[tumbler]

First 4X4, so of course I drive through all the mud. After cleaning the exterior a good bit I noticed some mud hanging down underneath the truck. I got under there twice with a power washer and cleared out probably 40-50lbs of caked on mud.

About 2 weeks later I began to notice a clunk in the front end. I couldn't repeat it in any circumstance, but it was there. I put the front end on jack stands, removed the front two wheels and inspected everything I could find. Nothing was lose or bent, etc. There was, however, a TON of mud caked on everything. I figured some of the larger chunks are probably moving around causing the noise. So I power washed the begeesus out of the front end again. About 20lbs more mud came out.

Now I have a terrible wheel bearing noise. I know there is probably mud and or no more grease in them from the power washing (dumb mistake).

My question is what can I do to fix it?
- Repack the current bearings
- Replace the bearings
- Replace the hub assembly

It seems like Rockauto sells the bearings, but I have no clue how to remove them from the hub. I don't see any info on that on the forums.

TIA for any assistance.

 

[Zedbra]

Wish I could tell you how to replace the bearings on these trucks, but I have never done it, just replaced the entire hub.

 

[tumbler]

I just realized that the bearing only option on Rockauto ONLY lists replacements for the rear.
As for the entire hub assembly, there are only 2 options for rear, and the majority of them are for the front.

I am taking this to assume it's not a replaceable part

 

[tumbler]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I am an idiot.

I realized I never snugged the lug nuts back up after I dropped the truck on the ground (that's what I get for pressure washing onto myself in the cold darkness, and wanting to rush into a shower). The sound is now not there on the regular basis, but time will tell if the intermittent sound I originally heard is gone or not.

 

[phatB]

ha ha we're all human. glad to see it was something simple and no damage was done.

 

[Zedbra]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I am an idiot.

I realized I never snugged the lug nuts back up after I dropped the truck on the ground (that's what I get for pressure washing onto myself in the cold darkness, and wanting to rush into a shower). The sound is now not there on the regular basis, but time will tell if the intermittent sound I originally heard is gone or not.

I'm a natural blonde - stuff like this happens more than I wish to admit.

 

[phatB]

once i got into my car and the clock said 12:00 and i got mad because i thought for a second the stereo had reset, then i realized it was actually 12:00

 

[IAm_Not_Lost]

Well, I can tell you that changing the front wheel bearings/hub assembly is a piece of cake if you need to do it. I wouldn't bother repacking your old ones or anything like that. You can find new wheel bearing assemblies from about $50-130 bucks.

Replacement is easy; loosen the axle nut (that's the only new tool I needed - the axle nut socket) with the tire on the ground so you have leverage, jack up the truck, take off the wheel, leave the axle nut on but loose. Remove the two brake caliper bolts and remove the whole rotor and brake caliper, super easy, just let it rest on a bucket or hang it with wires. Unscrew the axle nut so that it rests at the end of the axle just sticking out in front of the end of the axle so that you can wack it a few times with a mallet to loosen it from the hub assembly without marring it, and then remove the four wheel bearing bolts, pull the wheel bearing off and unclip the abs sensor. Sometimes the wheel bearing can be stuck on, but mine came off easily. You can rent the wheel bearing assembly remover tool from most auto store places if you need it. Then just put in the new wheel bearing and put everything back together. Torque to spec. Have a new cotter pin for the axle nut.

Hopefully you don't have to do that, but if you do, it is really very easy to replace the whole hub assembly. If you try and replace just the bearings or repack them you need a few more tools and a bit more time is my understanding.

 

[TWX]

I've done my share of boneheaded stuff too. Was test-fitting new wheels on my Chrysler and with the car in the air I just spun the lugnuts down with the momentum of the spinning 4-way lug wrench. Car has a limited slip so I torqued-down the rears with them in the air but got distracted and forgot the lower the car enough to just put the fronts touching the pavement before torquing them, came back and lowered it to the ground and went around the block and had a lot of noise, came back and the lug nuts were backing off and I'd started leaving thread impressions in the holes on the wheel. Caught it before causing any real harm but that could have been bad.

Then there's the time I kept breaking transmissions because I changed the gear ratio in the rear differential so the lockup clutch in the torque converter in the transmission was engaging while I was still accelerating hard (it was RPM dependent and mechanical/hydraulic controlled, not speed dependent), burning the clutch material and loading up the fluid so that it stuck the various solenoids including the one for the lockup converter. Car stopped like a manual transmission without pushing the clutch... chug-chug-chuuug-chuuuug-die.