I am having trouble with the left front wheel bearings going out, I have replaced 2 hubs in about a year or so. The hub thats on there now is only 3 months old and its gone out again, Anyone have any ideas on what else I should check, I also forgot the size of the axle nut is it 35 or 36mm. Thank You all in advance.

I am having trouble with the left front wheel bearings going out, I have replaced 2 hubs in about a year or so. The hub thats on there now is only 3 months old and its gone out again, Anyone have any ideas on what else I should check, I also forgot the size of the axle nut is it 35 or 36mm. Thank You all in advance.make sure you put it on even or wher did u get the bearings

Both times I put on a Timken Hub from autozone, the first on was the cheaper 89.00 one and this one is the 120.00 Timken with the lifetime warranty. I put on the sealed unit hub so there isnt really a way for the bearing to be running unevenly.

Are you torquing the axle nut to the proper spec?

I was thinking about that last night, I think that I am not getting it tight enough.

If your not using a torque wrench to tighten the axle nut to the proper spec you solved your problem. They have to be torqued! We all discovered this with the early dodge minivans. We would replace the axles and ram the nuts home and a couple days later they would be back for wheel bearings. It doesn't take long to put 2 and 2 together.

thats probably what I am doing wrong, I tightened it pretty good last time I did it.

The 3 golden rules of hub bearing installation:
1. NO IMPACT WRENCHES
2. Clean the mounting surfaces of all dirt and rust, and lubricate the axle splines prior to re-installing.
3. Torque the axle nut to specification by hand with an accurate torque wrench (no torque sticks).

The axle nut torque pre-loads the bearing and holds it together (they're only loosly pressed together in the box), so it is absolutely essential that you tighten it by hand with a torque wrench to the specific torque value. Just tightening it "good and snug" is not going to do it. Too loose and the bearing starts to come apart, too tight and the rollers bind increasing heat and leads to premature failure. If you use an impact wrench on it, the hammering action will impart small nicks in the bearing race which will also cause premature failure.