Front Hub Question

I have a question about the front hubs on my 88 XJ. I had one go bad about six months ago. I decided to change both of them just to be safe and I changed all the breaks at the same time. Now about 6,000 miles later one of my hubs is bad again and I haven't even taken it off road. It isn't the only thing I have been driving that is why I haven't put that many miles on it in six months. I want to know what is the best way to replace them with the strongest pieces possible. Is the Warn Hub conversion the only company that makes a conversion for this. I don't want to spend a lot of money on this because I am in the process of getting a budy to help me put some axles from a Waggy on my truck and I don't want to sink a bunch of money into something that I am not going to use for very long. I need to fix it now because I just took my other XJ off the road a few weeks ago and this is the only thing I have to drive at the moment. Any help on this would be great. All suggestions welcome. Thanks.

mile marker also make a kit. but it is also expensive and i have never heard any feedback good or bad about it. my suggestion is not to spend that much money if you are swapping waggy gear in. having a hub go ad is something that seldom happens that soon. it may be different for later ones but the hubs on my 89(and i would assume your 88) require that 36 mm nut to be torqued appropriately in order to hold the bearing together. If i recall correctly the spec is 175 ft lbs. you will want to check your fsm to be sure. not having that correct will definitely accellerate bearing failure.

Yea. What he said. JIM.

Just a tip, maybe I'm right and maybe I'm not. But the pressed depth of some aftermarket bearings seems to be off a bit. They sometimes seat when the yoke is torqued. Mine seemed to slip a little when I torqued the yoke down (to 175) and I have heard of others doing this also. Possibly this could introduce a side load or a pre load into the bearing. Most any bearing being too tight will generate heat, hot enough and the temper goes. Then the bearings rapidly spall and disintigrate. Most modern bearings are surface hardend and rather soft in the middle.
I torque to 175, then back off the nut and retorque to 150. After half a year or so, back of the nut and retorque again, after the bearing has worn in some. if you look through the manuals, in various places they rcommend 150 and 175, somewhat depending on early or late model, but likely a change during a production run sometime or another.
Something else to look at, that is rarley mentioned, is the inner race and seal. I've had the seal wear through the race (over the years), the hub then fills up with water. Sealed bearings often have an iffy seal, water does get in there. The depth of the race and seal can be off on after market hubs. The raised side of the race (on the yoke) can be forced against the seal (in the hub), wearing it out pretty quick. The design is an old Dodge design, that often failed in the same way, with the same results. Sand mud mix, can eat up the inner seal pretty quick.

Thanks on the help so far. What is the best place to buy a new hub. I went the first time I had a bad hub and checked the price at the dealer. I didn't really like it which is why I bought the cheap ones at advance. I knew I was thinking about the Waggy axles so I wasn't worried about them lasting forever, but I thought I would get more than 6,000 miles. Now the dealer says that they don't have the hub assembly all in one piece. It now comes in two pieces and you have to press yours apart and press it together with the part from the dealer. Any idea what they are talking about. I don't have a press and I don't know which way to go. I always hear everybody say if you want a quality part go to NAPA. Thanks again for your help so far and any more would be great.

I usually buy my stuff someplace with a good return policy. It sometimes takes a couple of tries to find a quality part. Federal Mogul guarantees there hubs, for a year (I beleive). All they ask is you return it in the original package, so they can scan the bar code.
I use a lot of Crown automotive stuff, because it is locally available and mid priced. The local dealer for Crown has a pretty darned good return policy.
Seriously, junk yard hubs might be a good bet. You can check for side play pretty easy. And visually inspect for rust, spin it and often feel a rough bearing. A smooth turn and no play, is a good bearing most times. Some hubs seem to last forever, some fail early.
I pack the whole inside of my hub with grease. Not for lubrication, but to keep the water out. The only hub failures I've ever had, was a used XJ with over 130,000 miles on it when I got it. My old 87 (died in a rollover) had a 180,000 miles on it and still had the original hubs packed in grease, since the first U joint replacement (at about 60,000 miles). I probably should have pulled the hubs, before I junked what was left of it. They were still tight and turned smooth.

I had 190,000 miles on mine before I changed the hubs the first time. One of them was still good, I just wanted to change everything. I changed both hubs and all the breaks. Now 6,000 miles later one of the hubs is bad. I can't take the parts back if I wanted to because somehow I misplaced the reciept. I don't want the same hubs on my truck again anyways. I got them from Advance. I normally don't buy anything from them because I have had problems with stuff from them before. I usually buy from Autozone but they didn't have the part in stock when I needed them, that is what I get for being impatient. I have a buddy that works at a junk yard so I might try them. I didnt think that would be a great idea seeing how much trouble I had getting my original hubs off. Mine were junk when I got done beating them off with a BFHammer. Mine were a real pain to get off. Thanks again for the help. I'll check to see what kind of money the junk yard wants compared to buying something new.

