I don't have the manual in front of me but I want to say 200ft lbs. The bearings installed under warrenty did not last any longer than the ones I installed. The bearing that went the other day was definatly flawed from the start.as there was some sight noise which I was blaming on the semi-aggressive tread on the tires. there has been noise in the front which is why I changed CV and everything the last time around. It's to the point that I keep a bearing in stock so I can repair it(which I have got down to 30min start to finish) will see how longit lasts,it is quit now so hopefully I am good to go for awhile.

 

I'm sure others will chime in here to say the same. I believe the axle nut should be torqued to 103 ft-lbs.

Since you can do it in 30mins. now you shouldn't need this, but it is helpful nonetheless.

Also, Chevy Lover posted all sorts of torque specs here.

 

200 was just a guess, however I will go out and retorque I am willing to try anything to resolve this issue. Thanks for all the ideas folks.

 

OK I just went out and retorqued using a different torque wrench and 30ftlb difference between the 2 so maybe I have been over torquing all along without knowing we'll see. I will keep ya up to date. THANKS AGAIN!!

 

Good luck, and hopefully it's solved your issues!

 

Good luck, hope they stop going bad all the time, cause they aint cheap. I don't know if mine is really going bad or not, but I don't feel like spending the money or time replacing it right now so we shall see in the future.

Question: If you let a bearing go too long, what will happen? (i.e. will the wheel fall off, will it tug on the CV shafts and ruin those, etc.) I just don't know cause I have never messed around with this kind of stuff before.

 

UPDATE 20,000 miles on new bearing and so far so good. thanks for all the suggestions


Rich

 

Well as an update I replaced mine less than a thousand miles ago with the ones off of Jigg's website (synergyoffroad.com) and so far no complaints. It went on well and stopped making noise so I am happy, now it seems like I might have a warpped brake rotor, I noticed this before I replaced the hub bearing too, now its just a little more noticable under severe braking.

 

My theory for this is that Blazer has material problem in brake calipers / pistons. When changing new brake pads, you need to push pistons inside the caliper and typically this is the place from where most of the problems comes from.Pistons stuck in the caliper and brakes are allways on, just slightly, not much, but enough to cause problems. You can still quite easilly rotate front wheel but you can feel the difference after changing the caliper.

Because of this brake problem:
-Brake disk gets overheated and warp
-Because of the previous, wheel hub gets also overheated and together with the vibration, wheelbearings wear quickly

Only 25.000kms (15.000miles) and need to replace front-right wheelhub again. Noticed problem in caliper and brake disks and those are already changed. Preparing to change wheelhub again, hopefully it will be my last time.

So, remember to check / replace your calipers before changing wheelhubs!

Blazer S10 LT, 1999, 4WD, 4Door, 4.3L, 120.000kms/75.000miles

 

As with anything, if you do something incorrectly, you'll have bad results. In the 20+ brake jobs I have performed on my own S-series vehicles and those of friends and families, I have yet to have a caliper hang up due to pushing the piston back in. Design flaw or material problem (as you state) it is not. User error is more likely.

Now, if you do not clean the sliders, you can have the same affect, but that is something you should know how to do correctly before attempting your own brake jobs as well.

The wheel bearing/hub assemblies on these do go bad and they produce a VERY much different noise and feeling than a hung up caliper.