Sounds like a "hopeful" plan.......but good luck......hope it works.

 

OK, so what is killing the bearings? Lack of grease? water? heat? Big tires and wheels with a different offset? I don't know exactly but if some people are getting 200k+ out of stock, untouched bearings then it might not be lack of grease. Remember that the inner and outer bearing is only about 1/4 inch apart, so if you change the wheel offset and tire size much you're going to be quite different from what it was designed to handle. Also the weight of a plow up front with all the turning of plowing is going to be tough on them. These trucks were not designed to be modded out if you want them to go the long miles,,, just my 2cents.

 

Heat is what usually kills bearings. The grease heats up, becomes less viscous and leaks out. I have yet to see a perfectly "sealed bearing", but I don't work for NASA.

It is pretty obvious that just packing grease into the ABS sensor hole simply greases the ABS wheel and will NOT result in any significant greasing of the bearings. However, pushing grease in under pressure may actually get some into the bearing if there is enough pressure and time allowed to push past the "seal". If that actually happens, then old grease would squeeze out from the inner seal and would be quite visible.

If it were me, I wouldn't push grease in under pressure through the sensor hole. I would go get new bearings, learn how to disassemble them without screwing up the seal, clean the factory grease out and repack them with Redline CV2 and install them into the truck. Should result in 10x life.

 

Yes replaced the hub "assembly". If you look in the ABS hole, you can see the tone ring as well as the inner edge of the tapered roller bearings and thus the grease. It was super clean and I did not see any contamination.

I do believe that if you do pump them plum full, then there is a risk of blowing the "assembly" seals out by the expansion of the grease during driving and the heat etc, so moderation is probably key.

I do wish I would have read about this or realized it my self being able to do this. My original hubs just kinda felt like there was a little roughness in them. They would have probably been fine with a good flush of brake cleaner and fresh grease. Infact, I still kept them for spares and maybe will do a little experimentation with them.

 

What "inner seal"? I swear I could see the inner edges of the tapered roller bearings. OK, now I am going to find my OEM spare bearings in the shed and spray them out with brake cleaner. I post up what I find with them. Unless the OEM bearings vs. NAPA bearings are different internally.

 

Wouldn't you have to pump them completely full and under a great deal of pressure if you were to get any new grease past the seals?

 

I was thinking the same thing. You really have to work the grease in when manually packing bearings. Since there is not much pressure squirting grease in a little hole, I don't see how it can do very much.

 

This seems important as these inner bearings are pretty expensive, $200+ each I believe. I've done ball joints and u joints on my 2003. Anyone have any pics they can post about greasing the inner bearing through this ABS fastener hole?
Thanks in advance. Steve M

 

Another trick I did with these bearings after I had my front driver side start to freeze up is get some 75W140 synthetic valvoline gear oil. Take the ABS sensor out of the hole and pump in a few ounces of gear oil in while turning your wheel bearing. It loosened mine up and It spins so much smoother than before. Also no effects with the ABS sensor when using the gear oil. Worth a shot and will let your bearing lasta while longer before being replaced.

 

Grease, now gear oil in the ABS hole ? I am sure all these years unit bearings have been out, someone would have tapped and added a zerk if it worked. If it was possible to grease the bearings through the sensor, wouldn't adding gear oil dilute the existing grease ? To be honest, I don't think grease is going to cause any issues, but I don't think it is actually helping.

 

Next it will be STP oil treatment. hummmmm,,, that might work.

 

After looking more at the photos of post #38, this might actually be feasible. It certainly looks like the ABS wheel is sandwiched inside the bearing. If so, then yes, forcing grease in through the ABS hole would grease the bearings.

Anybody else take one of these apart? Where is the ABS wheel relative to the bearing?

 

Any update on this?

I've got an 03 with 226K on it and the drivers side front wheel bearing is starting to make the occasional hum when turning right (all original parts). I'm looking to drop in new complete front bearings/hub assemblies on both sides. I don't have them apart yet, but it'd be nice to have some clarity to what really works or helps before I dive into it.

What is the best unit to install? I see SKF and Timken assemblies at most parts stores. Napa also appears to have their own assemblies, but I have no idea on bearings.

 

Had to replace my right side at 100k, used a Napa replacement, works fine. But I guess its discretionary.

 

I am about to put my 4th wheel bearing on the passenger side. 1st replacement was under warranty at 24,000 miles, 2nd replacement was not under warranty and I replaced with Napa part at 37,000, truck now has 72,000 and the truck is parked waiting for wheel bearings, ball joints, front axle u joints, and tie rod end. The driver side is factory, but I ordered 2 in cases I destroy it getting it out to do the ball joint replacement. Ordered them off Ebay for $99, hope they are worth a crap.