Great to see everyone and their Broncos at the meet today. My Bronco ran pretty good but I noticed the drivers side front wheel hub was almost too hot to touch by the time I got to Georgetown. Do you think it is the bearings that need repacking or what else could cause this? Overall pretty happy for the first big mileage day on it! Peter

Thats what i would try first. Make sure that the bearing is'nt on to tight and full of good grease. Silly question but was your hubs locked in for some unknown reason? i have that happen to me where i had a day of wheelin then drove all the way home and forgot to un-lock the hubs. And they were hot to the touch.

What bass boat said. I'm guessing your bearings are over-torqued or dry.

I'll recheck to make sure it was out, but I'm pretty sure it was. I'm thinking that I have never had them repacked since my project started. I've never done it myself so I'll look it up in the shop manual. If I did have them done, maybe it was done and put on too tight. Thanks. P

They're easy to service. If you're not sure of their age, replace the bearings and seals while you're at it. They're cheap insurance. You'll need a special socket, but most parts stores carry them. If you need help, post up.

Here's some diagrams of the D30 or D44 axle (as well as many others), that will help you. Packing them is tedious, but easy. Might have someone with some bearing know-how to make sure they're ok.

http://broncograveyard.com/support/6diagrams.php

Thanks everybody, I'll let you know how it turns out. Wish my boss understood how important Broncos are so I could do it at work! P

Went by my mechanic who has helped me along the way. He had repacked my bearings when working on a brake issue and said they were fine. He had me drive it today them took the temp of the hubs and brake drums on both sides. The left brake drum was 50 degrees hotter. He backed off the self adjuster and it seems to have helped. The first test drive was lot cooler then he backed it off a tad more and I'll try it again. P

Ahh, that makes sense. It seems front drums are less common than discs these days on our old trucks.

And then it happened again! So, finally getting my Bronco up and going for the summer and drove it to pick up the kids from school. Well, it ran pretty good (still should have more excelleration) but when I got out to check for the heat I felt after our lunch last fall, it was too hot to keep your hand on! I got it home, jacked up the front end and sure enough the right wheel is free wheeling frontward and backwards while the left is barely able to move forward before it grabs to a stop and then will break free for a partial turn then grab. It moved backwards a little more freely but still binds. It goes back to the brakeman for a physical exam. I'll keep you posted but would love to hear from anyone else with dinosaur brakes. If I didn't have so much money into new brakes and/or had extra $ I would make the switch to disk right now! I did try and do the backing up self adjusting but it still didn't help. I'd be the one half way to Moab with a wheel departing the vehicle while you all laughed as you drove on by! Peter

It sounds like a bad or unpacked bearing, but maybe your brake shoe is hanging up enough to heat up the drum. The bearing is the more likely issue. If installed incorrectly maybe it loosened or tightened up. I am definitely NOT the expert on this subject just throwing ideas out there.

Peter, if you end up needing parts I've got a drum setup that has few miles on it. It's from TJ's swap.

The drum setup has around 1000 miles on it. The drums were new along with everything else.

Thanks! I'm going to check it out and I'll get back to you. I'll look at both the bearings and the drum. P

Kind of a piggy back to this, How warm should they get after a long drive. When I got back from the Longmont to Lafayette to longmont, I felt mine and though I could keep my hand on them, they were pretty hot. Both sides felt the same. Since I have never been in the hubs on this Bronco, It's on my short list now along with installing the Warn Premiums I have.
Brett

On mine the left is so hot you can't leave your hand there while on the right it's warm but not at all what you would call hot. I live up in Georgetown but could and would like to host a wheel hub/brake tech day. Don't know what the logistics would be but it could be a lot of fun. P

Peter I have that socket you need if you want it . give me a call

Thank you. We get it on a lift tomorrow and hopefully diagnose. P

Do both bearings on both sides. They're easy and cheap insurance.