When will 79R series wheels bearings need replacing?

I have a 2008 Troopy which I service by the book.
My brother in-law uses 70 series tray backs in his business, mostly around building sites. On about his 5th ute now - uses them up to about 300,000ks before he trades them - he reckons he never services his wheel bearings.

With my old landcruiser which had over 300 000ks I did have some problems with wheel bearings. I did go some amazing places that probably was the cause.

If you do river crossings that are above your tire height you should be pulling bearings out to regrease and check for water penetration before the next trip.

I would carry a spare set of bearings with tools to change, tub of bearing grease plus rags and soap to clean yourself up.

On trips I will check the tyre and bearing temperature about 50k out of town to be sure nothing is overheating. I would then often check during the day whenever stopping. Doesn't take much to walk around putting your hand on tyre then on hub. If you can't touch it there is an issue.

David

Alan

Water seems to be the biggest problem. I serviced countless Cruisers at work years ago. The vast majority of them never left sealed roads and the bearings always looked like new even up to hundreds of thousands of ks in some cases.

It was a different story if they saw regular off road use. Water damage was common in front wheel bearings as well as in a suprising number of transfer cases as well.

My own car has seen very little mud use but has completed a few deep water crossings. I had to replace the front bearings at 75,000 when I noticed the early signs of water damage.

If you take the car through deep sloppy mud or deep water then forget the regular service intervals and check the bearings more often. The same applies to diffs and transmissions and even driveshaft uni joints. The lubrication instructions for my Toyota for example say to grease the unis at 10,000 in good conditions, 5,000 for towing or in rough, muddy or dusty conditions and DAILY in flooded areas.

Water is also a major problem in steering ball joints which unfortunately are usually not greasable these days. The same applies to any suspension ball joint that does not have a grease nipple. Back in the days when just about all of them had grease nipples, it was common to see water spurt out when you greased them. It was also common to replace ones that were heavily rusted inside with plenty of rust powder visible outside.

Taking spare bearings on a trip is easy but changing them in the bush is definitely not. They are bad enough back in a good workshop. Always check them before you go. If you go out with good ones then, even if you get some water in them, you will almost certainly get back without having to change them. The damage it causes is not instant.

I do mine with Morey's bigfoot grease every 40000 km, if they look like there is no wear and tear they go back in if they look dodgy out they go.

Remember this you can replace the front spindle hubs if they are damaged when a bearing fails, however if a rear one lets go and damages the spindle, you have to replace the whole diff housing.

i do my unis about twice a year, ( about 35000km anually). and only 1 or 2 pumps. I have seen over greased unis cause them to fail. too much grease and the uni heats up, and the solvent that makes the grease soft evaporates and leaves them dry and hard.

Gday Alan,
Mine's done 150,000 and I usually change grease about every 30-40k. Looked fine last time. The bearings are well oversized for the application because they have to be big enough for the drive shaft to pass through, so you won't wear them out by normal use. But like splits says, water kills them in quick time.

We came across a troopie in the middle of the Simpson once who had seized a rear wheel bearing. He was the "backup vehicle" for a tour company......but didn't carry spares. We sold him a set and helped change them. The set that came out were rusted to pieces - no maintenance.

They are a cheap item - get the Koyo bearings from Don Kyatt for about $40 per wheel including tab ring and seal.

Thankyou for all the replies.

I have tended to keep away from water so far, so this shouldn't be a problem.

I will grease the bearings immediately prior to going away and by all accounts I should "probably" be Ok.

Thanks Phil for the heads up, I thought they would be more expensive that that.

Regards
Alan

Just remember to service the back as well, Toyota service procedures never used to mention rear wheel bearing maintenance at all!!.
Shane

Hi Alan,

For the small cost involved I carry a spare front and a spare rear. I carry them already greased and ready to go in a cryovac bag. They take up little room and weigh very little.

Cheerrs Teza