavy oversize tires and huge offsets. This is just way too much leverage force on the unit bearing. 

 

 

My unit bearings did well too...no complaints at all with them.  The reason you stated about the big offset wheels and wide tires is why I went with them...not so much for the extra mpg claims.

Your on the right track then.

Good discussion. If it wasn't for notification of Bullet's quoting me, I wouldn't have known this thread came back alive.

 

So tempting to get the hubs, at least on the truck that hauls heavy. If that drivers side had failed on the two lane mountain highway  which I had just gotten off only an hour earlier, it could have been a disaster. As it was I was on the freeway hauling my camper when it threw me into the fast lane. Thankfully no one was near. It was late at night.

 

My old 1st gen had the hubs of course and I was hard on that truck only packing the hubs once in 20.5 years. Used as a work truck everyday. I'll never forget the long stretches, even years, when she never asking for anything except the usual battery or brakes. I think hubs would be a step in the right direction.

 

I think DieselFuture takes his girlfriends on dates to wrecking yards and auto parts stores 

Edited October 20, 20186 yr by JAG1

6 minutes ago, JAG1 said:

So tempting to get the hubs, at least on the truck that hauls heavy. If that drivers side had failed on the two lane mountain highway  which I had just gotten off only an hour earlier, it could have been a disaster. As it was I was on the freeway hauling my camper when it threw me into the fast lane. Thankfully no one was near. It was late at night.

I've had the involuntary lane change happen to me before too due to a loaded trailer that had poor weight distribution.  Holy cow that is about as scary as it gets.  I could have sworn I saw the Grim Reaper riding shotgun for a brief second.  I was very lucky just like you were...not fun at all! 

Mine was the reverse of JAG1. My old 1972 Dodge Powerwagon required monthly wheel bearing packing, old school drum brakes so long downhill grade cooked the grease really easy. The the quote auto-adjust brake were flakey at best. Then with add on of 265 tires and breaking the outer stubs and wheel joints, the bigger tire cooking the grease out more with long downhill grades.

 

I'm glad those days are behind me. I just done my first joint at 356k miles on the passenger side and my second set of brakes are still 50% with 180k miles on the pads. Ill get better than 200k on the front brakes.

It is strange when life has gone along as expected for years and then this split second lane change...with a top heavy camper... dang thing took a court order to get it back in the right lane and off the side of the road. Truck only has 99,000 on it but I overheated the brakes with that weight and probably cooked the bearing grease too.

Edited October 20, 20186 yr by JAG1

One of mine failed 2 days after replacing the first one. Took me 3 week ends to do the first one myself. That thing just did not want to come apart. This was before I knew about forums or such. But the other failed right after repairing that one and it was exciting to say the least. Fortunately is was empty and only going about 40 mph and I was only a mile from the job. Got mobile mechanic that worked for my grader to fix that one. Thats when I learned the true meaning BFH. I had no idea you could beat on something so hard and not destroy everything around it.  

1 hour ago, JAG1 said:

 

I think DieselFuture takes his girlfriends on dates to wrecking yards and auto parts stores 

I used to , but now my wife even hates when I start my truck let alone go anywhere in it 

She was all nice when we first met, little did I know 

10 minutes ago, Dieselfuture said:

I used to , but now my wife even hates when I start my truck let alone go anywhere in it 

She was all nice when we first met, little did I know 

Should have seen my wifes face when I took her to Maryland with me for my last trip to that job. She wanted to take the Saturn. Me in the Saturn for an 8 hour, no fricking way. So after cleaning the cab and hosing down the inside with Fabreeze, I grabbed all of her air fresheners out of the Saturn and stuck them on all my vents in the cab. My popularity went up a couple notches on that move. 

1 minute ago, dripley said:

Should have seen my wifes face when I took her to Maryland with me for my last trip to that job. She wanted to take the Saturn. Me in the Saturn for an 8 hour, no fricking way. So after cleaning the cab and hosing down the inside with Fabreeze, I grabbed all of her air fresheners out of the Saturn and stuck them on all my vents in the cab. My popularity went up a couple notches on that move. 

Wish it was as easy as air freshener ha ha 

1 minute ago, Dieselfuture said:

Wish it was as easy as air freshener ha ha 

Some days are easier than others if you know what I mean.

8 minutes ago, dripley said:

Some days are easier than others if you know what I mean.

Yeap, keep your mouth shut and do as they say, then life is good. 

I just can't help myself sometimes as you all know already