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Shoutout to the old timer who told me to stop being lazy with bearing preload
Had a guy at a truck stop in Billings chew me out for just torquing wheel bearings to spec without checking end play. He said I was gonna cook the bearings in 20k miles. So I started using a dial indicator every time, even on trailer hubs. Has anyone else had a customer fight you on paying for that extra 15 minutes of work?
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phoenix_martin4014d agoTop Commenter
Blew my mind when I read that part about the customer fighting you on the extra 15 minutes. Like seriously, they'd rather risk a wheel flying off on the highway than pay for a little dial indicator time? I've seen guys do that old shake-the-tire trick and call it good, then act surprised when their bearings sound like a coffee grinder six months later. Makes me wonder how many rigs are rolling around with preload that's basically a prayer.
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green.iris14d ago
Eh, you see this kinda stuff all the time and it usually works out fine. Shaking the tire isnt great but most guys have been doing it for years and their trucks keep rolling. The coffee grinder thing is rare, most bearings just go a little loose and you tighten em up next service. Plus alot of these guys run junk yard bearings anyway so who cares about preload ya know? Ive seen wheel studs snap and the rim still stayed on cause of the hub pilot, its not like every loose bearing is automatically sending a wheel into a ditch.
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emma_baker6114d ago
That green.iris take is wild (like, alarmingly casual about wheels staying attached to trucks). The whole "most bearings just go a little loose" thing only works until you're the guy picking up hub pieces off the shoulder in Montana.
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