Thread: Failed front wheel bearings - where did I go wrong?

Besides, I weigh 75kg and I’m pulling on the bar, not pushing and probably centering that force at about the 1 metre mark....uneducated guess says I might have put 600 on the second bearing, maybe 400 on the first. Undoing them was not an issue.

And as stated earlier there does appear to have been some, however small amount, of water/dirt/mud ingress.

And there was a slight pulsing through the brake pedal, but whether that’s cause or effect I don’t know.

Really, I’m none the wiser.

Good grief.... should I even add to this thread?

As JustinC has mentioned, quite a few times, and other comments on this or that bearing setup
IMHO....
*The bearing hub assembly on a D2 is ready to bolt up, no pre-loading is done during installation, just bolt up the retaining bolts at the back.
*The centre nut is just to retain the axle, as mentioned to reduce the fretting on the splines, put some anti-seize on the splines, so in another 200 - 300K if the bearing hub assembly fails it will be easier to remove.
*The complete bearing hub assembly on a D2 is a better setup over the earlier Land Rover method, such as on a Defender. Certainly if you have a failure in the bush its easier to change, no chance of dirt ingress, no seal to fit, no grease to pack etc etc.
*I stick with genuine when it comes to bearings UNLESS the OEM states SKF, Timken, (known good brands) etc etc

*Its NOT like some of the lesser brands of vehicles out there that have a similar setup BUT the retaining nut in the centre (often bigger) is used to pre-load the bearing/hub assembly, from memory toyota hilux and hiace have this setup.

P.S the OP has now replaced more D2 bearing hub assemblies than I prolly do in a year, they really are reliable.
AND, for goodness sake just rattle up the centre nut and forget about the torque equation
Torque - Wikipedia