Front Brakes & Bearing Repack....Done!

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Gottagetone

Gottagetone

10 Year
Joined
May 27, 2011
Threads
61
Messages
1,020
Location
Austin, Texas
I finished repacking my front bearings and changing out the brakes today, thanks to all who answered my previous thread about this job. A big thanks goes out to Spressoman for all the instructions and info.

I have done plenty of brake jobs before but never repacked bearings, I certainly understand the $500 quote to do the job, happy I did it myself. Saved some $ and got some new tools out of the deal.


:beer:
Cheers!
 
How many bananas overall for the job? My CV's are leaking really, really bad and I'm sure the bearings are on factory grease. I'm probably going to just pull both front axles and do the boots, bearings, diffs and transfer case all at the same time to minimize down time.
 
Last edited:
Id say its about :banana::banana: overall. Not real complicated, the worst part is the pile of old grease to remove and replace. You will go through lots of nitrile gloves and paper towels. I did have one CV that was spitting a bit of grease, the passenger side inboard boot, I put a new clamp on it and its good to go.

I was lucky enough to find a local guy that could turn my rotors with the hubs still attached because they would not come apart, no way, no how.

Biggest suggestions I would have is to order all the parts and tools you need well in advance especially the 54mm hub socket and duck bill type c clamp pliers. I found the pliers at Oreily's for $18 and the hub socket from Snap On for $24. You can order the socket from Marlin or Just differentials for $15. Also, get a good fish scale to set your preload.

The bearings on my PS front wheel were extremely loose with about one pound of preload and the outside locknut was less than hand tight. The star lock washer was in place so whoever did this job last time did a crappy job. Im surprised the bearings were still in good shape.

Shoot me a PM with your email and I will send you the instructions Spresso sent me, they were quite helpful.
 
PM sent. Thanks!
 
I just finished up my drivers side this morning. By far the most difficult part for me was getting the outer end of the cv back out far enough to reinstall the c-clip. I over greased the axle shaft bearings and had to clean the excess out of the back side to get the CV pulled out far enough to get the c-clip on. So, don't over grease it.

Once I understood everything, it is a pretty easy job. Just extremely messy. I followed Wildsmiths recommendations for setting the preload and then verified it with the fish scale. Seemed right on.

Also, as I noted in the other thread, both my adjustment nut and lock nut were loose. I was able to turn them with only one finger.....
 
Probably a good reason to stick with the factory recommended 30k interval, if for no other reason than to verify everything is tight...
 
Easiest way to pull the end of the CV is to screw a M8 x 1.25 bolt into the end and give it a yank, it is threaded for this purpose. I also highly recommend ordering every available c clip, I think there are 5 for one side and 4 for the other, so you have them for the rebuild...they are only about a $1.500 each and you need the thickest available so the axel doesnt move in our out.

Three PMs responded to, let me know if you didn't get the email.
 
Gottagetone said:
Shoot me a PM with your email and I will send you the instructions Spresso sent me, they were quite helpful.
Click to expand...

Or why don't we just get Dan to post up the instructions here and make it a sticky! Like Smuckers, if it comes from Spressomon, it has to be good. :)
 
Gottagetone said:
Easiest way to pull the end of the CV is to screw a M8 x 1.25 bolt into the end and give it a yank, it is threaded for this purpose. I also highly recommend ordering every available c clip, I think there are 5 for one side and 4 for the other, so you have them for the rebuild...they are only about a $1.500 each and you need the thickest available so the axel doesnt move in our out.
/QUOTE]

I had a bolt in there and with all 200 lbs of me it wasnt doing the trick. But with the right amount of grease it should. I have pulled my CV's a few times. This was the first time I ever had problems.

For others - the Clips are cheap like noted. Myself and a few others here keep 2 of each size for jobs like this. I think it is solid advice.

OregonLC said:
Or why don't we just get Dan to post up the instructions here and make it a sticky! Like Smuckers, if it comes from Spressomon, it has to be good. :)
Click to expand...

There is already a thread/instructions in the FAQ. It is really good and straight forward. The only area I found a little unclear is the Preload. But there is info on it linked in the Bearing replacement FAQ now. Seems a more than a few people have found the FSM torque values for setting the preload is too low. After opening mine up and finding everything loose, I tend to agree. I followed what some others have been doing and will see how it goes.
Click to expand...
 
Here is the link to the StopTech instructions:


Dont expect your hubs to come apart from the rotors, find someone that wil turn your rotors, if you are going to turn them, with the hubs still attached. If you are going to replace your rotors you may need to find a shop that will press the hubs out.
 

Attachments

Last edited:
Didn't want to start a new thread so I'll ask here.

There's no zerk fitting to pump in or "top off" the grease for the front bearings is there? I'd have to completely remove the calpier and hub?
 
100d ua said:
Didn't want to start a new thread so I'll ask here.

There's no zerk fitting to pump in or "top off" the grease for the front bearings is there? I'd have to completely remove the calpier and hub?
Click to expand...

Yes, you need to disassemble it to re-grease.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom