29 Front Wheel Bearings

Dal's Dream Car

Dal's Dream Car

Member
Mine are a little loose. I'm a novice mechanic but would like to tackle this one myself. Any tips, instructions, videos, warnings, experience, first aid advice, Hail Mary's or cash donations? Cover me! I'm goin' in!
 
A thorough cleaning of the hub, axle, and wheel bearings is first, then I inspect the bearings for any pits or damage. I hand pack the bearings with Mystik JT-6 High Temp grease. Tighten the nut fairly tight while spinning the brake drum, then back off the nut and just lightly snug it and insert the cotter pin. I don't tighten the nut for the final time any tighter than the weight of a 12" Cresent wrench would have in the 3 o'clock position.
 
Order new ones, both cups and cones, grease and install, put old ones in scrap pile. Bob
Dal's Dream Car said:
Mine are a little loose. I'm a novice mechanic but would like to tackle this one myself. Any tips, instructions, videos, warnings, experience, first aid advice, Hail Mary's or cash donations? Cover me! I'm goin' in!
Click to expand...
 
New ones are not necessarily needed. Clean the old ones thoroughly and inspect for pitted areas. Hold the bearing up to sunlight and look at the inner race, between the rollers. Rotate the bearing to inspect all 360*. If packing by hand be sure that grease completely enters all areas between the rollers, and smear a coating on the outside of them and the cup (race). Adjust as Tom W. says, with no preload as the hub expands more than the spindle and when hot they have a slight amount of tension on them. I prefer good Ford Timken bearings to new ones that are often made overseas.
 
Jim Brierley said:
New ones are not necessarily needed. Clean the old ones thoroughly and inspect for pitted areas. Hold the bearing up to sunlight and look at the inner race, between the rollers. Rotate the bearing to inspect all 360*. If packing by hand be sure that grease completely enters all areas between the rollers, and smear a coating on the outside of them and the cup (race). Adjust as Tom W. says, with no preload as the hub expands more than the spindle and when hot they have a slight amount of tension on them. I prefer good Ford Timken bearings to new ones that are often made overseas.
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I would add: Immediately after removing bearings and before cleaning, hold the bearings up to good light as Jim says, and look for shiny flecks in the grease on the cages between the rollers. If you see any, the bearings are bad no matter how good they look.

Joe
 
Before you take it apart,back off the brakes so there is no drag.Tighten the nut so there is no play,tighten a little more. This will put some preload on the bearings. Put the wheel back on and give it a good spin. You should hear no noise from the bearings. If there is a growl noise, replace the bearings and races.If quiet, service them as described by Tom.
 
Re: Front Wheel Bearings

JoeWay said:
Here's a link to a long and detailed video and another link to a good written tutorial on wheel bearing replacement and adjustment.

They are oriented toward modern cars and therefore refer to discs instead of drums, but other than that nothing has changed in 85 years.

Joe
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The video and tutorial both say to tighten the front axel nuts to 50 ft lbs, back off one full turn, tighten to 10 ft lbs and then back off one slot. 50 ft lbs to 'seat' the bearings seems like a lot.

The video is sponsered by Timken but is directed towards modern discs. The last thing I want to do is damage a new set of bearings.
 
Why replace the bearings if they are still good ?? I'd suggest as Tom mentioned.. Besides,, replacing races for someone that has never done any of this type of work before can be a bit intimidating..
 
The old bearings were bad and the new races are already installed. Not a problem if you have the right tools.
 
Re: Front Wheel Bearings

dmaxweb said:
The video and tutorial both say to tighten the front axel nuts to 50 ft lbs, back off one full turn, tighten to 10 ft lbs and then back off one slot. 50 ft lbs to 'seat' the bearings seems like a lot.

The video is sponsered by Timken but is directed towards modern discs. The last thing I want to do is damage a new set of bearings.
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Well...50 lbs doesn't seem like a lot to me in this situation. The fact that the hub carries a rotor instead of a drum is not significant--the bearings are still doing the exact same work.

Model A wheel bearings are pretty beefy, and I would say Timken can be trusted for advice on their own bearings.

Joe
 
Well have you checked your spindles for wear yet?

Here are some things that get glossed over when you start talking about wheel bearings.

