Wheel bearings

Hi, on my 69 cj-5 I'm fixing the breaks and took the opportunity to clean the wheel bearings and other parts.

How can I tell if I need to replace the bearings?? They look good... But I'm just learning as I go. I don't know what to look for... I cleaned the two bearings in gas and they shined up.

I don't want to waste money... The jeep will never be on open road and will rarely go over 30mph.

 

Moved to tech for better exposure.

Check for pitting, galling, spalling, material embedded in the races, or discoloration of the races or bearing rollers. Any of these and the bearings and races should be replaced.

Please don't use gasoline for cleaning parts. It's an explosion waiting to happen. There are so many safer products out there.

 

If you use an air gun to dry the cleaning solvent off the bearings, don't spin them. You can damaged them by spinning them when they're dry. Make sure that if you use a cloth to clean or dry them that it's lint free. Make sure that they're WELL packed with grease before you re-install them. It's a dammed messy operation to do by hand so wear gloves and throw them away when you finish OR go to HF and buy their cheap repacking tool. I've heard that it works great and is not nearly as messy. I personally would only use grease from a well known American company, you're never sure of what you're going to get with Chinese made products!

 

When you get them cleaned up post a pic. I much prefer to hand pack bearings as I think you get a better job than using a packing tool.

This stuff is good grease
http://www.lubriplate.com/products/auto-and-marine/wheel-bearing-grease.html

 

Spinning then dry can also damage your fingers.

 

Just replaced both outer rear bearings and races. Used a syringe adapter on my grease gun packed with wheel bearing grease to inject in the bearings after I put the axles back in. Really works great, plus, no mess.

 

yeah... I went ahead and got new bearings. This is what they looked like when I pulled em out. Don't think they were touched in over sixty years!

 

Wow! I've never seen such a crusty bearing! It's amazing that it still ran. What did the bearing look like after you cleaned it up?