Identifying HD Wheel End Problems
Regular inspection and maintenance can reduce bearing damage in conventional wheel ends and decrease long-term costs.
Visual Wheel Inspection
Bearing damage indicators:
- Low lube level in hubcap sight glass
- Hubcap sight glass discolored or burnt
- Lube leakage on wheel hub or tire, inboard and outboard sides
- Abnormal tire wear
- Smoking or extremely hot hubcap
Driver Observations
Bearing damage indicators:
- Wheel vibration
- Wheel wobble
- Wheel noise
- Smoke from a wheel end
- Decreased braking power
- Increased fuel consumption
- Abnormal side pull when braking
- Wheel lock-up/skidding
Wheel End Disassembly Analysis
Bearings may need replaced:
- Worn nut face (adjusting nut and lug nuts)
- Bearing noisy when rotated
- Rust or moisture
- Spindle wear (more wear on bottom half)
- Hub shoulder wear
- Thread wear
- Hub bore wear
- Loss of adjusting nut or jam nut torque
- Bearing dropped
- Worn out or damaged seals
Bearings must be replaced:
- Dry, caked lube in hubcaps or other internal cavity
- Metal particles in lube, hubcaps, hubs, or bearings
- Heat discoloration on bearings or any other internal component (heat discoloration is a nonremovable stain)
- Wear on any bearing surface•Grooves on bearing cone (inner race) backface, bore or spindle
- Dents on bearing assembly cage
- Spalling (flaking away) of bearing material on races or roller bodies (Fig. 1 and 2)
- Any raised metal or dents on races or rollers
WARNING Failure to observe the following warnings could create a risk of death or serious injury.
Proper maintenance and handling procedures are critical. Always follow installation instructions and maintain proper lubrication. Never spin a bearing with compressed air. The rollers may be forcefully expelled.
Skill Level: Easy to Difficult | Special Tools: None
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