Front wheel bearing , check question

[norville]

Hey all, I'm just doing a sanity check on my 2000 LC.. It was well maintained prior to my ownership. I was setting up a weekend to change out the drive shaft ujoints (clunk in drive and squeak in reverse) And I checked the front wheel bearing doing the 6 -- 12 push/pull and when cold there is some movement. I would say about a heavy 1/16" to an 1/8" of movement on a stock sized tire. I half panicked getting ready to pick up gaskets to tear into the hubs but I then remembered my 1994 80 series and having a similar issue.


Question, before I rip into this front end, are the 80 and 100 series hubs built the same? What I'm getting at is I remember jerking with this on my 80 for a week as there was not enough fine tuning on the hub and I was in between locks. Either too tight or what was perceived too loose.. there's no weird tire wear or pulls. I'm not opposed to opening them up to re-grease and service but if I could wait until the weather warms up I'd have a much better about it..

I have not checked them hot after driving..

Thanks,
bob

 

[aging fleet]

I've never torn into an 80 axle before, so I won't speculate about the differences or similarities (outside the obvious IFS vs solid axle). What I will say is it is easy to improperly torque the bearings on the 100. If you're getting movement at 6 and 12 or 9 and 3, it sounds like the're loose.

This could also be driving factor behind the clunk because the drive flanges could be wearing due to the extra play. @2001LC has posted photos recently of worn flanges that may help illustrate.

If it were me, I'd be tearing into the hubs sooner rather than later to minimize additional damage to the bearings, races, etc.

 

[norville]

Thanks, I'm 99% sure my clunk and grind are the ujoints but I'll check the flanges when I go to tighten up the wheel bearings. I just remember chasing my tail on this once before and settled on a little looser than tight as tight wrecks bearings faster than loose... I used the googles to look at some vids on it and yes they look the same... and they are still a bit of a PITA..

thanks

 

[Sandroad]

I'm sure you've read here on MUD that simply lubing the propeller shafts, especially the splines, can eliminate clunking. I'd try that first, before tearing into the u-joints.

If you are getting up to 1/8" play in your wheel bearings, it's probably time to replace them and not just grease them. On the 100s, it's almost scary how tight the front bearings are when they are properly adjusted. Use the scale method rather than guessing. Don't adjust them "a little looser" to save wear; you'll actually be doing the opposite and causing more wear/damage. And grease the spindle bearings at the same time.

 

[norville]

Yes, I tried lubing the ujoints first and it lasted a day. The scraping grinding sound in reverse was what got me on the ujoint kick. I did the search thinking it was brakes ect.. driveshaft came up multiple times..

I'll check the service records and then get about ordering new bearings.

My comment on "looser" bearings was more to the point of, heat and is bad and if they are overly tight to start , driving on them making them even hotter and tighter leads to failure fast. I'm one for checking how hot they are after a few runs.

Thanks for the guidance,

 

[Trunk Monkey]

The ends of the axles are much the same, same sort of spindle design, two 54mm lock nuts, star washer, same flange and cone nuts. So if you're just going in to tighten them up to spec, you'll be fine, just like your 80. Someone will be along here shortly to post up their boilerplate about flanges and splines. Maybe they'll just link to one of their other posts.

 

[nissanh]

Yes, the 100 series has the same setup as a toyota solid axle.
Check this at 4:00 mark

 

[2001LC]

Not boilerplate, I wrote special just for you

Propeller shaft spider joints (AKA drive shaft u-joints) will vibrate your rig the faster you go down the road, the worst they are/get the more vibration. Clunk when heard while (vehicle moving) braking and accelerating is most often associated with slip yoke of propeller shaft(s). Both issue are from not lubing as required by Toyota, normal driving every 5K miles, daily in sand which includes deep water crossing with slit.

haven't leaked, OEM CVs of the front drive shafts usually hold up well on DD's.

Clunk from N to D & N to R is most often associated with wheel hub flange & axle teeth wear.
Wheel and front drive shaft should move together without play. Play indicated damaged/worn Hub flange & axle teeth.

