New Wheel Bearings Too Tight?

I replaced both font wheel bearings on my 97 Taco 4x4 manual hubs. I bought bearings and seals and brought the spindles to a local dealer for the press work. I went pick them up and noticed one side was missing the inner seal so I had them go back and put it in. Next I noticed one side seemed a little stiffer when trying to spin the hub where as the other side spun easily. Also noticed the side that spun easily seemed as if the hub was not fully pressed in. The hub locking nut was not as far down as the other side relative to the hub brass bushing and I could see a small gap between the inner seal and spindle which didn’t seem right. Went to install the spindles and the side that seemed like the hub was not fully pressed in would not allow for the caliper to be installed. They contacted the rotor and would not slip over the caliber mounting bracket. Also the washer and snap ring for the cv axle did not work because the grove for the snap ring lined up with the washer, not the snap ring. This confirmed something was not right. I brought the spindle back and had them press the hub in further. When I got the spindle back the hub was way tighter than before and would not spin easily. I put everything back together and assumed things would maybe loosen up once I drove around some. I drove home from where I was working on my truck and everything seemed fine except the hubs are really hot when I touch them after driving. Everything is quiet now though. I drove about 30 miles at 70 mph.

This doesn’t seem right and I feel like everything was installed incorrectly at the dealer.

What would cause everything to be so stiff? Or is this normal and will loosen up over time? It just seems way too tight and I’m scared I will overheat the bearings. Does the hub locking nut dictate the preload on the bearing? Maybe they are too tight?

 

@Timmah! i watched some of your manual hub swap YouTube video where you guys swapped out bearings. Do you what could cause mine to feel so tight?

 

I suspect that they didn't properly support the bearing when pressing in the hub. When pressing the hub into the bearing, you need to support the inner race on the opposing side so you don't put a load on the bearing damaging it. I think you already know the answer to your question. The mechanic obviously screwed up and didn't know what the hell he was doing even though he's a "Toyota Mechanic". With all the things you saw wrong and had to bring the knuckles back to them to fix their mistakes, I'd bring the knuckle back to them again and ask to talk directly to the mechanic that did the job. Ask him how he supported the inner race of the bearing when he drove the hub in. If he gives you a blank stare because he doesn't know what you're talking about, you can safely assume he didn't properly support the bearing. What I fear is they potentially caused bearing damage to the other side as well but it's not evident yet.

 

if I understand the complaint, the observation and the explanation... Toyota front bearings are pressed in by applying pressure to the supported inner race and balls as opposed to pressing the outer race ?

 

No, that isn't correct. The wheel bearings are pressed into the knuckle by applying force to the outer race which puts no pressure on the ball bearings inside. When pressing the hub spindle into the bearing, this is where a lateral force is put on the inner race and could damage the bearing. By supporting the opposing side of the inner race with a press sleeve or piece of pipe, no damaging lateral force is applied. Without supporting the inner race, it's not guaranteed you'll do damage to the bearing but it's possible. This is the reason why when you press the hub out of the knuckle, it's not advisable to try to reuse the bearing because it took a huge lateral force getting the hub out.

 

This is what I figured. Damn. Both sides felt kind of tight. Just one was much tighter than the other. I couldn’t even hold my hand on the manual hub face after driving 30 miles because it was so hot. I talked the guy doing the work every time I had to go back. Was a young kid. Didn’t seem like he had done this kind of work before. But I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I plan on dropping the whole truck off there on Monday and telling them to fix it. That’s if I make it there without roasting a bearing. I currently live in an apartment and don’t have the time or space the keep pulling the knuckles on or off. I’m tired of taking all the shit apart to bring the knuckles back. Already did this twice because they messed up. And I replaced the lower ball joints at the same time so now I have to pop them out the lca every time and potentially damage the boot with my 2 jaw puller. Sucks...

Should have just used the money to buy a press. I feel I am more than capable of doing this myself...just didn’t have a press.

 

Just be sure to ask the young kid how he supported the bearing when pressing the hub in to see how he reacts. I suspect he's going to have a perplexed look on his face or he'll start doing some quick talking if he senses you know he probably screwed up. Talk to the service manager and request a different mechanic and also ask if you can talk to the guy before he does the job. Tell him what you suspect was done wrong and hopefully this new guy will know exactly what you're talking about.

