How do you replace front wheel bearing on 1994-2002 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4?

Answer 1

It is really a very simple operation considering the bearing, hub and knuckle faceplate are all one unit, convenient but also very costly. Do each wheel bearing one at a time just in case. Remove the wheel. Next unbolt (but do not disconnect from the system or remove from the rotor) the two special sleeved bolts that retain the brake assembly. Be careful. DO NOT lose or break the bolts or the sleeves unless you live near a dealership or certified Mopar shop. These bolt/sleeves are not impossible to find but can end up being a totally avoidable consumer of several hours, or in my case several days. With the brake assembly disconnected you can move the calipers around on the rotor a little and find good places to put c-clamps on every caliper. Start at the width of the rotor and once you get the brake assembly moved you will have more room to put 2 or 3 more turns on the c-clamps. Just 2 or 3, all you want to do really is hold them in place for the time being and push them back just a hair to ease re installation later. There is enough brake line to conveniently place the brake assembly atop the radius arm. If you wrap the brake assembly directly over the top you can hook the brake calipers on the recurve under the radius arm. It rests very securely in this fashion which is good because those breaks are heavy and they do hurt. Next , remove the center axl nut...using the proper socket... not a punch and hammer you Neanderthal!!! You WILL break off the fins if you do. Removing this nut clears the path to later slide off the bearing assembly without havinng to dismantle your axl. Removal of this nut is only required for the replacement of the bearing-hub assembly. The nut can stay in it's place during the replacement of U joints and/or other axl components. There are easy ways to do big things on these trucks. This is very convenient out in the bush if you enjoy wheeling. It makes trail repairs a snap. Soooo... we are over half way there already so next it is time to remove the three bolts that hold the bearing assembly to the side of the knuckle. If you think that sounds way too easy you are right. This is where it gets tricky. On each of the three sides of the faceplate (the part that bolts to the knuckle) there are three very convenient recesses right along the joint virtually calling you to tend to them with a small pry-bar or large flat head screw driver. These recesses are far from as convenient as they look. As a matter of fact, they are really Sirens of maritime lore drawing inexperienced mechanics to the almost certain doom of their dust shields. Odds are you will stab a few holes in it, bend it, crease it, or if you're really lucky like me, you may even manage to not only puncture your dust shield but also crease, tear, and mangle the shield far beyond re-use or re-pair. Trust me here, this is the important part. The outsides of the triangle that bolt into the knuckle are literally pulled into place rather than pressed in. When you put in the new one and tighten it you will see that those three bolts pull a sizable portion of the bearing assembly into a slightly conical and very tight recess around the outside of the axl hole. If you live in a very vehicle friendly environment the assembly can be removed easily by either threading the three bolts through the backside of the knuckle and tapping them evenly. If you cannot position the bolts in such a manner, or it does not work, remove all three bolts, follow the two step heating procedure listed below. When you have completed the final step (inside is cool, outside is hot) take a three pound sledge, pick a spot on the triangle where you would like to make a dent, and give it enough force to rotate the bearing assembly one inch to either side of center within the knuckle. If the assembly was initially designed so you could not thread the bolts through from behind and pull the bearing assembly out, you should now be able to thread the bolts in from the front. As soon as they bottom out they will begin to push out the knuckle because they are now missing their prospective holes and resting on the face of the knuckle. There are extra steps the worse your environment gets. I'll give my Alaska procedure for the most beaten bruised and abused vehicles out there. My first change up took two days. First, with a cutting torch, put the fire right to the center of the junction, or joint where the bearing assembly and knuckle meet. It may be best to heat from the backside of the knuckle. Get the bearing as hot as you like, don't worry about roasting it, you are replacing it anyway. You probably won't nor do you need to make anything glow but you gotta get it very very hot anyway (the hotter the better so it really doesn't matter if something is glowing unless it is transferring intolerable amounts of heat to a part of the vehicle that you intend to keep.) Allow the center to cool slightly so it can draw in penetrating oil without burning it up. Make sure to use a solvent like graphite free wet oil. Do not use the dry stuff. Any graphite, lithium or other solid and/or non-solvent oil will only burn up, gluing together parts that are already stuck anyways. A thin, quality penetrating oil such as Bardahl, LPS, and only one variety of kroil will be instantly drawn to the source of the heat. If you buy Kroil pay careful attention as to what variety you purchase. most of their products contain various added lubricants and other enrichments. One type though is purely penetrating oil, that is the one you want. As soon as the center is fully cooled and the oil has been drawn in position, remove the three bolts and reposition them to aid in the removal of the bearing assembly. Heat the areas of the knuckle that surround the bearing assembly. This two step heating with penetrating oil will get anything loose. It works wonders on exhaust studs. The initial heating of the bearing assembly causes it to expand within the cooler knuckle portion. What this does is loosens, crushes, and pretty much destroys any and all rust, oxidization or other buildup between the parts helping immensely in freeing up a part that was already pressed into place mechanically BEFORE it was sealed in place permanently by rust... mine enemy, and enemy of mine truck. So on to step two, or is it three, or four? Anyway, making sure that the bearing assembly portion is completely cooled, it is time to heat the knuckle surrounding the still pressed in bearing assembly. As soon as the area around the reasonably cool bearing assembly is hot hot hot (but before the heat transfers to the core and heats the bearing assembly back up again) Either hammer or wrench the three bolts you have prepared, of coarse depending on how you were able to set them up. Anyhow, if all necessary steps are followed, at this point the bearing assemblies should come right out. If you are rough on your equipment now is the time to think ahead a little bit. After the Horror of removing my first set of wheel bearings (I begin project number four already next week, every two years it seems) I wanted to make it easier because I knew I would be doing it again. I was certainly right about the again part. In my personal opinion, those damned wheel bearings are the week point in an otherwise indestructible front end.

