Greasing front wheel bearing hub.....

[JAG1]

Dieselfuture is the one who first brought it to my attention of greasing the front hub bearings thru the ABS sensor hole. Now on my third front hub replacement yesterday in a couple years to both my 2nd gens you tend to get tired of the expense and time. I was only in there to replace the brake pads and discovered a rough spot in the wheel hub bearing. The only way to tell was to turn by hand with the wheel, the caliper and rotor off because just a few weeks earlier I had checked for looseness in the wheels, so on I went with a new Timken hub. This time they got me for over 300 bucks because I needed one right away to be up and running by Monday.

 

Now before removing the old hub with the rough spot, I removed the ABS sensor and pumped a bit of grease down the hole while turning. Wow that really did improve how smoothly it turned. Thanks Diesel future . I went on to replace it anyhow and found leaking caliper pistons.... on an on! 

 

Oh yeah, no I didn't use chicken grease Dripley, I know how you are about animal rights, but I am greasing all four hubs on my trucks from now on.

Edited November 28, 2020 by JAG1

[Mopar1973Man]

Remember if you get too much metallics in the grease between the tone wheel teeth the the ABS will freak out and set the ABS and BRAKE lights. Not something I willing to suggest. The tone wheel should be kept clean and not filled with grease. Being if the grease has a bunch of metallics then the ABS doesn't count the frequency even and may or will cause ABS issues later on.

[JAG1]

Okay, never remembered that. How do you get non metallic grease?

[dripley]

I have never greased mine. Lost both the OE ones within a couple dats if each other at 217k and change. Easy to remember that mileage because my ECM failed about 500 miles later. Took those out around 420k while doing a front brake job that turned into a front u joint job also. Had a pair of hubs that I bought for $150 from a old member. Completely unmaked as far as a manufacturer and he did not remeber either. Figured since I was in that far why not do the hubs. 

[JAG1]

Some guys say there's and others went out at around 100K. So did mine on the other truck, but I'm the one that cooked the brakes on a steep grade with the RV.

[dripley]

1 hour ago, JAG1 said:

Some guys say there's and others went out at around 100K. So did mine on the other truck, but I'm the one that cooked the brakes on a steep grade with the RV.

That kind of heat cant help. But sometimes a man gotta stop no matter what.

[Dieselfuture]

I actually drilled and tapped for a grease fitting facing 90° towards rear on both sides. Tiny hole all the way through and a 1/4" one for the fitting. First I do the fitting  then drill through, this way I keep all shavings out. So when I pump grease in I have old come out from sensor hole while I spin the hub. Then I use a vacuum to get as much out as I can so it's not packed full. Worked great until I changed hubs chasing abs light issue that ended up being rear end sensor. I kept the old hubs as there's nothing wrong with them and what I did is put mineral spirits thinner in there spun the hub vaccum repeat 4-5 times till they were completely clean then pumped fresh grease in and put then on the shelf. To each their own, I'll be tapping new hubs some day in future after I get some miles on new ones, because I know this method works if you pay attention to what you're doing.

[JAG1]

Amazing Dieselfuture. I hate when they need replacing. It took 3 hrs today getting one off. That was after all the bolts were out. Even the splines to the 4x4 axle had no antiseize on them. I am pretty sure it was original hub/ bearing. (2335K miles) What a pain it was. You feel like you did the impossible. Like gettin' MoparMan to get his firewood in 

 

Any way to disable the ABS without throwing codes? I do not like ABS because if you know how to drive, like the old days, you don't need them.

Edited November 30, 2020 by JAG1

[AH64ID]

Lots of people greasing their front sealed units thru the ABS hole and I can’t recall any with ABS issues. Just don’t overfill it. 

Edited November 30, 2020 by AH64ID

[JAG1]

4 hours ago, AH64ID said:

Lots of people greasing their front sealed units thru the ABS hole and I can’t recall any with ABS issues. Just don’t overfill it. 

Thanks, that's what I been reading with a Google search. One mechanic who services a lot of Dodge Rams for a mining company said in one year they spent 150,000 dollars replacing hubs, but as soon as he started greasing them the cost went down to less than 5% of that. Interesting.

 

One of the two hubs I just replaced last weekend was just starting to have a problem. As soon as I pumped in a few and pushed it down with a ratchet extension it made a marked improvement. I did go ahead and replace it anyway.though