Front Wheel Bearings?

[DanW]

Just did mine at 50k and they were very flaccid. Like floppy. Same with the rod ends of the drag link and tie rod.

Wow, what sized tires? My JL has 95,000 on it with 35's on stock rims for all but 700 miles. They're tight as a drum.
My Jk that had 193k, btw, had 33's on it most of its life. So both Jeeps were not running much more weight than what they had stock. Just one step up in tire size.....32's to 33's and then 33's to 35's for the JL. Maybe that's the key?

Are you also off-roading frequently? I have done about 4 to 5 big off-road trips a year with my Jeeps. They were 7 to 10 day trips to places with some tough wheeling every day, but I'm not wheeling weekly or even monthly, like OP.

I do know that larger/heavier tires/wheels can accelerate wear and add stress, but man, 50k is a bit shocking to see that level of wear....even if you never changed your axle lube.

I change axle lube every 25k to 30k, btw. I've mostly run Valvoline synthetic gear lube, 75w140. My JK saw mostly 75w90 in the front diff/axles. But I now run 75w140 all around, based on Dana's recommendation.

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[Pilsner]

Wow, what sized tires? My JL has 95,000 on it with 35's on stock rims for all but 700 miles. They're tight as a drum.
My Jk that had 193k, btw, had 33's on it most of its life. So both Jeeps were not running much more weight than what they had stock. Just one step up in tire size.....32's to 33's and then 33's to 35's for the JL. Maybe that's the key?

Are you also off-roading frequently? I have done about 4 to 5 big off-road trips a year with my Jeeps. They were 7 to 10 day trips to places with some tough wheeling every day, but I'm not wheeling weekly or even monthly, like OP.

I do know that larger/heavier tires/wheels can accelerate wear and add stress, but man, 50k is a bit shocking to see that level of wear....even if you never changed your axle lube.

I change axle lube every 25k to 30k, btw. I've mostly run Valvoline synthetic gear lube, 75w140. My JK saw mostly 75w90 in the front diff/axles. But I now run 75w140 all around, based on Dana's recommendation.

37s. I've hit 14 Badge of Honor trails this year I think. Have quite a few wheeling trips.

 

[Pilsner]

Mine we the same after 27k on 37s. They are a weak point for sure.

I could have done them earlier for sure. Was chasing a wobble at 60 mph that I just couldn't quite stop. Ball joints where last on my list. They didn't have noticeable play with a pry bar, but were absolutely needing replaced. Glad I did it, even though it was a pain in the ass. Unit bearings were frozen into the knuckles and it took an air hammer to free one. Bashing on the bolt with a socket wouldn't free it.

 

[JT1]

Wow, what sized tires? My JL has 95,000 on it with 35's on stock rims for all but 700 miles. They're tight as a drum.
My Jk that had 193k, btw, had 33's on it most of its life. So both Jeeps were not running much more weight than what they had stock. Just one step up in tire size.....32's to 33's and then 33's to 35's for the JL. Maybe that's the key?

Are you also off-roading frequently? I have done about 4 to 5 big off-road trips a year with my Jeeps. They were 7 to 10 day trips to places with some tough wheeling every day, but I'm not wheeling weekly or even monthly, like OP.

I do know that larger/heavier tires/wheels can accelerate wear and add stress, but man, 50k is a bit shocking to see that level of wear....even if you never changed your axle lube.

I change axle lube every 25k to 30k, btw. I've mostly run Valvoline synthetic gear lube, 75w140. My JK saw mostly 75w90 in the front diff/axles. But I now run 75w140 all around, based on Dana's recommendation.

How does changing diff fluid affect ball joints or the joints in your steering?

Ton's of stories on here with people under 30K miles having wasted ball joints. They don't fail the way JKs do, and the standard test that works on almost all other vehicles doesn't show anything on a JL/JT

 

[JT1]

I could have done them earlier for sure. Was chasing a wobble at 60 mph that I just couldn't quite stop. Ball joints where last on my list. They didn't have noticeable play with a pry bar, but were absolutely needing replaced. Glad I did it, even though it was a pain in the ass. Unit bearings were frozen into the knuckles and it took an air hammer to free one. Bashing on the bolt with a socket wouldn't free it.