Loose wheel bearings create chatter which will score (groove) claw washer. Wide gap of snap ring allows axle to move in and out of hub flange. The two act too create a sawing action eating teeth. These wheel bearings and race hold up well, but some of the parts holding it all together don't if not set up properly. I've never seen wheel bearings that where set up right. I count on doing a wheel bearing service on every 100 series I work on. I'm doing a 2007 Dealer maintained now with N to D clunk, order hub flange before I even inspected. I've never actual installed new bearings & races, just associated parts. I do find many have been replaced along with front drive shaft only to be set up wrong again. I'll admit it's not a bad idea, for ~$80 from @cruiseroutfit which has great prices for a complete kit of all OEM parts.

Claw washer scored from loose wheel bearings "chatter", loosens wheel bearings even more:

Warn teeth of hub flange from improper wheel bearing setup, which is all to commonly done by shops:

Damaged snap ring & cone washers mostly caused from wide snap ring gap, loose bearings chatter contribute:

Damaged face of hub flange from pounding due to wide gap of snap ring.

Slee - Spindle Grease Tool
Just a few of the many threads on wheel bearings plus:
Wheel Bearing; FSM Torque to Light or just Right.
Axle reboot
Bearing repack GURUs
Excessive play at front differential
Wheel bearing? Failed wobble test.

Not a short easy to read one-liner, but I hope it helps!

 

[norville]

Great info thanks , I've not seen those pics in my searches.

I have a clunk most noticeable when after driving a few miles and I left off the gas then get back on it. I also have a metallic scraping sound only in reverse. My ujoints were very dry when i lubed them up.. I did throw a few pumps in the slip yoke when I was under there..

 

[2001LC]

Great info thanks , I've not seen those pics in my searches.

I have a clunk most noticeable when after driving a few miles and I left off the gas then get back on it. I also have a metallic scraping sound only in reverse. My ujoints were very dry when i lubed them up.. I did throw a few pumps in the slip yoke when I was under there..

Scraping in reverse could be brakes pad earlier warning tabs, or shoe of E-brake. Just few of many possibilities.

Here some propeller shaft & spider joint threads that may help.
The OFFICIAL clunk/thunk driveshaft thread
Too Much Grease in Drive Shaft?
Does anyone have a parts diagram for the transfer case?
Drive Shaft Question

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I'll admit it's not a bad idea, for ~$80 from @cruiseroutfit which has great prices for a complete kit of all OEM parts.

And they include full instructions too!

All great suggestions of things to inspect.

 

[norville]

I know its not the early warning tabs as I inspected them, definitely from the rear of vehicle so it could be the Ebrake shoes, easy enough to check by rolling backwards, pulling the brake release and modulating the Ebrake...

 

[norville]

Unfortunately, I didn't get the wheel bearings yet, but I think I found the source of my reverse noises...

 

[2001LC]

You may want to check motor & transmission mounts. I say this because you only heard in reverse!

 

[norville]

I found my scraping problem, the inner passenger side brake pad wore 2x as fast as the outer pad. nice job 2001LC . I did a repack and tightening up of the pass front side wheel bearing.

I should point out that she ran flawlessly on a 3.5hr drive to Baltimore and the same back... One more note I did the PEX brass heater hose fix last night. SO glad I had the parts on had as I tries to get the "Tees" apart the hot side crumbled... 140k miles fyi

 

[2001LC]

Even a blind squirrel gets luck

Note: It's very common for pads to wear down at different rates. Having rotors turned with new pads helps, and eliminates squeaky brakes.

 

[bluesquirrel]

Based on everyone's suggestions,
Jack up the truck and replace all moving parts! It's what I'm currently working on

 

[Kyle West]

Please dont throw any wrenches my way!

Can you loosen wheel bearing nuts to retorque without jacking(full weight of vehicle resting on the wheel)?

 

[SteveH]

Can you loosen wheel bearing nuts to retorque without jacking (full weight of vehicle resting on the wheel)?

Because the bearings are tapered, this would be a bad idea. The weight of the vehicle will not allow for proper adjustment. Follow the FSM for best results.

 

[Kyle West]

Can you loosen wheel bearing nuts to retorque without jacking (full weight of vehicle resting on the wheel)?

Because the bearings are tapered, this would be a bad idea. The weight of the vehicle will not allow for proper adjustment. Follow the FSM for best results.

Ok, thank you. Always looking for new ways to be lazy