Hot hubs and wheels

mcarchery12 · Jul 21, 2018

Just put brand new spindles, bearings, rotors, hubs and calipers. Drove around fio an hour and the hubs and wheels are super hot. Thoughts?

broncodriver99 · Jul 21, 2018

Was it a lot of stop and go? Could just be brake heat. How tight did you set your wheel bearing locking nuts? How much drag on the brake pads?

mcarchery12 · Jul 21, 2018

Wasnt too much stop and go. Inside 50lbs then and 1/4 turn back off then 70lbs on outside one

mcarchery12 · Jul 21, 2018

Guess Ive never really felt them after a drive. It was hot enough I couldnt just hold tbe hub, I would have to tap it.

Jebus · Jul 21, 2018

A couple months ago I put a disc brake kit on and sourced a master cylinder at Napa. It was supposed to be disc/drum. I did not check. Needless to say, after installing new springs/shocks last week I noticed the front hubs dragging. It struck me and I loosened the front fitting at the master cylinder. Free. After that I dug the check valve/spring out of the front port and reinstalled the seat. I had monitored my new front wheel bearings and did not have more than normal heat after a drive...

SteveL · Jul 21, 2018

Make sure the brakes aren't dragging

spap · Jul 21, 2018

Thought it said hot Tubs and wheels. Haaa

centex77 · Jul 21, 2018

Might just be heat from breaking in.

nickgp · Jul 21, 2018

Sounds like the bearing pre load is too tight. Had a similar problem. Might have to back it off a bit

Skiddy · Jul 22, 2018

spap said:
Thought it said hot Tubs and wheels. Haaa

that's ok I read it twice and thought the same lol

DirtDonk · Jul 23, 2018

They do get warm of course, and they can get hot. But when hot, it would normally be from the brakes, as the others have said. If it's too hot to touch, I would double check that (to make sure the surprise of the heat was not skewing your "digital thermometer readings"

;D and then get out on the road a bit and check again.

If it's hot after a bit of highway driving and very little stopping, I would at least double-check your bearing setting.
Your method sounds correct, so not questioning that. Just that something may have skewed the readings.
If you have a dial-indicator you can check for bearing play. Supposed to be something like .002 - .010 inch if I remember. Mine usually fell into the .006" play range when I did it the same way you did.

Good luck. But don't sweat it just yet if all you've done is a few short trips. These bearings are super stout, and don't fail over just some short hot runs. Maybe the new brakes will loosen up a bit after a few miles.
Don't need to yank it all apart just yet if you're still just testing it and taking it for short drives around town. But if you're planning any extended freeway trips I would sure not hesitate to open it up and re-adjust the bearings first either.

With luck though, it's just some brake heat dissipating.

Paul

mcarchery12 · Jul 24, 2018

Thanks guys. Hot tubs and wheels sounds like a more exciting topic. I will get it on the highway and see if they heat up.

crankman · Jul 27, 2018

When ever I suspected a heat problem there I took my thermo heat gun and I checked each side compared each disc brake pad to each other and you could do the same at the wheel bearing area. It could help pin point a problem easier than by feel.

Rustytruck · Jul 27, 2018

http://www.worldsfastesthottub.com/

bronkenn · Jul 27, 2018

spap said:
Thought it said hot Tubs and wheels. Haaa

Yeah, I'm glad it didn't go there.

Timmy390 · Jul 27, 2018

centex77 said:
Might just be heat from breaking in.

THIS ^^^^ I bet they cool down after a few trips.

I suggest getting an infrared heat gun and checking them correctly. The hot to the touch method is OK but you really need to see the REAL temps.

You can use the gun to find the heat source and know if it's brake related or not.

I have a cheap one form HF and love it. I find myself using it all the time, Bronco, Samurai, boat, trailer.......even once to verify the "blue mountains" were correct and it was time to drink.....

Tim

bmc69 · Jul 27, 2018

Maybe it's just me...but never once in 40 years of owning more than 25 trucks with Dana front axles have I accepted even "warm to the touch" as being OK after a bearing reset.

And not once...not once ever..have I had front bearings fail from being too tight like so routinely happens to so many, many people.

Just sayin...the OPs description sets off my mechanic's alarm. Properly set bearings should not ever generate much heat.

As a side note...over greasing them - packing the hub void full - can cause overheating too.

Timmy390 · Jul 27, 2018

bmc69 said:
Maybe it's just me...but never once in 40 years of owning more than 25 trucks with Dana front axles have I accepted even "warm to the touch" as being OK after a bearing reset.

And not once...not once ever..have I had front bearings fail from being too tight like so routinely happens to so many, many people.

Just sayin...the OPs description sets off my mechanic's alarm. Properly set bearings should not ever generate much heat.

As a side note...over greasing them - packing the hub void full - can cause overheating too.

I've only had to do bearing on my D-44 twice (always use Temken) and they've never been "hot" but have been what I call "warm" after doing them but on my small trailers they always seem to be hot for the first trip. Might be just the quality of the bearings and races? Small tires spinning faster ? They always seem to cool off after a trip or two. Verified with my heat gun.

Tim

bmc69 · Jul 27, 2018

Timmy390 said:
I've only had to do bearing on my D-44 twice (always use Temken) and they've never been "hot" but have been what I call "warm" after doing them but on my small trailers they always seem to be hot for the first trip. Might be just the quality of the bearings and races? Small tires spinning faster ? They always seem to cool off after a trip or two. Verified with my heat gun.

Tim

That would suggest yr setup is right at the bitter tight end of the tolerance. That they eventually cool off, however..means wear occurred. A minute amount of that is "OK" I guess, but speaking as a high power transmission ship driveline engineer...

I set up really big bearings as part of my business and living. 20,000 SHP shaftlines down to 800 HP lift fan drivelines, in all manner of high-speed ships and craft...the criticality of bearing preloads in those applications is insane. So I guess I have a really good "feel" for the more mundane task of setting D44 spindle bearings...

Rustytruck · Jul 27, 2018

The large bearing in the Dana 44 and the whole mass of the metal from the spindles out will have allot of thermal expansion. So it is pretty critical to get the bearing hub end play right. the specifications in our 6 hole spindles were designed before the added heat of disc brakes. its something like .001 to .008 or maybe .010. is the factory service manual for 1976, 1977 different with the addition of disc brakes to the assembly? When I bought my Bronco it suffered spun races and spun bearing due to being assembled too tight right from the factory. The only had 10,000 miles when I bought it almost 40 years ago. I have had no issues all these years by setting to end play specs. You can't set these things like standard car bearings.

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