How to: 2002 Explorer rear wheel bearing replacement (pictures)

[lizardking228]

I posted this in the other part of the forum but thought I might try here too since this is the thread that I used. I really am stumped....

About a month ago I had my rear differential completely replaced on my 2wd 2003 Explorer with 130k miles. Two weeks later my original rear drivers side wheel bearing went bad and started grinding. So I replaced that (using a thread on this forum), and it went fine. A week later my original rear passenger side wheel bearing went bad and started grinding. So I replaced that, but immediately after replacing it (within driving 500-100 feet at 30-40 mph), the same rear passenger bearing started grinding and tearing itself up. It was completely ground up after driving a few thousand feet. So, I replaced it again, and again when I got up to 30-40 mph the bearing immediately went bad and ground up. I torqued the axle nut to 203 foot/lbs on both sides. The bearings were pressed by a well known reputable shop. What could be causing this?

Also to the above conversation, yeah, it's not just the bearing holding the wheel on there. When I took off my first replacement after I got the knuckle off I just lifted the hub completely out of the knuckle. There was no bearing left except the outer race and loose rollers lol. It was just disintegrated. Scary as crap to drive though at even 3mph the wheel was wobbling everywhere. I could see how that could break some stuff off like the lugs at high speed.

 

[SyberTiger]

Who is the manufacturer of the replacement bearings? Are they roller bearings or ball bearings?

I posted this in the other part of the forum but thought I might try here too since this is the thread that I used. I really am stumped....

About a month ago I had my rear differential completely replaced on my 2wd 2003 Explorer with 130k miles. Two weeks later my original rear drivers side wheel bearing went bad and started grinding. So I replaced that (using a thread on this forum), and it went fine. A week later my original rear passenger side wheel bearing went bad and started grinding. So I replaced that, but immediately after replacing it (within driving 500-100 feet at 30-40 mph), the same rear passenger bearing started grinding and tearing itself up. It was completely ground up after driving a few thousand feet. So, I replaced it again, and again when I got up to 30-40 mph the bearing immediately went bad and ground up. I torqued the axle nut to 203 foot/lbs on both sides. The bearings were pressed by a well known reputable shop. What could be causing this?

Also to the above conversation, yeah, it's not just the bearing holding the wheel on there. When I took off my first replacement after I got the knuckle off I just lifted the hub completely out of the knuckle. There was no bearing left except the outer race and loose rollers lol. It was just disintegrated. Scary as crap to drive though at even 3mph the wheel was wobbling everywhere. I could see how that could break some stuff off like the lugs at high speed.

 

[Hawkeye61]

Sounds like the bearing is being damaged when pressed in. They need to be pushing on the outer race ONLY when pressing the bearing into the knuckle.

 

[lizardking228]

Who is the manufacturer of the replacement bearings? Are they roller bearings or ball bearings?

Timken HA590259K Axle Bearing and Hub Assembly is the part I got from amazon. Roller bearings I think (they are cylinders).

The shop I got them done at is very reputable. Still could be their fault yes but it is a shop that other local auto shops without a press use. They are highly recommended. Thank you for your replies

 

[SyberTiger]

Timken HA590259K Axle Bearing and Hub Assembly is the part I got from amazon. Roller bearings I think (they are cylinders).

The shop I got them done at is very reputable. Still could be their fault yes but it is a shop that other local auto shops without a press use. They are highly recommended. Thank you for your replies

Sounds to me like you have the right parts. The reason I asked is that some folks have settled on the cheap Chinese made part that I have heard have a high failure rate. Further, some of them allegedly use ball bearings which is a big time no-no and definitely will fail quickly.

My guess is similar to Hawkeye that whoever is pressing in your bearings may not be properly supporting the bearing when pressing them in.

 

[lizardking228]

Sounds to me like you have the right parts. The reason I asked is that some folks have settled on the cheap Chinese made part that I have heard have a high failure rate. Further, some of them allegedly use ball bearings which is a big time no-no and definitely will fail quickly.

My guess is similar to Hawkeye that whoever is pressing in your bearings may not be properly supporting the bearing when pressing them in.

