[Nuts and Bolts]

I have a 02 Durango,with 115 km . I have owned this vehicle for 4 years. At 60K, I changed the first front wheel bearing, after noticing a humming noise when turning at high speed. Since then, I have replaced both front and left wheel bearings. Left side twice, right side three times.........I have used the SKF brand of bearing assembly, in Canada these sell for around the $300 mark. The ball joints and front end seem tight,tires are newer, wheel aliignmnet good.
Has anybody had as much grief with this issue. The problems seem to arise when the weather gets wet, and these units are not a sealed unit,failed bearings feel rough when spun, the last failure totally destroyed the bearings(inner set),wheel almost fell off.
Has anybody had any similar problems, and is this brand of bearing prone to these kind of failures? Are OEM parts worth the money? Is there anything else I should look at.

N & B

 

[Matthew311oh]

Check wheel balance? I've heard of cases where wheels/tires are really out of balance and cause bearings to fail over time.

 

[caulk04]

$300? Yikes...

www.rockauto.com is your friend.

They should have rubber seals on the bearings, if they don't, you've got a piss-poor quality product.

Are you torquing the axle nut properly?

 

[Anthony]

Something is not right.

SKF makes good stuff and their bearings are from Timken. I changed mine about 6 months ago and they cost me about $220(cdn) per side.

 

[GWhaley]

Wheel bearings are supposed to be sealed bearing - also as Caulk mentioned - make sure the torque is correct when installing them. If you put them on too tight the bearings will be junk in no time.......

 

[l1tech]

Is your suspension modified anyway (lifted or lowered)? Do you have the stock rims on or do you have aftermarket wheels?

 

[Venumb]

My guess is you're over torquing the axle nuts and burning up your bearings prematurely.:huh:

 

[Nuts and Bolts]

Eats wheel bearings

The wheel nut torque is 185 ft/lbs, I have stock tires and suspension, no mods.
The bearings look just like the oem one I changed initially, if they are sealed, I can't see the seal? I will get the wheels checked for balancing this week.....cannot rely on my ride.

N n B

 

[Dj Wolf]

i had the drivers side front go out 3 times in under 30k on my 04 Dakota (first QC that didn't have anything aftermarket other than hotchkis).

 

[Shimrra]

The wheel nut torque is 185 ft/lbs, I have stock tires and suspension, no mods.
The bearings look just like the oem one I changed initially, if they are sealed, I can't see the seal? I will get the wheels checked for balancing this week.....cannot rely on my ride.

N n B

bone stock, not even larger tires?

and not the lug not torque, the preload you set on the bearing, im pretty sure that is what your issue is if you have to set it yourself, im not really sure how gen 3 let alone 4x4 bearings work, but if you over tighten your preload, what your doing is smashing your bearings into the races and they are overheating.
if there is some way to get the actual bearing out of it, i would do it to see what it looks like, you can tell allot from them, and usually figure out WHY it died

 

[porksoda]

What should you torque the nut for the hub down to?

 

[99fabtechdrango]

the nut for the hub is 185ft.lbs. i had the same issue on my durango but its lifted with 31x10.50r15's wheels are 15x8 with 4.5" backspacing so that could also be the issue but i know for a fact it was correctly installed. i broke 3 in less than a year (first broken one was the factory hub).

 

[Shimrra]

wow, must be allot different than mine...
my hug gets 1lb of tq

 

[porksoda]

Russ sent me this yesterday. This should help out a few people.

 

[Shimrra]

wow...
things have changed from the gen II by allot lol

 

[caulk04]

wow...
things have changed from the gen II by allot lol

I'm assuming your 2wd uses standard wheel bearings, not unit-bearings. The 185ft/lb torque is to keep the unit bearing together, not set the pre-load.

 

[Shimrra]

yup lol, i have integrated brake hubs ;D makes doing a brake job so nice becasue i just toss the bearings in the packer when i have the rotors turned

 

[Nuts and Bolts]

It happened again..............wheel bearing failure. Not shot, but making noise turning, replaced it (14months this time), noise goes away, drives fine. Stock tires,rims,torqued to specs. SKF brand bearing. past the one year warranty, another $300 + .

frustrated

 

[Dj Wolf]

$300 for hubs? why not try these
http://www.1aauto.com/1A/wheel-bearing-hub-front/Dodge/Durango/1ASHS00032/208760/2001

 

[t vago]

Your spindles might be bad. Do your bearings go on snugly when you put them on the spindles?