Same, wobble over broken pavement and bridge expansion joints. No DW, just one little wobble that made the steering wheel bounce.

Bit the bullet after tightening steering box bolts and confirming everything else up front was fine.

Issue completely resolved with new baller joints.

Pry test said they were fine. Hope you smeared a little anti-sieze on that mating surface before you put it all back together.

 

[Pilsner]

Same, wobble over broken pavement and bridge expansion joints. No DW, just one little wobble that made the steering wheel bounce.

Bit the bullet after tightening steering box bolts and confirming everything else up front was fine.

Issue completely resolved with new baller joints.

Pry test said they were fine. Hope you smeared a little anti-sieze on that mating surface before you put it all back together.

You better believe I did and more than a little. Lol. I'll be back in there to do knuckles. I wanted to do them at the same time but couldn't get them here in time.

 

[djthumper]

I have 181,000 miles. But that's 181,000 hard miles. Towing weekly, offroading and rock crawling a couple times per month.

Holy cow Tyson! I didn't realize you were putting on that many miles! I think I would stay with Dana-Spicer.

 

[JTGuy]

If mine go 181K someone else will be replacing them.

 

[DanW]

How does changing diff fluid affect ball joints or the joints in your steering?

Ton's of stories on here with people under 30K miles having wasted ball joints. They don't fail the way JKs do, and the standard test that works on almost all other vehicles doesn't show anything on a JL/JT

It doesn't. It lubricates the wheel bearings. I wasn't referring to the ball joints in regard to gear lube, so sorry for the misunderstanding.

The ball joints are still good on my JL at 95,000 miles. No difference from when new. My JK's ball joints were pretty shot by 90k and I replaced them with Synergy joints with zerk fittings. I'll do that with the JL and ultimately the JT when they fail. But the JL's steering and front suspension both feel fine. But I'm also not wheeling 4 times a month, or more, either. And I'm running 35's on stock rims, so I'm probably 15 to 20lbs lighter per wheel/tire compared to a typical setup with 37's. The Grabber X3's on my JL are about 64lbs each (C-rated), and I don't know the weight of the stock rims, but they're pretty light, I am sure.

 

[Pilsner]

If mine go 181K someone else will be replacing them.

The unit bearings are actually pretty easy as long as they separate from the knuckles. Ball joints can be more of a pain.

 

[kevman65]

The unit bearings are actually pretty easy as long as they separate from the knuckles. Ball joints can be more of a pain.

Gear puller will make easy work of a sticky unit bearing.

 

[Stan H]

It doesn't. It lubricates the wheel bearings. I wasn't referring to the ball joints in regard to gear lube, so sorry for the misunderstanding.

The ball joints are still good on my JL at 95,000 miles. No difference from when new. My JK's ball joints were pretty shot by 90k and I replaced them with Synergy joints with zerk fittings. I'll do that with the JL and ultimately the JT when they fail. But the JL's steering and front suspension both feel fine. But I'm also not wheeling 4 times a month, or more, either. And I'm running 35's on stock rims, so I'm probably 15 to 20lbs lighter per wheel/tire compared to a typical setup with 37's. The Grabber X3's on my JL are about 64lbs each (C-rated), and I don't know the weight of the stock rims, but they're pretty light, I am sure.

When I switched to 35's on steel 17x9 rims the rims were 3 pounds heavier than the factory Rubicon rims. The tires weren't that much different . As I went with 35's and was already wearing 33's. I have 100963 and my balljoints are still good on my JT.

 

[JTGuy]

Know that if you really loose a front wheel unit bearing you will also loose the rotor and breaks. Unit bearings are weak by design. The inner and outer bearing are right together . Not nearly as strong as manual locking hub bearings. If there was a conversion kit I would have it.

 

[jac04]

It doesn't. It lubricates the wheel bearings.

Only on the rear, not the front.

 

[DanW]

Only on the rear, not the front.

True.

I don't recall anything in the OM about maintenance on the fronts, such as repacking or replacing. Unless I missed it.

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