Thanks. Yeah I used cheaper bearings on the front before they went after like 20k miles so I learned my lesson on that. Everyone seems to recommend the timkens though so I went with that. So that's really all that could be making them go bad right away? Nothing with possibly bad cv joints or the old axle nut? (I have no reason to believe the cv joints are bad just guessing things because I'm hopelessly confused). I mean I know this place presses in explorer bearings regularly. Thanks again

 

[HiImBrian]

I don't see why you didn't just go with a new bearing assembly and not even bother with pressing at all. I put on 2 new hub bearings 8 months ago and I beat the hell out of them. Still nice and smooth.

 

[Pontisteve]

The rears have pressed in bearings, not bolt-in hubs.

I agree, they have to be damaging the bearing when pressing it in. Nothing could make a good bearing go bad in 1,000 ft. Use the Timken bearings, remember to install the snap ring, and you REALLY have to have your thinking cap on when pressing them in. The bearing goes into the spindle by only pressing on the outer race. Push it in until it bottoms out, and you can get the snap ring on, but don't apply excessive force. Once it bottoms out, that's it.

Then, put the snap ring on, and press the hub in. Now that you are pressing from the opposite direction, there isn't anything supporting the bearing from getting pushed out. So you need to support the INNER race from the back side, as you press the hub into it!

After the whole press procedure is done, give that bearing a spin by hand, and make sure it feels free and not binding. It will be kind of slow to turn, because of the new grease inside it, but not hard to turn. And should be dead smooth.

The bearing consists of two tapered roller cylinder bearings, facing inward toward the middle of the outer race. The middle part of the race has a face that both tapered bearings press inward towards.

The bearing is a good fit for the spindle hole, and presses in rather smoothly, right?? Make sure the OD of the bearing and the ID of the spindle are just a few thousandths of a press fit. As I recall, it was a tighter press fit than most things that are press fit, but within reason. That spindle ID should be round too... but even if it were a little egg-shaped, that's not enough to tear a bearing up in 1,000 ft. That bearing had to be severely damaged internally during the pressing operation.

 

[lizardking228]

The rears have pressed in bearings, not bolt-in hubs.

I agree, they have to be damaging the bearing when pressing it in. Nothing could make a good bearing go bad in 1,000 ft. Use the Timken bearings, remember to install the snap ring, and you REALLY have to have your thinking cap on when pressing them in. The bearing goes into the spindle by only pressing on the outer race. Push it in until it bottoms out, and you can get the snap ring on, but don't apply excessive force. Once it bottoms out, that's it.

Then, put the snap ring on, and press the hub in. Now that you are pressing from the opposite direction, there isn't anything supporting the bearing from getting pushed out. So you need to support the INNER race from the back side, as you press the hub into it!

After the whole press procedure is done, give that bearing a spin by hand, and make sure it feels free and not binding. It will be kind of slow to turn, because of the new grease inside it, but not hard to turn. And should be dead smooth.

The bearing consists of two tapered roller cylinder bearings, facing inward toward the middle of the outer race. The middle part of the race has a face that both tapered bearings press inward towards.

The bearing is a good fit for the spindle hole, and presses in rather smoothly, right?? Make sure the OD of the bearing and the ID of the spindle are just a few thousandths of a press fit. As I recall, it was a tighter press fit than most things that are press fit, but within reason. That spindle ID should be round too... but even if it were a little egg-shaped, that's not enough to tear a bearing up in 1,000 ft. That bearing had to be severely damaged internally during the pressing operation.

I didn't do any of the press work, I took it to a shop both times. I don't have a press and didn't want to mess with it. But yeah, after I got it back I spun it by hand and it seemed to spin fine (like you said a little slow but smooth). Then I assembled everything and tried to wiggle the wheel with it all on and it was rock solid. Then my gf drove it around a little bit at 5mph while i walked next to the wheel, and I didn't hear anything coming from the bearing. But as soon as I hopped in and took it on the main road and hit the gas and got it up to 30-40mph it shredded.

