wheel bearing mystery

[chukar]

here's one from the "what the heck" file. the front wheel bearings on the pass side of my 64 ranchero have been giving me fits for a long time now. they will not stay adjusted. they seems to loosen up after only a few hundred miles or so. the rotation of the hub on that side should tighten it if anything, not loosen. the cotter lock system prevents the nut from moving anyway. i recently replaced the bearings and races. i also cleaned every part including the hub to near surgical levels and used fresh grease. spindle threads are not damaged. the races are fully seated. the driver side has been trouble free for six years of daily use. any one out there have a clue as to what is happening? surely it's not the u-turn in front of my house causing only one side to wear.

[theoldwizard]

Originally Posted by chukar

...they will not stay adjusted. they seems to loosen up after only a few hundred miles or so....

Interesting !

How much more do you have to tighten the bearing to take the play out ? Do you just tighten the retaining nut or do you back off and start again ?

I don't know if this is correct, but I a long time ago (when I was a wizard in training) was taught to get the wheel spinning and then crank down on the nut until it stop. Repeat this a couple of times and then back off just enough until the wheel will spin freely. Check after a hundred miles or so.

[ElectrolysisDoc]

Many many many years ago, I hit a curb after "burning some doughnuts". Messed things up on one of the front wheels. Following several outer wheel bearing changes, I went to a frame shop and the diagnosis was "bent spindle". $125.00 bucks later I picked er up and had no more wheel bearing issues.

[chukar]

my adjustment procedure is pretty close to what the wizard recommends. as the new bearings break in there has been some improvement. maybe these new bearings aren't receiving the quality control they used to. i checked them yesterday after putting 150 miles on them and they were still ok. we'll see if they will stay that way for a whole week.
my spindle could be bent. i will have to check it with the dial protractor. i have hit a few things a little hard on our dirt roads. i know that probably makes some of you cringe, but this is the daily driver for an outdoorsmen. i appreciate the responses.

[yank with ute]

I agree with the bent spindle but something else comes to mind.

Is the bearing a "name brand" and even if it is, where was it actually made? I have to change a wheel; bearing on my 85 mustang this weekend, lost count of the number of wheel bearings I've replaced over 25 years.

Even the ones in a box marked "Timken" aren't lasting, maybe it's because they aren't made by Timken ? (Timken plant here in c ow town is long gone and I understand the home plant up in Camnton, OH is a mere shadow of itself).

I'm also having problems with the bearing grease breaking down. Tried the "super gee whiz" space-age red gel grease a few years back and every vehicle which receaved the gel has suffered from bearing failure due to lack of lube.

Another really off the wall problem comes frmo lack of ground between the chassis and battery. GM got hit for a large number of replacements back in the 70's because the ground for the chassis was going through the bearings on the rear axle.

Only other thing that coomes to mind is if you spun the bears when dry after cleaning? Yep, all you have to do is not remove a small spec of hidden dirt and it will destroy the bearing. Same thing applies to dirt getting past the dust and grease sheilds. (But explain how cars from the 30's, 40's, and 50's managed to survive being driven for years missing a hub cover on the front wheels???)

Check the spindle, make certain the wheel race is in fact being held in place by the hub.

[chukar]

it has been a few weeks now and the problem is finally getting better as the new bearings "break in". there is a little inner tire wear, but not on the side that's been such a pain. go figure. new lower ball joints will probably solve that one. i have heard of bad electrical grounding causing odd problems like rear wheel bearing arc, etc. but am sure this isn't my problem. i have run extra ground wires in a few locations.

[yank with ute]

Ever had the ball joints replaced? If the car was adjusted/alignened as it sit on the alignment rack it wouldn't take too many miles for a worn bal joint to change the alignment.

There are ways to check ball joint wear that can be done at home, look in the shop manual.

[falcon428]

I dont see how they would repeatedly loosen up? Maybe once on a new set of bearings, but not usually. As long as the races are good, no discoloration or grooves on surface, and the bearings are good and well packed, you shouldnt have a problem. I usually install everything tighten the castle nut down while spinning the wheel by hand, until hard to spin, then loosen slightly. I do this a couple of times if new bearings and races were used.

Never had this problem, have done misc different old ford cars and trucks and thousands of trailer hubs of many sizes.

Best of Luck!!

[chukar]

i understand about the ball joints, but i think it's a quality control issue with the current crop of bearings out there. problem has almost completely stopped, finally. i think the manufacturing tolerances on the rollers are a little sloppy causing longer break in as they resize themselves. a few thousandths variation in diameter would do it, especially from roller to roller.

[yank with ute]

Without question I do not trust the quality of bearings made in Asia and repackaged for sale in the States. Of course where are you going to find "real" bearings now days unless you stumble upon some old, unsold stock from a defunt parts store?

I found out yesterday I couldn't buy name brand (German company) sissors anymore as all the name brands have "made in China" on the carton. Try to buy U.S. made rubber bands, thumb tacks, etc. (and people want to know what happened to the economy!)

But a new insite on the bearing problems. 18 months back I saw white cords showing on one of my Mustang's tires. Couldn't obtain a goodrich T/A from stock (they are now made in Mexico or Asia) and bought a "good" used tire so I could get to work.

As soon as the tire hit the gorund I started to hear bearing noise but that went away in two weeks. I did give some thought to the uesed tire being shaped/worn through use on the front end of another car.

The noise stopped and I never got around to changing tires. After some tight left turns the noise came back, lasted a few weeks and vanished. Three times.

Last week the used tire finally would not hold air and I finally got the new tire installed. The noise had returned and I had checked the bearings and brake calipers (thought one had failed to retract evenly) and found nothing worth replacement.

Two days after the new tire was on the car the noise stopped. That lead me to taking a good look at the used tire, it was worn at an angle across the width.

Okay, that's a good lead. But something you didn't mention, are you running stock wheels made for your Falcon? I used to laugh at the guys who put extreme reversed wheels on their car to make their "ride" look like a Hot Wheels product and then complain because the wheel bearings failed.

If you are not running the stock wheels you might have an alignment problem.