A surprising number of spindles have wear because the bearings spun on the spindle. A few thousands of wear is ok, but some are worn pretty bad. Of course they wear on the bottom so you need to look there. The best thing is to measure front to rear and top to bottom where the bears sit when assembled.

When you take the races out of the hub, what do you see?

If the areas are really nice and shiny then you know the race has spun on the hub. Can the race rock in the seat? I had one inside bearing that you could work it out with your fingers, no hammer needed.

So first you need to determine if the parts that hold the bearings actually hold the bearings.
 
This is how Ford specified wheel bearing adjustment in the Jan and April 1928 Service Bulletins

Adjusting Front Wheel Bearing

If there is excessive play in the bearing it can be adjusted as follows: Remove wheel. Withdraw cotter key and tighten adjusting nut until the hub just starts to bind. Then back off the adjusting nut one or two notches until the hub can be freely revolved. Before replacing the wheel, be sure to insert cotter key in adjusting nut.


Important Information on Front Wheel Bearing Adjustment

1. See that front hub, inner and outer bearings are packed with grease.

2. Front hub grease retainer and lock washer should slide over threads on spindle body with fingers (loose fit).

3. Install nut, tighten same so that all component parts are pulled together snugly; that is, inner and outer bearings will be snug in cones, lock washer tight against roller bearing, and nut tight against lock washer. Grasp drum at top and bottom, apply side strain; see that bearings are tight in wheel hub with no side play. (A slight drag will be noticeable when drum is turned.) Not over eight or ten pounds' pressure is required on speed wrench to get these results.

4. Turn nut back two castle slots (this is approximately 1/4 turn of nut); insert cotter pin and try bearings for a slight .side play and a free spinning wheel.
 
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RonC said:
This is how Ford specified wheel bearing adjustment in the Jan and April 1928 Service Bulletins

Adjusting Front Wheel Bearing

If there is excessive play in the bearing it can be adjusted as follows: Remove wheel. Withdraw cotter key and tighten adjusting nut until the hub just starts to bind. Then back off the adjusting nut one or two notches until the hub can be freely revolved. Before replacing the wheel, be sure to insert cotter key in adjusting nut.


Important Information on Front Wheel Bearing Adjustment

1. See that front hub, inner and outer bearings are packed with grease.

2. Front hub grease retainer and lock washer should slide over threads on spindle body with fingers (loose fit). the switch come in contact with any metal

3. Install nut, tighten same so that all component parts are pulled together snugly; that is, inner and outer bearings will be snug in cones, lock washer tight against roller bearing, and nut tight against lock washer. Grasp drum at top and bottom, apply side strain; see that bearings are tight in wheel hub with no side play. (A slight drag will be noticeable when drum is turned.) Not over eight or ten pounds' pressure is required on speed wrench to get these results.

4. Turn nut back two castle slots (this is approximately turn of nut); insert cotter pin and try bearings for a slight .side play and a free spinning wheel.
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I've never seen a lock washer used on the front spindle.
 
Dal's Dream Car said:
You guys are the best! I have it apart and will order new ones to be sure. Good stuff, good knowledge & good people! Thank you.
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There is a school of thought out there, that if you throw money at something it will automatically be fixed, Not necessarily so! And you only learn to be a parts jockey. As Tom W. said, inspect! Look for things that shouldn't be there, Pit's, flat spots, heat discoloration, and most important, chips and fragments. Tiny little pits are not all that important. Flats, heat discoloration and broken pieces are! Tightening wheel bearings is kind of an art. YOU DON"T TIGHTEN TOO TIGHT! In fact just a little loose is fine! New mechanics frequently want to avoid the humiliation of having some thing fall of so there is a tendency to over tighten everything. Skip that temptation when you're doing wheel bearings! My solution is to snug the nut up tight with a wrench, then back it off. Then snug them (without a wrench) finger tight. There are other ways, but that works for me. It's something you'll learn with practice. There are any number of Wheel bearing greases available. I've been using a Moly lube that came with a wheel bearing kit for my Saab. And I have a can of "Long Fiber" Grease made by Sears a number of years ago, that works fine! You'll develop your favorite in time. Wheel bearing grease is separate from all other grease.
Important!
After doing all this, take the car out for a short ride. Pull over and feel the hubs. They should be warm, not hot to the touch. If they're Hot, the bearings are too tight. Back them off slightly. Good luck!
Terry
 
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