big jimmy

This seems to be my week for replacements and "how long will it last" questions.

I have the beginnings of a squeel from the left front. Not the brakes since those are new/turned only 2k ago. Besides, the squeel is very different than the usual brake sound.

1)Whats the average life span of the bearings on these trucks given mostly good pavement/easy living?

2)how much time/miles do I have before complete failure, if this squeel is the bearings?

3) what kits are you folks using?

Thanks
Big Jimmy

JKM

If it is making noise , then you better get it fixed up ASAP , mine went blamo with only a very very short warning:

MasseyMan1089

JKM- Is that off of the whole wheel hub assembly? From my experience, you can't service those bearings, the whole assembly must be purchased...

Bobcat698

Sounds like a U-Joint to me.

Also, if you need a wheel bearing, check out www.rockauto.com

OFFDUTYEXPEDITOR

Has anyone ever tried the front wheel hub replacement from Dynatrac? It allows for maintenance instead of replacement. A bit pricey but so is replacing the whole wheel hub assembly everytime a bearing goes out.
http://www.dynatrac.com/products_freespin_dodge.html

marksmith

Why cant you service these?


I pulled the hub apart a few (12K) miles ago and packed the bearings. Torqued it back down (little tricky but not bad) and it hasn't made noise since.


Mines a 95 w/ 208K on it. The hubs on this one different?

kawi600

The hubs are labeled as non-serviceable. Once they wear internally theyre bound to be loose no matter what you do. The only real way to service them would be if the bearing races were replaceable parts as well.
If youve been lucky servicing them thats good, not something Id have expected after seeing how theyre put together.

Dieseldude4x4

The left front went out on my sons truck on the way to work and the only thing holding the wheel on was the caliper. We jached it up and took the wheel off to see what was going on. Once we pulled the caliper, the rotor fell off. The bearing looked like the one above. I replaced both of them for him. About $365 each from NAPA if I remember right and replaced the four bolts on each side too.

OFFDUTYEXPEDITOR

I paid $320 +tax at the Dodge dealer for the hub assembly. I could not find it on NAPA's website (they only listed the individual bearings for the 3500). I also replaced the track bar and tie rod both of which I bought through NAPA at substantial savings. I also discovered it pays to shop around if you MUST buy a dealer item. The hub listed from $320 all the way up to $403.

Dieseldude4x4

The guy I deal with at the local NAPA knows where to get stuff. He got me both of them for about half of what the dealer wanted. Brand new stuff too. The complete hub / bearing assembly. And the four bolts for each one too.

Hemi Cat

The single rear wheel versions of 4x4 has a more popular front wheel bearing hub assy that carquest and napa sold for around $220, but the dually 4x4 version has a different pilot for the front wheel offset and requires the more expensive hub, (naturally). Yes the engineers did an outstanding job of making sure the parts people will have a job for a long time by making sure those hubs are NOT rebuildable in any way. Possibly pressing them apart every 75,000 miles and repacking them with good grease may help, but if the seal fails cause you didn't get it in correctly, that is the end of the bearings. No seals are available as of last year.

smoke_pedal

I just replaced my passenger's side on for about $265.00. I have the four bolt hole one. After that, I found it on rockauto.com for $160.00. I bought a transmission mount for $23.00 including shipping. everywhere else wanted at least $45.00.