98 xj 8" lift 35" pro comp exterrains warn bumber with 9500ti. Mickey thompson classic lock wheels with 3.25 back spacing negative offset but only a little. I keep destroying my front bearings. spoke to some wheelin friends and some say tires some timken bearings not OEM and some say back spacing/offset. but when you do the numbers it should all work, there are no spacers on hubs. Any ideas from you guys been around. thx

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I had a ford that was eating bearings - turns out the first set that was sold to me was the wrong size same width but the dept was off by a millimeter so the bearing died in few months.

And all the ones I got after that were the same ones because I used them as a gauge.

I realy am at a loss here. I think maybe my buddy that said to use OEM bearings rather then Timken may be on to something. the OEM bearings are $267.00 each so if its not the issue that's a lot of coin to throw away.

Thx for your input.

They are unit bearings and the new ones are expensive because the
are built into the hub - the timken bearings assume that U can take the
bearings out - like in an old jeep - and they only cost 30-40 bucks.

So if you have unit bearings the only issue is do you get new or rebuilt
ones - the rebuilt ones I used last cost 129 and the new ones were 189-250
with the NAPA discount.

Since you did not know that they were unit bearings I assumed that you did not do the
install - of the old ones - I had heard that
some of the unit bearings could be taken apart
with the right tools and replaced but I never
did that ever.

There are several ways to blow an install but the
one that was the most obvious to me was to get
a set of bearings that were close but not the exact ones required. I have had to haul mine to NAPA a few times to be sure I got the right ones - and sometimes the right ones don't look the same as the old ones ...

Yes They are unit(hub assembly bearings)You can not buy just bearings you have to buy the whole hub assembly. about $167 at autozone. I did change them myself the last time. If I could get just the bearings for $40-$50 bucks i would be all over it believe me.

Thx still trying to find the root of the problem.

Well I had to got to NAPA three times to get
the right part - the left and right ones looked
way different than the ones they gave me and the
first set was too short so the wheel locked the brake up...

You can damage them when you put them on - you
don't want to hammer on them - u use the bolts
on the back of the arms to pull them in - and
if you have to get them off you un-screw the same bolts half way - then tap from the back to get the u-b off. Tap the bolt heads - don't pry them or anything like that.

Any backspacing that is close to .5 inches from
center should be OK. How long did they last and how did they die???

Here in AZ we have volcanic dust/sand that gets in everything - throw in a dash of water and it make great sand paper... Are you in water alot?

I wondered if the back of the u-b was sealed very well that last time I did an install. The original one had a rubber collar that sealed the hub to the back of the arm - but the new one did not...

Here at NAPA the one sixty one ares - rebuilt - not new - the two hundred plus ones are OEM new... No - I got really cheap ones - those
were rebuilt and the middle ones were CHINESE
or something...