Hello people.  Long time, no problems with the old GL.

Can I take the play out of front wheel bearings on my '88 GL by tightening the axle nut? Is that what that sleeve inside the hub is for? For the bearing to tighten against?     Bearings were replaced ten years ago.. 

No, the fronts are not adjustable.  If you have play, and the axle nut is not loose, you need new wheel bearings.  If they only lasted 10 years, they either didn't have enough grease, weren't repacked often enough, or got water in them from bad wheel seals.

I'd recommend buying the sealed wheel bearings. Then you remove one seal from each bearing and face the unsealed sides inside the knuckle. Pack the inside of the knuckle with grease like normal. 

That way you don't have to worry about installing the seals. 

Installing the front bearings with the right tools is a cake walk. Installing the seals can be a challenge. Unless you're a heavy equipment tech, I don't know who'd have sockets that large to install the seals. 

I found a $7 walmart oil filter socket (the many-sided polygon that fits certain brand oil filters) that was the perfect size for my gen2 wheel seals, and the thin wall fit around the seal lip perfectly.  I've never done gen3 seals, but it's an idea you might check for a seal driver.

 

22 hours ago, bushytails said:

No, the fronts are not adjustable.  If you have play, and the axle nut is not loose, you need new wheel bearings.  If they only lasted 10 years, they either didn't have enough grease, weren't repacked often enough, or got water in them from bad wheel seals.

Thank you. That's what I thought but was puzzled by the short life. I greased them up good and filled the cavity ten years ago but I have not greased them since and the car gets driven through icy water a lot. I ordered the new bearings and seals today. I have a seal driver set. I snowmobile in to my cabin in the winter so I'm hoping they might last until spring but I kind of doubt it. Yesterday when I cranked the axle nut enough to gain another hole in the castle nut it seemed to tighten them up a little. If they wear down and loosen up again I'll change them out. That just means that I'll be doing it in the snow on the side of the road where I park in the winter. But hey it's a $300 car that I have been driving for 15 years. 

Subaru says to repack every 60,000 miles or 5 years, whichever comes first...  I don't do that...  I repack them every new CV joint, which comes well before either of those!  lol

Did you put in new seals last time you did the bearings?

Yes I put new seals in. And I added grease to the hub but did not repack bearings when I replaced the axles a few years ago. I keep thinking the end is near for this car so I cut corners sometimes. 

Unless you have a run-in with a drunk driver, it'll run forever...

I never repacked my wheel bearings when doing CVs or at the 60,000 mile interval (100,000km I’m guessing). 

I run sealed bearings with the inner seal removed as mentioned above. Before installing I always pack each bearing with fresh grease to remove the packing grease - do not just run on the packaged grease as the bearing will fail in a short distance! 

And I always run the outer seals with a little bit of grease behind them. I figure more seals the better for an offroader. 

Always use a quality Japanese made bearing too  

My favorite way to re-grease them is to remove the drive flange, push the axle shaft in a half inch (so the cv cup is no longer in the inner wheel seal), pack the area around the shaft with grease, and slide the drive flange back on, using the drive flange inside the wheel seal like a piston to force the grease through the bearings.  Repeat until grease comes out the back.  

On 1/22/2026 at 1:36 AM, el_freddo said:

I never repacked my wheel bearings when doing CVs or at the 60,000 mile interval (100,000km I’m guessing). 

I run sealed bearings with the inner seal removed as mentioned above. Before installing I always pack each bearing with fresh grease to remove the packing grease - do not just run on the packaged grease as the bearing will fail in a short distance! 

And I always run the outer seals with a little bit of grease behind them. I figure more seals the better for an offroader. 

Always use a quality Japanese made bearing too  

I agree with all. Thanks!

On 1/22/2026 at 10:01 PM, bushytails said:

My favorite way to re-grease them is to remove the drive flange, push the axle shaft in a half inch (so the cv cup is no longer in the inner wheel seal), pack the area around the shaft with grease, and slide the drive flange back on, using the drive flange inside the wheel seal like a piston to force the grease through the bearings.  Repeat until grease comes out the back.  

You're a better man than I am.🙂

On 1/21/2026 at 9:10 PM, bushytails said:

Unless you have a run-in with a drunk driver, it'll run forever...

Or a hail of bullets like in my avatar. 🙂