Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Maintenance Wheel bearing DIY?

I've been trying to track down an occassional, erratic noise from the front end. This weekend it finally started making the wheel bearing grind in right-handers, and the front driver's side wheel has just a hair of play. Oh well, better at an autocross than at the Glen...

So, I need a wheel bearing. The problem it, it's original as far as I can remember. I looked through my records and I don't have a reciept for replacement. I certainly never remember it going before. Dang, 11+ years and 155k miles on stock bearings. After that kind of time, what problems might I see trying to replace it? New hubs are $130 from Ford Parts Online, so I sure hope mine are okay!

If it shouldn't be a problem, how hard is it? Do I just need to pull the knuckle, press out the old, and press in the new? I have access to a decent size shop press. If so, what size is the axle nut? I've never had to remove that one, so it'll be a fun one.

I know Stazi does it for pretty cheap. But shipping heavy knuckes to MI is expensive, and shipping them fast is even worse. I'm pretty busy and need the car soon, so I'm more likely to have a local shop do the pressing for me if there's some trick I can't do.

Should I do both bearings now? I don't want to end up missing out on an expensive track day because I didn't do preventative maintainence. But, it seems like people often have problems with the bearings after they're replaced. Is it better to leave well enough alone? My plan now if opening it is a bad idea would be to get an extra bearing and bring it with me so I can get it installed if I toast one.

a REPUTABLE shop should be able to press the old ones out and the new ones in, sure!

Your options, as outlined in the wheel bearing how-to are:
a new assembly (bearing pre-pressed, from Ford) from Steve at Tousley ford for ~155-165.00 ?? My math says that a bearing is ~60, and labor to press it out and in will be anywhere from 50-75 an hour, so you're looking at 110.00 MINIMUM to have it done, IF you bring them the assembly already off the car. Have them do that for you too, and its more. As long as you're in there, and you have an 11+ year old hub, if you can swing it, get one from Tousley as an assembly, and swap it out at your liesure. The bad bearing will make it until the new assembly arrives..

If you just absolutely can not fathom this approach, then your cheapest alternative is to pull the assembly, get your bearing on your own, and go to a reputable shop, point at the monkeys behind the counter and grunt a few times to establish that you want this part put where this part is right now. This is all under the assumption that your hub is in good shape. a bad hub will cause another failure VERY quickly.

BTW: the axle nut (AKA "Locking spindle nut" if you get it at a parts store) is an 18mm stacked nut, fwiw, IIRC (and all those other acronyms)

I thought the Axle Nut was bigger than that... I think its 1-1/8" or 32mm... I could be wrong but I think thats it...

I ended up doing both of my wheel bearings... Passenger side was gone at ~80k and drivers side was gone around 90k... If you've done suspension before and everything has already been loosened and greased when you reinstalled everything you should be fine... I did my drivers side wheel bearing about a week after I did my suspension and had the knuckle out in about 45min... Reinstall was about the same time... Plus a little more because I had to make a parts run but I had the whole job done in about 3 hours.

As to whether you should do both sides or not, thats your call. It might be worth it to ask the shop you go to whether they'll give you a discount if you take both knuckles in at once to work on. Not sure if they will or not but its worth a shot. Also, be careful when pulling the tie-rod ends out so you don't destroy them... I use a soft wood block and a jack to jack up bottom of the tie-rod end bolt and then tap the knuckle with a hammer till the tie-rod end pops up...

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to give some insight on things i've learned from doing this job a couple times...

I've done lots of suspension work, but I've never had to pull the axle. That nut is the only one I need to worry about. IIRC it's 32mm and 18mm deep - I think that's what Ray meant. So, are those a one-time use item I need to replace?

The OFFICAL response is that they can be used 2-3 times.


MY official response is: its 6-7 freaking dollars and holds your WHEELS TO YOUR CAR!!!!! replace the dang thing, if you so much as take it off for a second. Those stacked wafers are like a TTY bolt.. sure you CAN reuse it, but... can you GUARANTEE it will hold as tight as you need it to (214 FOOOOOTTTTT pounds?)

Yup, especially when I'm going into the bus stop at Watkins Glen at over 100mph. Anything with a catastrophic failure mode is not getting cheaped out on. So should I be able to get them from Advance?

SHOULD be able to.. I have purchased them from both Advance, and Pep boys, as well as a dealership.

Enjoy the job, and the newfound silence!

I picked mine up from Napa and had a shop press it in for me since I couldn't get a hold of my friend with a press.

Great timing - I just got a gift certificate for Sears today! Looks like that 1/2" torque wrench that reads to 250 ft-lbs will finally end up in my toolbox.

I took off the whole knuckle (spindle?). The directions make it sound like I can knock the hub and bearing out of the knuckle. Is that right?