Driver side unit bearing keeps going bad

Mdrnizd · Nov 16, 2014

What would cause my driver side unit bearing to keep going bad? My Jeep only has 14k miles on it and was replaced by a new Mopar unit 3k-4k miles ago. I'm running 37" Trail Grapplers with ATX Slabs so I know that puts more stress on them but I don't think other people are having them fail this frequently.

wayoflife · Nov 16, 2014

Mdrnizd said:
What would cause my driver side unit bearing to keep going bad? My Jeep only has 14k miles on it and was replaced by a new Mopar unit 3k-4k miles ago. I'm running 37" Trail Grapplers with ATX Slabs so I know that puts more stress on them but I don't think other people are having them fail this frequently.

Could be your end forging is bent. The camber it would give you would put more uneven pressure on your bearings - that and with your 3.5" of back spacing and big tire - that could cause them to fail even faster than normal.

JayKay · Nov 16, 2014

Make sure the axle nut is torqued to spec. Over tightening or leaving too loose can cause bearing failure.

Mdrnizd · Nov 16, 2014

wayoflife said:
Could be your end forging is bent. The camber it would give you would put more uneven pressure on your bearings - that and with your 3.5" of back spacing and big tire - that could cause them to fail even faster than normal.

My alignment sheet shows my camber to be at -0.07* which should be in spec, right?

JeepKeeper said:
Make sure the axle nut is torqued to spec. Over tightening or leaving too loose can cause bearing failure.

Do you know what the torque should be? I did not install the last one. Could a bent axle shaft be causing it?

cozdude · Nov 16, 2014

Mdrnizd said:
My alignment sheet shows my camber to be at -0.07* which should be in spec, right?

Do you know what the torque should be? I did not install the last one. Could a bent axle shaft be causing it?

Torque for that hub nut should be 120 ft lbs I believe

txjeeplover · Nov 16, 2014

I'm tempted to think wheel backspacing, but that's excessive bearing wear even with minimal backspacing. As WOL pointed out, could be a combination of bent C and wheel backspacing.

Mdrnizd · Nov 16, 2014

I've been considering going to a ProRock 44 Unlimited but I don't think that will help with this issue at all will it since it still uses unit bearings? This is why it would be nice to go to the PR60 but having to do the rear axle at the same time kind of puts it out of the budget. I don't think the C hub is bent since the alignment rack says my camber is at -0.07*.

RockyJk · Nov 16, 2014

Mdrnizd said:
I've been considering going to a ProRock 44 Unlimited but I don't think that will help with this issue at all will it since it still uses unit bearings? This is why it would be nice to go to the PR60 but having to do the rear axle at the same time kind of puts it out of the budget. I don't think the C hub is bent since the alignment rack says my camber is at -0.07*.

Wouldn't you be able to just run wheel spacers in the rear until you get the pr60??

cozdude · Nov 16, 2014

RockyJk said:
Wouldn't you be able to just run wheel spacers in the rear until you get the pr60??

Yes I believe you could run wheel adapters for 5x5 to 8 lug

RockyJk · Nov 16, 2014

cozdude said:
Yes I believe you could run wheel adapters for 5x5 to 8 lug

That's what I thought cause isn't Eddie running that on the front of Rubicat right now?

cozdude · Nov 16, 2014

RockyJk said:
That's what I thought cause isn't Eddie running that on the front of Rubicat right now?

Yes I believe he is since he had a 44 up front and MOBY old 60 in the rear

Mdrnizd · Nov 16, 2014

Do most people replace the unit bearing with a factory one or with another brand?

2007blackJk · Nov 16, 2014

Mdrnizd said:
Do most people replace the unit bearing with a factory one or with another brand?

I went with Timken but it's the same bearing, made in the same factory lljin

wayoflife · Nov 16, 2014

cozdude said:
Yes I believe you could run wheel adapters for 5x5 to 8 lug

RockyJk said:
That's what I thought cause isn't Eddie running that on the front of Rubicat right now?

Actually, I'm running 5x5 to 5x5.5 wheel adapters on my ProRock 44 front axle and of course, I did do this to help even out the width so that it was closer to my rear ProRock 60 which is just a 5x5.5 bolt pattern. Moby is running 8 lug.

cozdude · Nov 16, 2014

wayoflife said:
Actually, I'm running 5x5 to 5x5.5 wheel adapters on my ProRock 44 front axle and of course, I did do this to help even out the width so that it was closer to my rear ProRock 60 which is just a 5x5.5 bolt pattern. Moby is running 8 lug.

Ahhh! Thanks for clearing that up

CrazyLarry · Nov 17, 2014

Having bearings fail so quickly is not normal even with the tires and backspacing you run. I've got 85k on my 2010 rubi axles with the original wheel bearings. 60k with 35s and 25k with 37s running 3.25 of backspacing

Mdrnizd · Nov 17, 2014

CrazyLarry said:
Having bearings fail so quickly is not normal even with the tires and backspacing you run. I've got 85k on my 2010 rubi axles with the original wheel bearings. 60k with 35s and 25k with 37s running 3.25 of backspacing

I agree, this shouldn't be happening this frequently. I'm wondering if I have a bent front axle shaft? I would think that could cause it to fail prematurely, wouldn't you guys?

Driver side unit bearing keeps going bad

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