IFS Hub.... 100K mile Timken or new Advance Driveworks?

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454cid

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99 K3500, Regular cab, long box, single rear wheels

I'm rebuilding the frontend on the driver's side.... did the passenger side a few months ago.

The passenger side got a new hub as the Timkin was bad... I suspect it overheated several years ago when the caliper was dragging and the rotor got very hot. Once I got it off the truck I could feel that the bearings were bad.

I just got the Timkin separated on the driver's side... it feels fine to me. However, it has over 100K miles on it. I already have a new Driveworks hub from Advance Auto... but I could probably return it and get my $70 back. Which would you use?

Ideally, I'd get new Timkin hubs but I don't have that kind of money right now.
 

454cid

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If there's no play or bad noises, leave it alone.

Well, there's no leaving it alone. It had to come off the truck for a rotor. I'm still undecided. I wiped a lot of grease off that came from the CV shaft yesterday, and I'll try to knock some rust off today when I wire wheel the rotor shield.

I'll have to check to see how a return is done at Advance when I bought it online, but picked it up locally.
 
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1989GMCSIERRA

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If the one old hub you are looking at replacing is a Timken I wouldn’t do it until it goes bad.

On my F350 I pull the ABS sensor and take a zerk fitting and push it on my grease gun tip. I hold it against the ABS sensor hose pump a few good squirts of grease through the hole alternating a pump and then manually turn the hub.
Can’t really repack these type of unit hubs but you can get some grease in there.
 

454cid

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If the one old hub you are looking at replacing is a Timken I wouldn’t do it until it goes bad.

On my F350 I pull the ABS sensor and take a zerk fitting and push it on my grease gun tip. I hold it against the ABS sensor hose pump a few good squirts of grease through the hole alternating a pump and then manually turn the hub.
Can’t really repack these type of unit hubs but you can get some grease in there.


Does grease come put of the bearing someplace? I've heard of guys doing this, and was considering doing it myself, but I have two concerns.... adding more grease without an escape for old grease could mean too much grease, and that will make it run hot. Also I wondered if the grease would interfere with the ABS.

Yes, the existing hub is a Timken... I think I'm going to put it back in. I really need to get back on this today too. The trucks been down too long!
 

1989GMCSIERRA

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It will squeeze out the back around the center I just wipe it with a rag. You don’t need to slay the dragon with grease. Just a few squirts is enough. I usually do one good squirt turn 1/3, one good squirt turn 1/3, one good squirt and done.
Unless you’re planning on going with some free spin hub kit this is the only way you’ll get some grease in the hub bearings. I’ve done this for years to my F250/F350 and my wife’s QX56 and had no problems with the ABS system works off magnetic pick up and there is already grease in there. I don’t know how much grease the factory puts in there. My hubs lasted 160 and 180,000 miles on the original hubs. I just recently rebuilt both myD50 and D60 from hub to hub. I used Timken hubs.
 

454cid

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It will squeeze out the back around the center I just wipe it with a rag. You don’t need to slay the dragon with grease. Just a few squirts is enough. I usually do one good squirt turn 1/3, one good squirt turn 1/3, one good squirt and done.
Unless you’re planning on going with some free spin hub kit this is the only way you’ll get some grease in the hub bearings. I’ve done this for years to my F250/F350 and my wife’s QX56 and had no problems with the ABS system works off magnetic pick up and there is already grease in there. I don’t know how much grease the factory puts in there. My hubs lasted 160 and 180,000 miles on the original hubs. I just recently rebuilt both myD50 and D60 from hub to hub. I used Timken hubs.

There are no free spin hub kits for our trucks that I've ever seen. These are unit bearing hubs, they're not considered rebuildable and no locking and unlocking like you would have on a solid axle.

I wondered about the grease interfering because when I pull a sensor, all I see is the rotor/reluctor/whatever.
 

1989GMCSIERRA

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Yeah sorry I was thinking my Superduty on the free spin hub kits.

My hubs are unit bearing also. I’ve pumped grease in every vehicle I have that has these unit bearings for years and I never had a ABS issue pop up. And I’ve done it for years. I replaced my unit hubs for the first time at 160,000 on my 2000 F350 and 180,000 on my 1999 f250. My wife’s 2004 QX56 is still on the factory hubs at 180,000. I’ll be replacing them just because I think its about time.

The one thing I do is pull the hubs once a year and there is a small bearing on the backside of my ford hubs and in pack it with grease. Just clean it with brake cleaner then pack the needle bearings and wipe smooth . Yours may have them also. If it does clean it out and pack some grease in there. It’s the one bearing that gets no grease at all other than what it comes with from the factory.

If you look at the center of the hub in this pic you can see the bearing I’m talking about

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