I'm starting to a slight squeek from my front left wheel bearing because the cap the goes over has a hole in it and has been leaking slowly for awhile. So what I need to know is what type of grease to get and how to do it. Do i just take off that cap and re-coat the wheel bearing then pack it withe grease?

Thanks.

 

lucky... for the 4wds its upwards of 2-300 for a new hub assembly

 

i did mine a few weeks ago when i installed new pads & rotors... i used amsoil grease and new napa bearings... they are cheap to replace and fairly easy to do... if you don't have a haynes manual get one since there are good directions there... or search my old topics since i asked this question a few months back and got some very good instructions

 

I usually use high temp grease in the tub... I clean out all the old greae real well, then giive the inside of the assembly a good lather and dip each bearing in the tub to get it on all sides (rotate the bearings), then put it all back together. Do yourself a favor, buy new seals (they are a little tricky to get off) you usually need a flat screw driver to pry them off. I bought mine at pepboys (even though I hate that place, but they have them).

Good luck

 

this is for a 2wd right? i hope so, because this is what these instructions are for. and for what it's worth, sorry if i miss anything. i'm just sitting at my desk right now going from memory

there are two ways to do the bearings: cheap (recycling the bearings and seals) and not cheap (getting new ones)

not cheap
1. remove the wheel
2. remove the brake caliper via the two slider bolts
2A. while you're here, clean up and lube the sliders before you put them back, and run a little sandpaper over the brake pads while everything's out in the open. keep your brakes happy : )
3. remove the cotter pin and the castle nut
4. remove the axle nut and pull off the rotor.
5. pull the first tapered bearing and the washer that covers it out of the front part of the rotor. put parts down on a clean rag and keep them in the order of reassembly if need be.
6. put axle nut back on the spindle a few threads.
7. this is the tricky part (and not really the recommended part, but it works) ... with one swift motion you're going to pull inner bearing and seal out of the rotor. place the rotor on the spindle and then quickly/firmly pull if off so that the axle nut grabs the inner bearing. if you do it right then the bearing and seal will come out undamaged. they'll just sitting ont he spindle behind the axle nut : ) ...... this works 100% better than trying to get the seal out with a flat head screwdriver
8. clean out the old grease inside the rotor, clean off the spindle, clean the bearings
9. repack the bearings with grease of choice. also apply liberal amounts to your nice clean spindle and the inner rotor.
10. put everything else back the way it came off. (except for the seal, which you tap in very very gently. and a little grease on the inner part of the seal never hurt anybody)
11. Check the tightness of your wheel bearing (axle nut) when you put the wheel back on but before you drop the truck off of your jack stand. make sure you don't have any play.
12. drink beer

not cheap way
- everything is the same, but get new bearings and seals. really, this is the best way. this stuff isn't that expensive.

 

whatever you do make sure you torque the bearings the correct way. when you reassemble everything, torque the nut to 25ft-lbs while spinning the rotor to seat the bearings properly, then loosen the nut 1/4 to 1/2 turn and retorque to 16 INCH-lbs, yes INCH lbs or just about finger tight, basically just snugged back up to the bearing. you dont want the nut too tight or too loose or they will either burn up or wear out prematurely.

 

saves so much time... got to love it... I repack my wheel bearings every year because of the larger tires. always takes me about an hour of screwing around with it...