replacing right rear wheel bearing every 10k.....need help | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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replacing right rear wheel bearing every 10k.....need help

blue_goose

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City, State
WY
Year, Model & Trim Level
'02 4x4 4.0 200K
So the original owner replaced both rear bearings at 60k. At 120k the right rear went so I just replaced the bearing, not the hub. At 130k the r rear went again so I replaced the bearing and hub. Now at 144k the right rear is making a low growling/roar noise again.

A mechanic friend said he isn't convinced its the bearing because he said they always have wheel play (this one has no wheel play). I don't know what else the noise could be. It does have the rear diff noise (has for 80k) but I can hear both noises at once so I think that's out. The left rear is quiet as can be with no wheel play. I put 20k on a year in rual MT (we have to drive 2 hours for groceries) so I need it to be reliable.

Any ideas why I keep going through wheel bearings like this????
 



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I have an 02' explorer sport 2wd and I have gotten that same noise from the passenger side rear wheel and same problems with the bearings. There's a few things to look at when tackling this problem. First off what grade oil are you using? (Rhetorical) you may need to use a heavier oil for colder weather or vice versa. It its happening over a period of 10k miles then its something that's not going to be visible right away. Next thing would be the axle. That particular side comes apart from the entire axle and you may want to check the axle to see if its 'true'. And the last thing it could be is the suspension tor that side. Check leaf springs and shocks for wear or damage. All these things put together added up to my wheel bearings going every 10-15k miles. It took me a while to figure this problem out and I hope I've saved you even more of a headache.
 






Thanks for the ideas. Mine has the independent IRS compared to your solid axle so its a different setup but your comment about the suspension got me thinking- the tire is tilted in towards the vehicle with the closest part of wheel being the top of it, I believe its called camber. I am hoping a alignment will fix that. Would that cause the bearing to go bad? Thats my only idea otherwise I'm stumped.....
 






I know the 'camber and toe' is the alignment of your tires but I'm not sure if its adjustable when it comes to the rear tires. Its controlled by your tie rod ends which 'tilts' your wheel in or out. The bearings in the front would go bad if the alignment is off but like I said I'm not sure about the rear end. I just did my alignment with a tape measure after changing upper and lower ball joints and reset torsion bars at 120k
 






the tire is tilted in towards the vehicle with the closest part of wheel being the top of it, I believe its called camber. I am hoping a alignment will fix that. Would that cause the bearing to go bad? Thats my only idea otherwise I'm stumped.....

couple of thoughts, on the alignment, you might want to get camber kits before you go. Last one i had done they said they would just set the toe-in as they had no kits. Camber kits from ford are just big washers, not expensive at all. with the kit there will be some adjustment for Toe/Camber/caster, most shops only do 'set the toe and let it go' you might have to 'work' a little to get them to do it.

Bearings, most brands are coming from China, cheap junk, maybe it lasts a year at best. See if you can get 'Timken' bearings, might last a little longer (lifetime). i swear when i did the fronts it did say 'usa' not 100% though.

Torque the big nut correctly, and re-check after 500miles. If not done correctly or with the wrong spec they will fail prematurely.

If all of the above is followed and they still fail, you might want to get a new knuckle? Maybe its tweaked or jacked up some how and no matter what you put in they will fail.

just some ideas, hope it helps.
 






thanks for the help. I will look into the knuckle and also how tight that bolt is. I have been using Timken bearings in it so that rules that out. How do you tell if a knuckle is bad?
 






Replaced the bearing last weekend. When my friend pressed it out on his shop press we saw that the inside of the housing was corroded, hence all the noise. I replaced it with a timken bearing and hub so hopefully it is good to go. It was an advance auto bearing and hub that went bad so hopefully they're warranty wil cover it. so this is what I know
1.replaced just the bearing at 115k or so, not the hub
2.hub was bad and made the bearing go bad at 128k, replaced both
3.bearing from advance auto corroded from inside out and a faulty part made it go bad
4.replaced with timken and there should be no reason for it to go bad again.

Hopefully this works. I'll keep you guys updated.
 






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