Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Front Hub/Bearing Assy

I just went to a shop trying to get a 4-wheel alignment. They told me that they can't do it because my left front wheel bearing is going bad. Even though I just replaced it two months ago, I'm not really surprised because when I first looked at the wheel bearing, it didn't seem to be in the best shape; and I got the steering knuckle from a junkyard.

What makes me wonder is, how do you tell if the wheel bearing AND the hub are both bad? They didn't take anything off the car to look at it. All they did was spinning the wheel when the car is in neutral. I know that you can tell if the wheel bearing is bad by spinning the wheel, but how do you tell that the hub is bad also?

Another question, I just went to fordpartsonline.com, and they list the spindle assy and front hub assy differently. I always thought they're the same thing (ie. all means the steering knuckle). How wrong am I on this one?

If there is any play at all in the bearing its shot but they tend to get noisy before the 'rim rock' gets bad.......

IIRC, the front wheel bearings on our cars have to be replaced together with the hub due to the the way they were built. So when the bearings go bad you have to replace the whole thing even though nothing else of the assembly went wrong.

I know the bearing is going bad again because I started to hearing the humming noise last night. But what I really don't understand is how they tell the front hub is shot also.

I just looked at fordpartsonline.com's illustration, and the front hub seems to be the piece that goes on the top of the strut right below the strut tower. I hope they mean the steering knuckle instead. The knuckle isn't that expensive, only about $130 (and hopefully include the wheel bearing).

I replaced the wheel bearing by itself before, the left side had just the wheel bearing replaced before also. The left side has the original steering knuckle in it, and it seems to be holding up pretty good still *knock on wood*. AHHH! I'll figure this out when I get home!

The bearings can be replaced without the whole knuckle,with care and the correct press/pullers it can be done...

IIRC, the knuckle/bearing and hub slide off the outer shaft together. Absolutely need a machine shop to get the bearing pressed out and a new one put in ($30). Advance caries bearings (Timken) for about $45. Autozone didn't carry the part. Local Ford dealer only had knuckle/bearing/hub assembly for like $180.

I do them in my shop with a press......

Well, the point of this thread is not whether the bearing can be replaced without replacing the hub. The point is, the shop said that I should also replace the hub. It made some sense to me seeing I've gone through two bearings already. What I'm not sure is if they're refering to the hub as the steering knuckle or the hub as in that piece that goes under the strut tower.

The 'Hub' is the bit that goes through the bearing and the drive shaft is retained in, it also holds the lug studs for your wheel..its not a wear part unless the splines are shot re drive shaft nut loose...still dont see the point of changing the whole assy????