It must be time to reassemble. Clean all bare metal contacting surfaces with a wire wheel and spray them with Ospho. Ospho creates a chemical reaction turning a micro thin outside layer of the steel into Iron Ferrite, one of the hardest natural metals known to man, essentially turning the once bear metal surface into super armor plating. Take a break cause Ospho takes an hour or so to kick off. The coated metal will turn either purple or black depending on how much surface rust, or embedded rust was contaminating the treated metal. Before you put your new assemblies in, get some never-seize... a lot of it... and totally slather the flanges before assembly. Also slather the three bolts that suck in the knuckle (you DO NOT want one of them to break half way through it's removal in a few years, trust me, easy-out's are way cool but they are like a life jacket. Always wanna have one, but never wanna have to use it. Hand tighten the three evenly with a 3/8 drive ratchet until you can no longer draw the flanges together. Re-apply heat once again to the knuckle around the outside then torque all three to a reasonable poundage. MAKE SURE to torque these bolts. They experience a lot of vibration holding together two separate portions of your drive train. If you do not torque them you will almost certainly shake a couple out. If you have properly clamped your brake calipers, re installation of the brakes should be quick and easy. If you do it just right you won't even have to bleed your brakes. Now that the knuckle and bearing assembly are one again and the brakes are reattached, it is time to put back the axl nut. You didn't break it did you? Of coarse not. You're a pro, right? Anyhow, if you didn't notice when you removed the nut, there is a fairly thick and very wide washer which resides behind this nut. If you take the time to look, you will notice that although it will be scratched up a bit, there will be no grooves, pits or other hard core wear on this washer. The meaning of this? The same reason behind using such a soft nut. It does not bear any direct vehicle weight or force from the drive train, and needs to be "there" but no more than finger tight allowing for uninhibited rotation of the wheel. Since these are new bearings, and the entire assembly is hydraulically pressed together the axl nut need only provide "reassurance" until later on when the bearings begin to go. No certified mechanic would ever tell you not to spend 3 or 4 hundred bucks a side on new wheel bearings at the first sign of wobble. I however am not certified and have nothing to gain here so I will tell you... If you catch them going out early, you can throw another washer or two over the axle, heat the outside of the bearing race and thread on a real nut, grade six or so, and crank it down for all your worth. Leave it there until the outside of the race cools, then back it off and replace it with the soft axl nut leaving the extra washers in place. This is not a permanent solution but will definitely buy you some extra time while you save up the astronomical amount of cash required to properly fund this project. Just make sure to pay close attention to the amount of wobble in the front end of your truck, but don't worry about the bearings or what they will do, I can personally vouch for the fact that the wheels just will not fall off, no matter how hard you try, nor will they dislocate to a point that I would consider completely inoperable. The unnatural wobble does have adverse effects on any and every moving part connected to the bearing assembly and given enough time and abuse, it will destroy them too So stay on top of it. Anyhow, that is what I have learned from my experiences of changing bearings I hope it's all helpful to you and I am sorry for being so long winded. I am lonely, bored and the weather is too nasty to go work on my truck. I need a garage badly.