1. Koyo, according to that link, bought the NEEDLE BEARING division from Timken, not the entire company. Truck hubs aren't made with needle rollers.
2. It is probably possible to replace the actual bearing assemblies inside SOME hubs. There are others that really are crimped/permanently assembled. For example, the ones on my Trailblazer are the same whether the vehicle is 2WD or 4WD, and the 2WD units don't have--and don't need--a CV shaft and bigass nut to hold the bearing together.
For those hub assemblies that theoretically could be serviced, the issue might be bearing free-play, and the spacer required to achieve the correct amount.
Go back to 1966--1978 model year Toronado and ElDorado. They used a non-sealed FWD hub assembly where the bearings were indeed serviceable. Especially the '69 to '78 hub assemblies used a pair of ordinary tapered-roller bearings which by themselves were dirt cheap. Problem was, you had to buy a pair of them AND a special select-fit spacer as a single part number, and the set was enormously more than the two bearings separately. The select-fit spacer was essentially unique to the two bearings in the kit, (those bearings were mass produced and had small individual differences) when the whole works was squeezed together in the hub, the spacer provided the correct free-play. Get the spacer thickness wrong, and either the bearing free-play was too huge or...
'69--'78 Toro/ElDo Bearing assembly. Two rollers, two outer races, and a factory-select-fit spacer ring:
The issue is that no-one sells a pair of bearings and the spacer for our truck hubs.
2. It is probably possible to replace the actual bearing assemblies inside SOME hubs. There are others that really are crimped/permanently assembled. For example, the ones on my Trailblazer are the same whether the vehicle is 2WD or 4WD, and the 2WD units don't have--and don't need--a CV shaft and bigass nut to hold the bearing together.
For those hub assemblies that theoretically could be serviced, the issue might be bearing free-play, and the spacer required to achieve the correct amount.
Go back to 1966--1978 model year Toronado and ElDorado. They used a non-sealed FWD hub assembly where the bearings were indeed serviceable. Especially the '69 to '78 hub assemblies used a pair of ordinary tapered-roller bearings which by themselves were dirt cheap. Problem was, you had to buy a pair of them AND a special select-fit spacer as a single part number, and the set was enormously more than the two bearings separately. The select-fit spacer was essentially unique to the two bearings in the kit, (those bearings were mass produced and had small individual differences) when the whole works was squeezed together in the hub, the spacer provided the correct free-play. Get the spacer thickness wrong, and either the bearing free-play was too huge or...
...the bearings would end up TIGHTER THAN A BULL'S A_SS IN FLY-SEASON.That sounds like a midwestfarmer'sRancher's expression, which I know from experience
'69--'78 Toro/ElDo Bearing assembly. Two rollers, two outer races, and a factory-select-fit spacer ring:
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The issue is that no-one sells a pair of bearings and the spacer for our truck hubs.