Ram wheel bearings issues

[Oregon_trail]

I have a question those with rams or full size trucks. What kinda life are you seeing out of wheel bearings? I found out mine are not so good after 17.6k miles. Mostly logging roads, mud and desert.

I’m debating throwing a new bearing/hub assembly in or going to a Dynatrak free spin kit.

 

[DevilDodge]

A Tradesman for off pavement travel/dispersed camping.

The Warn bumper is actually the cheapest bumper out there. An excellant choice too. I wonder if the factory PowerWagon winch could be fitted. With an 8' box and a thirsty Hemi, I'd want to fit a slip tank or after market fuel tank for extra gas.

www.overlandbound.com

My passenger side wheel bearing started going bad about 135k. At about 140k I replaced it. Driver's side is still stock.

Do you run spacers with your bigger tires? That causes some undue stress on them. Especially on a 1500. But it looks like you Got a HeftyDuty, so it is a bit surprising. Although if you do what you are doing in that pic often...that is gonna stress them. You have over 4000lbs on that front axle...close to 5k if it is a Cummins. That is more than most cars weigh total.

And there are bad parts even on a new truck.

Good luck. Change them out and have more fun. The link at the top shows my replacement from NAPA

 

[Oregon_trail]

A Tradesman for off pavement travel/dispersed camping.

The Warn bumper is actually the cheapest bumper out there. An excellant choice too. I wonder if the factory PowerWagon winch could be fitted. With an 8' box and a thirsty Hemi, I'd want to fit a slip tank or after market fuel tank for extra gas.

www.overlandbound.com

My passenger side wheel bearing started going bad about 135k. At about 140k I replaced it. Driver's side is still stock.

Do you run spacers with your bigger tires? That causes some undue stress on them. Especially on a 1500. But it looks like you Got a HeftyDuty, so it is a bit surprising. Although if you do what you are doing in that pic often...that is gonna stress them. You have over 4000lbs on that front axle...close to 5k if it is a Cummins. That is more than most cars weigh total.

And there are bad parts even on a new truck.

Good luck. Change them out and have more fun. The link at the top shows my replacement from NAPA

No wheel spacers just a 0 offset.

 

[Neuvik]

That's very early for a unit bearing in a truck to go. It happens, and quicker with the larger tires you put on a vehicle. But I'd figure at the very least 60k for Fullsizes running 37s offroading frequently.

Are you 100% sure it's the bearing?

One wheel could have lost weights and come out of balance. Or alignment issues. Ball joints should also fail in the front before that. My ball joints failed about 25k, switched to EMF.

 

[jwalla]

Just turned 49k on my 2500 and still seem to be in good shape.

 

[BensonSTW]

I had 50-55k on my dodge when the first one went. Over half of my miles to date are dirt road. It’s had 35s on it since it was 2 weeks old. The other side started getting noisy at 65. I put the dynatrac free sown kit on mine when the second one started going. By far it is the best upgrade I have ever done to my truck. It steers easier. It’s helped immensely with ball joint and steering component failures. I did four sets of ball joints before I did the free spin kit. Yes 4 sets by 65,000 miles. I put carli ball joints in at the same time. Haven’t done ball joints in 70.000 miles. I repack the bearings every other year. Added bonus - gained about a mile and a half per gallon without all that front end resistance. Do it, you won’t regret it.

 

[ptgarcia]

155,000 miles on my '06 and still running the factory unit bearings. I have had 37" tires on 17"x8.5" wheels with +18mm offset since 2007 or 2008. I had to replace ball joints once but the bearings are still hanging on.

 

[bgenlvtex]

My 2016 is going away this week with 159k on the oem hubs and brakes both.

18k and they are failed? I'd be looking for the real problem. Even a GM will normally go 100k without needing bearings