I had a couple of hubs go bad on my 94. I initially attributed it to cheap hubs, but looking back on it later, I suspect it was more of a problem with preload on the axle nut. In short, I doubt that I could overtorque it, and undertorquing it is probably what got the bearings to fail.

I got mine from NAPA. Don't remember what brand it was. JIM.

Get your hub's at junkyards.

Usually pick them up for about 10 to 15 dollars.

That sure beats the $150 parts stores charge you. For $150 you could get 10 junkyard hubs and be good for a long time.

wac1977 said:

I have a buddy that works at a junk yard so I might try them. I didnt think that would be a great idea seeing how much trouble I had getting my original hubs off. Mine were junk when I got done beating them off with a BFHammer. Mine were a real pain to get off. Thanks again for the help. I'll check to see what kind of money the junk yard wants compared to buying something new.

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It's been said before, but I'll say it again. Pick Up a few M-12 by 100MM (4") long bolts. Spray everything down with spray oil (penetrating oil), especially the inside of the knuckle where the hub goes through. Jack up the front, put it on jack stands, take the tires off and the brakes (wire the caliper up out of the way, don't let it hang by the hose). Unlock the steering wheel, remove the three bolts holding the hub in. Turn the knuckle (to one stop or the other) so you can screw in one or two of the bolts, give them a couple of wacks with a BFH. Respray the inside of the hub where it goes through the knuckle. Remove the bolts and twist the knuckle over to the other side, insert a bolt (or two, depends on which side of the hub your working on) and give it a couple of wacks. Repeat as necessary and walk the hub out, trying not to cant it too much. Wire brush, then grease everything up before reassembly, it will come out fairly easy the next time. I've never managed to damage a hub doing it this way, but have ruined any number of M12 X 100 MM bolts.
I've seen guys ruin the stock hub bolts trying to use them to hammer the hub out. I've seen guys, get lazy and only screw the bolts in a couple of threads and ruin the threads from pounding on the bolt (screw them in a good 1/4" to 3/8"). I've seen guys seperate the hub trying to use a puller. I've seen guys damage the face of the hub and the dust plate for the brakes trying to pry the hub off or use a cold chisel to wedge it off. I broke a hub trying to pry it off, a chunk of cast material snapped off (with the bolt hole).
It's worth the drive to the hardware store to buy the M12 x 100MM bolts and keep a few extra in your tool box. You can porbably get away with a shorter bolt, but that length sticks out far enough so you can really wack the end with your favorite BFH, without much collateral damage if you miss (may save yours and the Jeeps knuckles).
It usually takes me more time to jack up the front, remove the tires and brakes, than it does to remove a hub, no matter how long it's been on there (I use a three pound hammer). Once you start beating on it, some of the oil will penetrate farther into the hub/knuckle seal, reapplying some oil periodically can be helpfull. Something to always keep in the back of your mind is that cast steel is brittle, it will take a lot of abuse, but will often snap off before it bends much. There is always the possiblity of catastrophy when pounding on cast.
Some guys recommend using heat, I've had some bad experiences heating cast. I've had it explode and pelt me with sharp pieces of iron (hard enough to puncture and bleed).

I had a real problem getting my hubs off the first time. I ended up putting a socket on the three hub bolts and hitting the socket with a hammer. I beat on the hub some too because I was pissed and wanted to get it out. I put some anti-seeze on the hub when I put it back so I wouldn't be a problem when I did it again. I just didn't think it was going to be this soon. I am about to go to the junk yard now and see what I can find. Thanks for all of your help.

You will never believe this. The junk yard that I usually use wanted $100 per hub. I don't think I will be going there. They must be out of their mind.

For the hub and the axleshaft? Or just the hub?

They want $100 for just the hub. I don't know what they are thinking. I bet they don'e sell too many of those. I have a buddy that works there but he is gone for Christmas already so I will try to catch him there after the Holidays. I would have a better chance buying a used axle for what they want for a set of hubs. I have a jeep that I am parting out but I don't want to tear down the axles on the other one because they are complete. I would swap in the other axle but the gear ratios are different.

i just got done today with this problem.got brand new hubs(federal mogul)for 70 bucks apiece,they had been sitting in the back of my 4x4 guys shop for a year.used a 5 lb sledge and left the part with the lug bolts on(previously pulled the 2 apart with a 3 jaw gear puller)then gently wacked the hell outta the outer rim of the hub,the part with the lugs.