What Was Wrong With Roller Bearings???

[Doc Sprocket]

So- I took today off work because the driver's side front "Unitized Wheel Bearing" unit was worn to the point of being scary. I feared that any day now, I'd have the wheel fly off at 70MPH, bad scene.

I certainly can't afford the $350 plus taxes (15%) that I was quoted for a new one. Not right now, anyhow. I managed to nail one down at a wrecking yard for $50 and my wife picked it up while I was at work the other day.

The guy that yanked it off the donor truck got lazy, and instead of taking everything apart and handing her a bearing unit, she had to drag home the entire dang knuckle, rotor, and caliper assembly. So- had to take all that apart. PITA.

Anyhow, I got the spindle nut off okay, and didn't have too much trouble getting the hub to bearing bolts off, despite the awkward location. BUT- even with the bolts off, I had to spend and hour BEATING THE EVERLOVING FUNK out of that thing trying to seperate it from the knuckle. Copious amounts of WD40, my air chisel, a BFH, and a small OxyMapp torch were all employed. (which was lovely 'till I ran out of oxygen).

Said and done, I now feel safe to drive to work tomorrow- but I gotta know-

What in blazes was wrong with the old tapered roller bearings we all know and love? Take the rotor off, toss the bearings, tap the outer races out, drive the new races in, pack the bearings, stitch it up. I used to do that spit in my sleep. I even have a length of brass bar just for bearing work! And the parts cost like $50 for both! But NOOOOO! We can't have cheap and simple anymore, can we? The vehicle in question is my 99 Dodge Durango 4x4. Just a couple of years ago, I was driving a 94 Ford Explorer 4x4. It had tapered roller bearings. But now everything's a unit bearing, even the 2wd's! Expensive as all he//, and a PITA to replace. No adjustment, no relubing...

WHY?

 

[newrider3]

My teacher at auto tech school worked in dealerships for his whole (30-year) career, in talking with him he said that you pretty much don't fix or rebuild anything anymore, you just replace parts. From brake calipers all the way up to engines/transmissions, out with the old one, in with a new one. Being a mechanic or a tech is becoming a thing of the past, now you really just have "parts jockeys". Pretty sad.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Okay, so let me change TAPERED ROLLER BEARINGS!!!

 

[Bluethunder3320]

im thinking of becoming a mechanic and at my age with no training i probably can do the job (well not legally but im saying i know enough...)

the one thing that bugs me is new cars are so plastic and streamlined im scared to know what cars will be like when im old enough to work.

my uncle said that he brought my cousins car to a shop to get a $12.95 oil change and the kid that was working on it was beating the oil pan with a hammer, and drilling it. then they told him it was all "stripped out" because it was aluminum and now the oil pan leaks.

 

[newrider3]

Okay, so let me change TAPERED ROLLER BEARINGS!!!

Apparently packing them is too much work??? Or it takes too much longer to assemble during the manufacturing process??

 

[Rustydog2010]

This week at work i have been, removing the; wheels, drums, shoes, 'S' cams, slack adjusters, roller bearings and bushes. Then splitting the hub and drum and reassembling. Having to repack the bearings, we had to get a new bearing, cost about $120NZD.

I found that doing a 4 axle 20 tonne trailer is easier that doing a front wheel bearing on my Peugeot 306. I think in some applications its just cheaper/easier to use a non serviceable item

 

[Eric492]

hey hey hey we still have small engines and bikes

 

[Bluethunder3320]

WHY?

because 100 years of engineering has finally gone too far.

hovercraft anyone?????????

 

[r97]

hey hey hey we still have small engines and bikes

they are getting more complicated....

http://robinamerica.com/pfeatures.aspx?pid=226

http://engines.honda.com/models/series/igx

 

[Bluethunder3320]

haha "engine with a brain"

 

[newrider3]

Like I said about non-serviceable parts taking over. Have fun replacing the throttle body/injector assembly on one of those motors ($$$$) since you can't just take them apart and hose it down with carb spray like you can with the simple carburetors we are all used to.
Good thing Robin/Subaru provides a diagnostic port hook-up, that way they can find out what is wrong with the motor, using their exclusive tester, when you take it back to the shop, seeing as you can't work on it yourself.

 

[Bluethunder3320]

can u imagine one day small engines would have everything computer controlled even throttle LOL it might turn into a toyota then

 

[robbie]

my uncle said that he brought my cousins car to a shop to get a $12.95 oil change and the kid that was working on it was beating the oil pan with a hammer, and drilling it. then they told him it was all "stripped out" because it was aluminum and now the oil pan leaks.

Sounds like a transmission oil change maybe. I've done a lot of work on Dodge minivans, which have a pan on the transmission, with a lot of bolts that screw into aluminum and strip easily. There is no drain plug. The idea is that you take off the pan and change the filter inside, then reassemble it. As soon as you get one edge of the pan off, transmission fluid runs all over the place. A lot of shops drill a hole in the pan to drain the oil neatly in one stream, then they plug it with a rubber plug. Beating with a hammer is done because the transmission is assembled at the factory with silicone. I find that it's better to find a spot where the edge protrudes and pry it with a screwdriver.

I think it would have been a better idea to build it just like the engine, with a drain plug and a screw-on canister filter. But they didn't ask me.

 

[Rustydog2010]

You work on heavy equipment Truck&Trailer aswell I see. slack adjusters are also something that fall under the "non serviceable" catagory.

Yep there are, but that i can understand how they are non-serviceable, they cost about $80NZD each, but if they were to cost say, $300 then you would want to rebuild them.

Just like with the roller bearing mention earlier, if the bearing cost $60 you wouldn't mind paying that, but at $350? its a tad over the top.

 

[devino246]

My teacher at auto tech school worked in dealerships for his whole (30-year) career, in talking with him he said that you pretty much don't fix or rebuild anything anymore, you just replace parts. From brake calipers all the way up to engines/transmissions, out with the old one, in with a new one. Being a mechanic or a tech is becoming a thing of the past, now you really just have "parts jockeys". Pretty sad.

This is true. You buy a new part and turn in the old one to be remanufactured. Most of being a mechainc nowdays is fiddling with electronics with your head in the floorboard and your arm up under the dash. I used to want to be a techniciam, but after 2 years of auto tech, I realized how much I hate new cars. My plan now is to restore old boats & cars for a living.

Working on old cars isnt all that easy either. For example, In the 60's, removing a brake drum on a Plymouth reguired removing the wheel bearings and retaining nut. Dropping in an engine and tranny though, takes about 3-4 hours, compared to 8+ hours for new cars.

Mechaincs now, are trained to diagnose and replace parts, rather than rebuild them. Its easier and more economical to train/hire 1 technician who can replace every part on the car, than it is to hire several mechanics who can each rebuild a few parts.

 

[redsox985]

Look at engines even! It's much easier, faster, and sometimes cheaper to drop in a new clone than to try to fix up an older, better quality motor. And many of us, me included, are guilty of just this.

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

Cheaper on the assembly line, more expensive at the parts counter, its a win win for the manufacturer.