How often is everyone repacking front bearings? (1 Viewer)

[rph74]

I know that the manual calls for every 30k, but is everyone here really following through on this? I bought my truck back in Oct 2002 with 96k and 4 months later I had a clicking/grinding noise which turned out to be a simple front bearing repack. My hunch is that the original owner never had this service done.

Well 30k has now elapsed since that last repack, and I want to know if I can get by a little longer or not.

 

[KathmanduCruiser]

I do not have the symptom you mention, but I don't think it has ever been done in my truck either.

I also wonder if this is something I can do on my own...

 

[spressomon]

I think it really depends on what environmental conditions the truck/bearings have been subjected to. If you do repeated axle deep (or higher) water crossings I would adhere to the 30K (or less!) repack until you got a handle on how much moisture was making it past the seals. Likewise for really dusty conditions.

On the other hand if you have not subjected the bearings to these types of conditions then I would repack at 30K...and if it was 30K since I last did the repack and the grease still looked fresh and was not contaminated I might extend to 40K.

Just my $.02.

 

[1loudLX]

i repack them anytime brake service is done, and since i go thru brakes like i do fuel...they get repacked a good amount.

 

[miraloiza]

I do mine at 80000km and still plenty of grease and fresh. I drive in very hot,dusty conditions and do the odd short water crossings. A good quality grease is the way to go and one designed for wheel bearings to handle heat from brakes. As said environmental conditions need to be considered. I have no idea about cold climate service intervals. Generally in Oz the 30000km interval is far to short and most lease vehicle companies triple this interval.

 

[e9999]

I don't recall if it was done before or not, probably not, and no notes nearby, but around 75K or so I detected some looseness on a front wheel (when doing the shake test). Had things tightened and the bearings repacked/replaced (forgot) under (yet again) the extended warranty.

Any time I have a wheel up or the jack handy, I'll just shake the wheel and see what's up....

 

[SINCITY100]

Uhhh..

You know how bad I abuse my rig on a weekly basis, and I have well over 125,000 miles on the odometer ...

and they`ve never been re-packed, ever...

Maybe I should just wait until the front hubs shear off ( its easier to get to the bearings that way)

It sounds to me like you guys are way too paranoid

 

[spressomon]

Uhhh..

You know how bad I abuse my rig on a weekly basis, and I have well over 125,000 miles on the odometer ...

and they`ve never been re-packed, ever...

Maybe I should just wait until the front hubs shear off ( its easier to get to the bearings that way)

It sounds to me like you guys are way too paranoid

I like your strategy...one better would be to wait until the hub & spindle shear as you stated...and then have someone (Harry has the guy!) make the custo A-arms and spindle to get us that last inch or ? of lift and travel .

 

[Jim_Chow]

More like 50K. Like you all say, it depends on the conditions. If it's rainy where you live, then I'd say more often. I know on my 4Runner, 30k was way overkill after the first repack I did. Now, I wouldn't even think about touching it for 40-50K mi. Driving is in all dry weather, offroading in dirt (no mud, maybe a dozen rainy days/year). It originally went 102K w/o any repack, but the bearings were loose. Still on the original 21 yr old Koyo bearings/races.

FYI, Toyota dropped the repack recommendation of 30k on the GX470/4Runner. It's now one of those 'inspect and replace if you need to' items.

 

[dinibili]

This is timely!. I have my vehicle booked in Tuesday for a front wheel bearings and tappet adjustment . These are supposed to be done in oz at every 20K kms. For various reasons I am up to 31K kms. I have been tossing it around as to whether I would get it done at this stage. Under normal circumstances I would do both my self. However because of the front rotor bolts recall, I was going to let them do it as they will be in there any way. I intend to get a discount for the obvious reasons. As to the tappets, I will get them done, probably for three reasons.
1. Warranty and getting something put in the book
2. If the adjustments are going to alter then it is most likely within the first 20k kms. My guess after that I will leave well enough alone. There was once a time when a head was pulled down (retensioned)in its early life. This is not done as a rule now, probably because of $ compromises.
3. I am going bush for 2-3 months and will do probably around 20k kms. The last thing I need is an issue with an errant front wheel bearing or a tappet/valve.

Also I have read somewhere that Toyota don't put a great deal of grease in the front bearings.

Against all of the above, I find it difficult to believe in this day and age that one needs to have the tappets and front bearing repacked every 20k kms. Also, I am a great believer in "letting sleeping dogs lie", and generally am not inclined to trust other bods playing with my toys.

Donald (On the Rock)

 

[Augie]

I never repacked my bearing yet at 110K miles. I do have to re tighten the locking nut once. I open mine about 1K miles ago. The grease are in good condition and there are almost no wear mark on the bearing but the nut holding the hub are about 1/16 turn loose and you could feel some play on the wheel.

I would highly recommend checking spindle locking nut tightness at the least. You just need to jack the front wheel and check for play top and bottom just like you checking for ball joint. Make sure you could not feel any free play.

If you need to tighten the locking nut make sure you get some spare locking washer. When I did mine the lock washer shear the key and no local dealer have it in stock. Its only $3 retail part but very important for keeping the spindle locking nut tight.

Toyota recommendation for every 30K miles probably based on vehicle that spend all its time off road

 

[Landpimp]

AFAIK.......at 112K mine have never been done, no wobble.....no worry, I still can't get the brakes to wear down.....must have 50K on the pads....and lots of meat left last I looked

 

[rph74]

Geez, at only30k then, I guess I'll let it ride. Sounds like 30k is overkill to me.

 

[uHu]

Did a repack at 100 k km. There was plenty of good grease in there, so could have rolled on. But good to tighten the bearings more often than 100 k.

The best thing with the repack tho', was to find the reason to the slight vibration when braking. Found that the hub seal was letting out some grease, which hits the inside of the brake disk, and gets burnt there. Cleaned the disk and, voila, no more vibes. Gonna change that seal when I get to a T0yota dealer.

Btw, also found that the lock-washer on the left side is a bit too loose in the groove. Better replace it when doing the bearings.

 

[SWUtah]

Very informative thread. My dealers 60K service doesn't include the recommended repack and they also just check with the wheel shake method. Mine was repacked at 30K miles so I figure I will do them again at some where between 75K and 90K miles. Thanks for all the insight.

 

[NMuzj100]

Crosslink - https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=157463

I don't know how we ended up with two threads going at the same time.

 

[tsobrado]

How would one know it is bearings that need attention? Would the vehicle make a squeaking noise when started then decline the longer the vehicle is driven. This is happening to my right front wheel. Would this be wheel bearings or brakes. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

Uhhh..

You know how bad I abuse my rig on a weekly basis, and I have well over 125,000 miles on the odometer ...

and they`ve never been re-packed, ever...

Maybe I should just wait until the front hubs shear off ( its easier to get to the bearings that way)

It sounds to me like you guys are way too paranoid

You abuse yours huh?

Mine have been repacked 4 times and I'm at 120K.