> Felt some low level vibration while driving yesterday and have since
> removed the wheel and examined the driver's side bearings once again.
> Turns out there were fine metal shavings in the grease cap. Upon close
> examination of the outer bearing, there was significant wear spots on the
> inner side of the bearing case. I have since ordered another outside
> bearing for the car.
Jim, this is not a normal mode of failure for roller bearings. Sounds to me
like your replacement bearing was simply defective.
> My questions for the group are: Could it be that I did not tighten
> the hub nut sufficiently? Is 10 lbs of torque too light? I haven't
> replaced front wheel bearings before, but it seems to me that the damage
> to the bearing was caused by too much play resulting from insufficient
> torque.
The torque value is fine, those bearings are supposed to run with a small
amount of clearance when cold. FWIW, TR3As use the same bearings but a much
larger clearance, they still last a very long time when kept serviced.
> A possible clue: I had wheel bearing grease on the inner side of
> the brake rotor--suggesting there was not a tight fit to the stub axle at
> the rear of the hub and allowing grease to seep out.
There should be a seal there, which should be replaced when you replace the
bearings. Sounds like your seal is bad/missing also.
> A related question: Should I fill the entire cavity in the wheel hub
> with grease? Is it possible to over-grease the hub?
The cavity should definitely NOT be filled. Yes, it's entirely possible to
over-grease the hub, the typical result is grease being forced past the
inner seal and thrown onto the brake disc. Only the bearings need to be
greased, it actually takes only a small amount.
Randall
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