Hello! I got both front wheel bearing sets off, and got the spindles that the bearings ride on cleaned up. However, there's some discoloration on the spindle itself, on both sides. Of course, it's on the spots where the bearings ride. The surface feels pretty smooth, but the discolorations have me concerned, especially since the passenger's side wheel growled when spun without the brake pads on, as well (thank goodness I decided to do both!). I think that both bearing sets were packed with the wrong grease at some point in the past; I just looked in the tube of M-B grease that I have and it's green; the passenger's side bearing set had red grease in it and the driver's side bearing set had grease that was a tan color.

Should I worry about the discoloration, or just put it all back together? Thanks in advance!

Also, (this may seem like a dumb question), what would make a single brake pad wear faster than the others? 3 of the 4 front brake pads had about half their service life left, while the 4th (passenger's side outer) was almost metal-on-metal. The car was pulling to the right before I took it out of commission, but I had assumed that that was due to the upper control arm bushings being almost completely destroyed (also replaced those today )...

Again, thanks in advance!

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2001 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed, daily driver
1991 Ford F-350, work in progress
1984 Ford F-250 4x4, 6.9l turbo diesel, 5 speed manual
Previous oilburners: 1980 IH Scout, 1984 E-350, 1985 M-B 300D, 1979 M-B 300SD, 1983 M-B 300D
Spark-free since 1999

Previous MB wheel bearing grease had a clay matrix and at least one incarnation was tan. There was at least one other, previous version, but I don't know what color it was. The spindles shouldn't have more than a .03 mm. clearance between the bearing race and the spindle and it's good to go. Even if the clearance is over .03 mm., Mercedes has a "filler" (for lack of a better word) that allows use of new bearings on spindles that have a little more than the allowed clearance.

The brake pad issue is one sticking caliper. Repair kit available, if it's not rusty in the bore.

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The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

I don't know about the bore, but I think the piston's okay as far as rust is concerned. Is the repair kit by chance available from anyone besides Fastlane? All other things being equal, I'd make the order, but I want to do this tomorrow if at al possible (I'm on a deadline to get the car roadable again). DOes the dealer by chance have it?

Actually, while I'm at it, I can replace the rear brake hoses...

BTW, I've got Bendix calipers

Spindle discoloration is nothing to worry about as long as it is not marked/scratched up.

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Jim

Okay, cool...thanks!

Do you use Lithium soap, Moly grease or MB's grease? I've had great success in all my vehicles with Moly including my 1 ton trucks. The only drawback is some grease (5 or 6 drops of oil) will seep past the cap, even with a new cap. I grease bearing every 2 years or 50K. I've tried other greases with friction modifiers and have never been happy with the results. These greases are usually too viscos and do not seem to flow when the spindles/bearing heat up due to braking. In addition, some lithium soaps in this humid houston weather seem to harden and become discolored even when the grease is in the can.

I'm not taking any chances; I got the M-B grease straight from the dealer.

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2001 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed, daily driver
1991 Ford F-350, work in progress
1984 Ford F-250 4x4, 6.9l turbo diesel, 5 speed manual
Previous oilburners: 1980 IH Scout, 1984 E-350, 1985 M-B 300D, 1979 M-B 300SD, 1983 M-B 300D
Spark-free since 1999

sounds like your having fun.

make sure all of the old grease is removed from the bearings and they rotor hub. if different flavors of bearing grease(s) are mixed, the mixture will either harden or go liquid.

lesly tools makes a great bearing packer, but doing it with your palm is sufficient.

i believe each bearing takes 60cc's of green snot. no more. no less. that amount lets the grease flow when its up to the proper temperature.

if a caliper was hanging up and the caliper looks good, it would be wise to replace the hoses. they could be delaminating internaly.

you said that your pushed for time, but never rush a brake job. i like to replace everything from the master to the pads, so there is no doubt. ( i stood with all my weight on the pedal after a brake job on a 67 chevy. it held firm and then blew a hard line 3 miles later comming off ski mountain road. )

don't let the wife or kids drive it until you are satisfied that everything is up to snuff.

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g-wagen

60 CC's of grease? Now I'm completely confused...I was told 60 grams...unfortunately, this is a case where I've asked 3 times and have been told 3 different things. One person said to put 60 grams total in each hub and to not use the remaining 30 grams (150 gram tube), another told me to put 30 grams into each bearing and to put the rest into the grease caps, and another told me not to put any in the caps at all.

I've got a bearing packer, although I don't know how well it'll do with a small amount of grease in the bottom. I don't want to pack it by hand simply 'cause I don't trust myself to get the grease in everywhere.

Please help...I'm completely lost on that at this point...

The way I wrote it earlier for you is the official MB way. 45 gm in the bearing + 15gm in the hub = 60 gm. per side. One cc. of H2O equals one gm. of H2O (@ a specified temp.) so the two terms get interchanged for other substances even though it is not totally correct. Close enough in this case, but the manual says weigh it out. Therefore grams would be the obcessive-compulsive unit of measure. Don't worry about your extra 30 grams of grease left over in the container; save it for something else! Good luck

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The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

More accurately, it's 45g of grease for BOTH bearings and the inside of the hub (space between bearings). The other 15g goes into the dust cap, to make the 60g total. I also use the MB dealer grease, it's $5 for a 150g tube. Cool looking neon green stuff. DO NOT mix different types of grease!

I had a problem with my brake pads burning up in 10-12kmi. I replaced both calipers with new, plus new hoses (cheap insurance), and the problem seems to be solved - they're wearing VERY slowly now. If you don't mind tearing apart the caliper to fix it you can attempt a rebuild yourself (basically just replacing the piston seal.)


Regards,

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Dave
Boise, ID
Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!

Before you tear into the calipers you should definitely replace the flexible brake lines. As these get old they tend to swell internally and this can constrict the flow of brake fluid. Because you exert a great deal of pressure when you press the brake pedal the fluid has no trouble passing through the hose to the caliper. However, when you release the brakes there is no real counter pressure except for any slight out of round on the rotor to push the fluid back. This obviously means that your pads then drag and wear prematurely. Even a slight constriction of the flexible brake line is equivelant to you riding the brakes on that wheel. The brake lines are not expensive and if old should be replaced anyway. I'd say the chances are good that replacing them will fix your problem.

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LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold

Good point - I recommend replacing rubber brake lines every 10 years (or sooner) as preventive maintenance. They are a whopping $9 each and well worth it as a safety item. All of my cars have had the lines replaced in the last 2-3 years. The old ones looked pretty scary...!

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Dave
Boise, ID
Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!