 

[Pontisteve]

Are you sure you torqued it back down to that 200 and something ft lbs??

Technically, every time you remove that nut, you are supposed to replace it with a new one. Most people seem to get away with not doing that, and I'm not sure why Ford specifies to do that. The nut is huge, and it doesn't appear to be any sort of torque to yield. But given your situation, maybe its time to get a new axle nut and don't take any chances. And make sure the torque wrench is known to be pretty accurate.

I'm pretty sure the problem lies in not properly pressing in the bearing. if you push it in by pushing on the inner race instead of the outer race, or press the hub in without supporting the inner race, you can bust it up pretty good.
If I remember right, that's a caged bearing. You probably don't easily hurt the hardened rollers, but you might destroy the cage by pressing it in wrong.

You either need to find a new press shop, or watch them do it, while keeping in mind the press in process for the hub and bearing. You know, the hub will press into the bearing and if you don't support it from the back side, you might not even know that you're pushing one of the tapered bearings in, while pushing the other tapered bearing right out the back side of the race!

 

[Hawkeye61]

I didn't do any of the press work, I took it to a shop both times. I don't have a press and didn't want to mess with it. But yeah, after I got it back I spun it by hand and it seemed to spin fine (like you said a little slow but smooth). Then I assembled everything and tried to wiggle the wheel with it all on and it was rock solid. Then my gf drove it around a little bit at 5mph while i walked next to the wheel, and I didn't hear anything coming from the bearing. But as soon as I hopped in and took it on the main road and hit the gas and got it up to 30-40mph it shredded.

Mmmmm, don't ya hate this sort of thing! I still gotta believe it's damage from improperly pressing in the bearing into the knuckle or the hub into the bearing.

Biggest thing on reassembly is they cannot be pressing the rollers against the race with their press. It's probably a 20+ ton press and they can't just crank down on it. Just push the OD race into the knuckel and the ID race onto the hub. You would think they would know this though unless they have a newbie working there.

 

[scdix50]

Sounds like the tech thats pressing the bearings is not doing it correctly. Do you know any other shops in your area that may know a little more about pressing these kinds of bearings. Where is the shop getting the bearing kits? I was going to have a shop do mine, It is great shop. But after talking to them, I have desided to buy my own 20t press and do it myself. At $100.00 per kit from ROCKAUTO, I am not going to let someone else waste my money and time.

 

[lizardking228]

Ok thanks guys. Looks like if I tackle this again on my own I'll get a different shop to press the bearing. I am not confident in the torque wrench I used. I have no reason to think it's bad really, it's just an autozone loaner that seems kind of beat up. Who really knows if what it's telling me is 203 is really 203. But the amount of pressure I applied to the click came out to just a pull with my arm. I didn't put body weight behind it or crank down on the nut hard or anything. Like maybe the amount of force used to lift a 20-30lb weight with just my arm.

scdix50, I ordered the timken kit from amazon myself and took it in to them. It was like $117. They agreed to exchange it the first time it failed, but now the second time it's refund only, no exchange unless I tell them why it went bad and what I did to fix it. Then they "investigate." Think I'll just go with the refund.

The weird thing is that like I said in my first post, I did all this on the drivers side rear like 2 weeks before and everything went fine. Even the same shop did the pressing. Could have been different people doing it though.

 

[scdix50]

Sounds like your trying to do it right. The shop may have used a different person doing the work. The shop manager assigns the work to each tech. They do not always assign work to best qualified tech, it goes by nexts tech up or to keep the techs pay per job even. I have worked at a dealership and an independent auto body shop.

 

[Pontisteve]

It's been a long while since I (successfully) did my rear bearings, but I'm pretty sure I remember it being fairly hard to torque the axle nut. 203 ft lbs is a lot, and I was using a pretty long 1/2" SK torque wrench that was brand new. I kind of remember having to put some oomph into it.

I definitely wouldn't trust an Auto Zone loaner torque wrench. God knows how people have treated that wrench, or when the last time it was calibrated. I justified buying all sorts of new tools to do that job, because I looked at how much I was saving by doing both sides myself. Dealerships get between 4 and 700 bucks per side!

