Looking for Replacement Wheel Bearing Advise...

[kevinbakon]

I was wondering if anyone on the site has advise for me, regarding my wheel bearings. I am up for my 3rd replacement (yes, both front sides have failed 3 times on me now), with less than 80k miles on the truck! The first 2 replacements were diagnosed by the dealer and covered under my warranty. At this point, I have no confidence that Ford's parts are going to last, so I'm considering replacing them myself, using another brand or even possibly a higher performance part. I know nothing about what I currently have on the truck or what I should look for though. Any advice/recommendations?

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[Vic Sorlie]

Are the factory wheels on this car? A little more detail would be helpful, like miles on your truck now, and miles and months when previous failures occurred? To me, single front bearing failure in a RWD car is rare; having both sides go out three times is incredible. Did the dealer's service department say anything about it the first two times? If you're now in need of a third repair there's something else going on. As for parts, look at RockAuto's catalog; you'll notice that the front bearings are in a sealed hub, at ~$200 each. Back to my original question: Are you running larger wheels, maybe with different offset than stock? By the way, I have the same 08 STA that's my DD, now with 52K on it. No front hub problems noted.

 

[Todd Z]

I was happy with Advance auto parts Lifetime set.



Todd Z

 

[Brett Stoner]

The dealer either had a bad batch of hub/bearings from the bearing manufacturer or you have a serious vehicle defect! I used Timken from RockAuto. Do you go hardcore off-wheeling that is getting dirt and water in the bearings? Do you have an unusual offset rim placing undue stress on the bearings? Is the dealer pounding on the the hub/bearings when they install damaging them?

 

[Jim Upton]

I just had my first one changed last week, 2010 awd adrenalin with 69k miles on it. I asked my mechanic who is also a friend of mine, he explained if you are losing wheel bearings that fast you are either running rims with way different offset from stock or the mechanic that is changing them is overtightening them on install. He seemed to think it was probably the mechanic over tourquing them. Jim

 

[Yardsale]

Aren't these bearings "unit" or "hub" bearings with no adjustment? If so, how can they be over-torqued?

 

[Vic Sorlie]

Looked at the service manual schematic of the front hub; there are three bolts that fasten the bearing hub to the knuckle. Torque is 90 lb-ft.

 

[Jackson Ellis]

Repeated bearing failure can point to other issues in the suspension. Also, have you submerged your wheels? Water infiltration will ruin them quickly.

 

[Johnny O]

On my Gen 2 I have replaced the left three times and the right once by the time it had 90k on it. The last set is holding up well so far. The Ford hub and bearing assemblies lasted longer than the aftermarket. Dealer says they have a one year guarantee on parts. If you can get something with a longer warranty then go for it.

 

[Scott Doughtie]

So is this a fairly easy swap? I know I have at least one that has gone bad, left front, so I was going to replace both while I had it up on the lift just to be safe.



From the looks of things, I have been lucky given I am still on the originals @ 150k.

 

[Yardsale]

Yes, but those three bolts do not apply torque to the bearing or adjust the tension, merely attach the bearing unit to the knuckle. These are sealed, non-adjustable bearing units.



And yes - fairly easy.

 

[A1cntrler]

I replaced both of my front bearings at about 92k miles. The pass side one was making a little noise when rolling. No play in it at all at time of replacement, and steering left to right while moving made no change in the sound of it. Replaced them both with Timken bearings I got off Rockauto. The job was really quite easy to do. The only real critical torque value that was int eh job in my opinion was the axle nut to the drive-shafts. I didn't want to over torque it on there. My neighbor had a 3/4 drive torque wrench (he works on dump trucks, so lots of big tools) that I borrowed to torque it down the the amount the service manual said to.



Do the 2wd tracs use the same units as the 4wd ones?

 

[Yardsale]

They use the same from 2007 on. Less expensive to manufacture (one design), but more expensive to repair the 2WD.

 

[A1cntrler]

They use the same from 2007 on. Less expensive to manufacture (one design), but more expensive to repair the 2WD.

I always though that the axle nut worked to kind of hold it all together which is why the torque on that guy was so important to not over/under tighten it.



I'll add this to the file of things I've learned today.

 

[Yardsale]

For my '01, I don't see a specific instruction with regard to torque (only the 184ft-lbs).