St. Louis Truck Driveshafts, Suspensions, Brakes 314-516-9466

                Bearing Cone          Cup                Bore

Over many years Plaza’s service shop has found that the primary cause for the locking or failure of wheel bearings is a lack of lubrication when replacing them. Before the final tightening of any axle nut it is important to understand that the natural process of oil moving laterally to the bearings does not fully occur until the wheels have travelled as much as 21-25 miles. The remedy for such a “dry spell” is to coat the bearings with oil before installing them and then fill the hub with oil.

Properly adjusting the wheel bearings when installing them is extremely important also, but the need to lubricate the bearings before moving the vehicle is often overlooked. For non-drive axles Stemco recommends that you install the hub cap with a new gasket and fill the cavity with lubricant to the proper level before putting the vehicle back on the road. For drive axles Stemco goes so far as to recommend that you check that the differential oil level is high enough to ensure oil flow through the tube to the wheels and also recommends that you even jack-up one side of the axle and then the other to insure that oil is flowing to the wheels. At a minimum you should lubricate wheel bearings (in the words of TMC’s recommended procedure  “with clean lubricant of the same type used in the axle sump or hub assembly”.