SK is very high quality stuff, around the same general quality level as Snap-On, Mac Tools, etc. Some times Snap-On even sells SK tools as their own, like they do Blue Point, although not usually in torque wrenches. That said, I am completely comfortable with the SK brand of tools.

When Ebay came about, Snap-On and Mac and other "tool truck" brands quickly realized that their vendors might start selling tools below retail, so they came out with a very strict MAP pricing policy that said if they sold tools cheaper than retail on Ebay, they would lose their Snap-On franchise. This worked, and kept the brand value high. Mac Tools and others did the same.

That said, you can now buy SK Tools for giveaway internet prices, and yet they are still the same quality of tools. So I use them (and OTC) a lot because of their value. If you buy an SK tool (or Gearwrench, OTC, and others) off the tool truck, they still get like double the price. So go buy a $150 SK 1/2" torque wrench with 250 ft lb capability. It will pay for itself to not have to do this mother of a job all over again. Get the proper 35mm socket while you're at it. The SK sockets are really nice!

 

[lizardking228]

It's been a long while since I (successfully) did my rear bearings, but I'm pretty sure I remember it being fairly hard to torque the axle nut. 203 ft lbs is a lot, and I was using a pretty long 1/2" SK torque wrench that was brand new. I kind of remember having to put some oomph into it.

I definitely wouldn't trust an Auto Zone loaner torque wrench. God knows how people have treated that wrench, or when the last time it was calibrated. I justified buying all sorts of new tools to do that job, because I looked at how much I was saving by doing both sides myself. Dealerships get between 4 and 700 bucks per side!

SK is very high quality stuff, around the same general quality level as Snap-On, Mac Tools, etc. Some times Snap-On even sells SK tools as their own, like they do Blue Point, although not usually in torque wrenches. That said, I am completely comfortable with the SK brand of tools.

When Ebay came about, Snap-On and Mac and other "tool truck" brands quickly realized that their vendors might start selling tools below retail, so they came out with a very strict MAP pricing policy that said if they sold tools cheaper than retail on Ebay, they would lose their Snap-On franchise. This worked, and kept the brand value high. Mac Tools and others did the same.

That said, you can now buy SK Tools for giveaway internet prices, and yet they are still the same quality of tools. So I use them (and OTC) a lot because of their value. If you buy an SK tool (or Gearwrench, OTC, and others) off the tool truck, they still get like double the price. So go buy a $150 SK 1/2" torque wrench with 250 ft lb capability. It will pay for itself to not have to do this mother of a job all over again. Get the proper 35mm socket while you're at it. The SK sockets are really nice!

Ok thanks, I will try to get my hands on a known good torque wrench or a new one. If the nut was under torqued though (but still tight), would that even cause it to go bad immediately? Or am I still looking at most likely the press job?

 

[Pontisteve]

I would think the nut being too loose probably would not cause instant destruction. More likely the press job. Unless that torque wrench is WAY low.

Don't forget to consider getting some new axle nuts. You can get them in the aftermarket as well. The more times yours have been off, the more I would be hesitant to not heed Ford's advice. Reusing it once is one thing.

 

[lizardking228]

Okay thanks

 

[scdix50]

Update: TIMKEN Bearing & Hub Kits HA590259K may not have TIMKEN Bearings. The kits I have are using ### bearings made in CANADA & KOREA. ROCKAUTO.COM says the bearing are made to TIMKEN Spec. I will be useing the kits I have and will document the whole process.

 

[SyberTiger]

Update: TIMKEN Bearing & Hub Kits HA590259K may not have TIMKEN Bearings. The kits I have are using ### bearings made in CANADA & KOREA. ROCKAUTO.COM says the bearing are made to TIMKEN Spec. I will be useing the kits I have and will document the whole process.

IMHO, Timken bearings are Timken bearings meaning they are very high quality. Bearings made in Canada on behalf of American companies are very high quality. In addition, the same is true of products made in South Korea. The Sound Koreans are known for manufacturing high quality components. I have noted this on a number of products including South Korean manufactured firearms....very good quality.