Re: Scary!
Ah Chris, thats nothin'. My wife told me one day that her drivers (left) side front tire was feeling like the brake was being applied to just that wheel on the highway, and would I look at it for her. Well for months there was a sound like the jingleing of a bell coming from that wheel, so I figured the bearing was shot out. I pulled everything apart and was suprised to find that there was no outer bearing to be found anywhere. The bearing cage, well, what was left of it, was wrapped around the spindle, and some of the rollers were still in there, don't know what happend to the missing ones. The spindle was smoked with a valley worn into the lower leading part of it. This was all thanks to Patterson Auto Shop in Pace Florida, who didn't have the right size socket to remove and replace the nuts that hold the bearing in place and pre-load the bearing during reassembly. They used the ole screwdriver and hammer methode to remove the nuts and to torque them during the reassembly process. Sorry thieving dirt bags. They charged me $150. to grease the front bearings, and only did one side, the drivers side. <br /><br />Well, I spent three days out there with emory cloth reshaping the spindle, and putting it back together using the proper socket ( I borrowed one) and torque wrench. If you want something done right, do it your self. It wasn't pretty, but it worked just fine for another 150,000 miles and was still working fine when we gave the truck away.<br /><br />So check this out. As many of you know, earlier this year we got my wife a Land Cruiser. Bought it from the original owner with all the service records. Well, we took it to Sears to have tires rotated, balanced and aligned, and they said it needed wheel bearings in the front. I checked the service records and the bearings had been replaced by a reputable shop in Gulf Breeze Florida not more than a year ago. Well "holy crapola" I say to myself, because I bet I know what I'll find when I get in there. Sure enough, the greasy little sons of puppies at the Gulf Breeze shop did the same thing that Pattersons did, they used a screw driver to remove and replace the nuts that hold the bearing in. Well, I removed the outer nut and fabed up a socket for the job, and replaced the bearings, races and even the brake rotors. Like I said, if you want the job done right, do it your self.<br /><br />By the way, I called the previous owner of the Land Cruiser and told him about the quality work the shop in Gulf Breeze was doing for him (he has two other Land Cruiser and a LX 450) so now he uses the dealership.
Either that or from those outback washouts you were driving through.<br /><br />From those pictures you showed us, I don't think you could drive fast enough for those little pits to cause much trouble. You could probably get by with a greased up oak axle. 
