Just wanted to add my experiences to
Ray's How-To based on my experiences replacing mine this weekend.
Car: 99 SE/Sport with 112,500 miles.
Passenger/right side bearing was very noisy. The noise was like sitting between the engines on an MD-80 jet. Very loud, droning noise that was louder while turning left.
I got a whole knuckle assembly from Steve at Tousley Ford. The price was a bit more than Ray quoted ($160 before shipping), but no big deal. I am way more comfortable spending a few bucks and having a good part than deal with the possibility of getting the bearing pressed in incorrectly and having the car out of commission while that was happening.
First note: while the bearing made tremendous noise, the wheel had absolutely no free-play when attempting to wiggle it. If the wheel doesn't wiggle, that doesn't necessarily mean your bearing is OK.
Second note: I didn't need a second person to loosen the 32MM axle bolt, or to torque the new one down. The car's weight, the parking brake and being in gear did the job.
Third: Buy (or rent or borrow) a puller from autozone, or wherever. I bought a cheap one for maybe $20 a few years ago, and it made the job a piece of cake. Popped the tie rod out like it was nothing, and pushed the axle out of the splines like butter.
Fourth: On my car, it was impossible to pry the lower control arm low enough to separate the ball joint from the knuckle. It was hitting the frame where it attaches to the frame in the front of the car. You could put a jack on the hub to compress the spring up a little, but I felt the easier and safer method was to unbolt the control arm. Two bolts, a piece of cake once I removed the splash guard (2 10mm screws). I'd recommend adding to to the procedure.
Fifth: I had some spare AC electrical wiring (solid core 14 AWG copper wire) laying around, and used it to wire up the caliper and also to wire up the axle so it didn't fall and hyper extend itself. It was very easy to bend however I needed it, and I think you can get 50 feet of it for about $6 from Home Depot.
Final note: PB Blaster is the best.
Start to finish, including an oil change, set up and cleanup was about 3 hours. Thanks to Ray for the how to and the good part source!