 

Like the man said, they jacked your bearings up, should be smooth turning,,, they didn't support it, put all the force on the bearings. Their not made to support pressure from that direction. Hope you can get it fixed without to much hassle.

 

ahh... so the outer race is one piece and the inner race is 2 pieces that meet in the center. When pressing the hub back in I assume there is a shoulder on the hub that bottoms on the inner race for a positive feel of bottoming on the press. On the euro cars that I worked on there was a large fine threaded bolt that came through the hub and a large washer on the inner bearings inner race with a nut and it was slowly drawn together. Any reason you can see why this method won't work on toyotas?

 

There is several guys on TW that sell wheel bearings and will press them in. Don’t know if they do all years and models. Do a search.

 

That method with the bolt probably could work just fine if you needed an alternative method to seat the hub into the bearing. But, since you need a press to get that hub out, why not just use the press to get the hub back in? All you need is a press sleeve or piece of pipe that can support the inner race and you're golden.

 

Figured I’d update this thread with what ended up happening. Ended up bringing the truck back to the dealership to have them check out the side that seemed too stiff and was getting too hot. They ended up replacing the bearing (free of charge). I went pick the truck up and everything seemed fine. Now the side the just worked felt cooler than the side that was “cool” before. I assumed all was well and drove the truck for a week back and forth the work. Everything was fine. Then one day after work I decided to jack the truck up on each side and see how the wheels spun (I hadn’t checked anything yet since I got it back from the dealer). I started with the side they just reworked. When I jacked the tire up off the ground, it pop inwards after it came off the ground. Wtf. Once the tire was off the ground I grabbed it at 6 and 12 o clock and moved it. It moved damn near a half an inch back and forth. Holy crap my wheels about to fall off... It was odd that it was this loose but nothing was making any strange noise. I was extremely pissed off and immediately called the dealer complaining. I said I wanted my money back for labor and parts and was going to take my truck else where because I had zero confidence they could perform the work correctly. The lady on the phone insisted it was my tie rods. She had no clue. I could clearly see the play and it was in the bearing/hub assembly. They said to bring my truck in so they could inspect it. I talked to the service manager and we both went out and inspected the side that was loose once the truck was up on the lift. As I suspected something was fucked up with the bearing. They insisted they would fix it and put the “shop foreman” on the job to ensure it was done correctly. I also got them to replace my tie rods (driver side inner was very worn and I was planning on replacing it anyways) for free to compensate for time I had to spend dealing with this crap (this was my 4th time back at the dealer). Also got a free alignment. They also delivered the truck to me. They called and told me what was causing the looseness. The nut on the back if the hub was coming loose because it was not staked. What a huge fuck up on their part. I’m lucky my tire didn’t come off while driving. Anyways they replaced the bearing, tie rods, and inspected the other side. I wanted them to be able to assure me everything was ok, even with the other side. Got the truck back and everything seemed ok. I have driven it for a few days since with no issues. Both sides feel about the same. The hubs get somewhat hot but atleast it’s the same on both sides. One isn’t screaming hotter than the other. I can’t compare it to before because I never checked the temp of the hubs before, so I’m not sure what’s “normal”. But I assume since they feel the same it’s probably ok. Also have to consider the heat generated from the rotors. Hopefully these bearings last the life of the truck (got 213k out of the original bearings)

Lesson learned: if you need your wheel bearings replaced, ensure that the place that does the press work is familiar with the job and knows EXACTLY what needs to be done to do it correctly.

 

You just learned a valuable lesson. Dealerships are thought of as the experts for your vehicle because it's filled with mechanics that are trained to work on Toyotas. But, what you found out and what I also found out the hard way is they screw up plenty at these dealerships. It was my negative experience at my local dealer that inspired me to handle most of my own automotive work and gave me the motivation to launch a YouTube channel with my buddy Sean.

 

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

That shop should have put the "shop foreman" on the job the first time they screwed it up.

Hopefully you can find a better, locally owned shop. As Tim said, just because they work at a Toyota dealership, doesn't mean they aren't idiots, they just charge more, lol.