How To: Replacing Front Hub / Bearing 1995+ Ford Explorer IFS

[jremington59]

I did my front passenger side today. The original went 189,000 miles. All went well except the old bearing wouldn't come off the spline as it was welded to it with rust. After a lot of beating I finally got it off. It's hard to beliebe that back in 04 I paid a shop 400 bucks to change one on my first explorers. Thiefs, lol.

 

[dannyces]

hey all, ok first THANK YOU.... this post saved me about 300 bucks...
well that is i think it did, so the 3 bolts that hold the hub in place are 100% stuck they are rounded out and completely frozen in place. any tips on getting these b****es out??? i tried heat pb for two days a really big hammer and nothing.. i guess im gonna have to drill/cut the old hub off. problem is i cant find a part number for replacement bolts. any help would be awesome i have a trip coming up real soon and i need the truck up and running thanks
Danny

 

[scottfab]

Save the remnants of the bolts and take them to
an ACE Hardware store. They have grade 8 bolts and
nuts.

 

[Bookie-1]

thanks for everyones help on the explorer wheel bearings ...front and back....good job..

 

[vanuatuexplorer]

Hi,

I have a 96 sport 4wd in Vanuatu and the roads are not great, replace sway bar bushings every 2 months, and only drive short distances. My question is do these new hubs need any sort of grease or is there a way to lub them, I have replaced both front hubs in the last 10 months and seems that the growling is starting up again.

Thanks

VanuatuExplorer

 

[scottfab]

They are sealed units. No way to add grease.
I've got a 20ton press and took one apart and
cleaned and repacked it. It still made noise and ended
up replacing it.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Vanuatu-

It sounds like either you didn't get the axle nut torqued to the required 215+ ft. lbs., or maybe used a not-so-good hub. What hub did you install? Any warranty on them?

 

[jremington59]

Vanuatu-

It sounds like either you didn't get the axle nut torqued to the required 215+ ft. lbs., or maybe used a not-so-good hub. What hub did you install? Any warranty on them?

That or I'm wondering what Hub he's buying. Those 50 dollar specials don't last long.

 

[scottfab]

That or I'm wondering what Hub he's buying. Those 50 dollar specials don't last long.

It may not matter how much $ he spends or what manufacturer if there is some other problem forcing early failure. One known cause is CV joint out of balance. Another is a run-out imbalance of a tire. I went through several hubs with the latter.

See:

http://www.yokohamatire.com/assets/docs/tsb_TireBalance_12803.pdf

 

[plmbst]

'97 xlt

I just finished this job after a few weeks of groaning & whining coming from the front end. My '97 has 250,000 miles and this is the first time either bearing needed attention. The OP's directions were OUTSTANDING. Many thanks.

 

[adu1982]

Hub wheel bad after 5 monhts?....

Ok so I replaced both hubs on the front about 5-6 months ago 5/22. Driver side seems fine, no play no sound, but passenger side has developed a whoosh whoosh sound and last night i lifted the front end and the passanger wheel has play.

The hubs are moog, which I bought since i heard they are better, like timken, and they have 3 years so i can replace them, but what can cause one side to go out so early.


To add about 2 months later i used the tortion on the driver side to level the truck since it was sagging on the driver side from the previous owner and the tire were toein in pretty bad. Tire have starten to even out , adn right after the leveling I went to get an alignment but my guy said tires were to bad to get a good alignment.

Could this have caused the wheel bearing to go bad, shoudl i replace it and go and get the alignment. The passanger side tire is in better shape then driver's side since with the previous owner it was visually lening on driver side.

I would have thought that the driver side would go bad with the toed in tire ....
so what could cause the hub wheel to go bad in 5 months ?

Could the play of the wheel and whooch whoosh sound come from something else?

 

[emma]

I had the Timkens installed this week in my 2000 Sport as they stock hub bearings started to make noise. 135K miles were enough I guess. lol
Got them from RockAuto & am pleased with the whole install. Thank you for the excellent 'write-up'.

 

[dersch6221992]

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1029538&cc=1363991

well i just love reviving dead threads... .but is this the right spindle/ axle nut for a 2nd gen awd? this is all rock auto had listed but it looks like it doesnt come with the pin and stuff? or will this work? looking to do this next week and want to not spend $16.00 on the nut at ford

 

[CDW6212R]

That looks like a spindle nut.

Take note though, not all axles from every company use the same threads. Some brands use different threads, and thus different nuts. A new axle should come with a new nut. I have reused the nuts a few times, they are not a problem if the threads are all good. The torque is very high, 150-25lbsft, always use red loctite for those. Save the money if your threads are okay.

 

[dersch6221992]

That looks like a spindle nut.

Take note though, not all axles from every company use the same threads. Some brands use different threads, and thus different nuts. A new axle should come with a new nut. I have reused the nuts a few times, they are not a problem if the threads are all good. The torque is very high, 150-25lbsft, always use red loctite for those. Save the money if your threads are okay.

thanks! yea i just saw on the first page i should get one... i will just hold off. i will use some loctite

 

[bluestream1]

The Axel nut should be torqued to 184lbs not 250lbs

 

[rob3302]

Going to attempt to change both hub assembly's. Everything seems pretty straight up and I just have a quick question. Are the two caliper mounting bolts the same bolts that hold the hub to the knuckle. In other words if I were going to replace these old bolts with new ones I would need a total of 10 bolts (5 for each side), and they would all be the same (15mm caliper mounting bolts).....?????? Or are the 3 bolts that hold the hub to the knuckle a different type of bolt??

 

[dersch6221992]

Going to attempt to change both hub assembly's. Everything seems pretty straight up and I just have a quick question. Are the two caliper mounting bolts the same bolts that hold the hub to the knuckle. In other words if I were going to replace these old bolts with new ones I would need a total of 10 bolts (5 for each side), and they would all be the same (15mm caliper mounting bolts).....?????? Or are the 3 bolts that hold the hub to the knuckle a different type of bolt??

if i understand your question correctly...

when you take the caliper off you will be left with the caliper brackets. those 2-3 (cant remember) bolts on the back side will come out. and then there is three seperate smaller bolts on the back side that hold the dust shield on. the actual hub is only held on by the axle nut if i remember correctly but its been quite a long time since ive done this.

 

[DjDom]

if i understand your question correctly...

when you take the caliper off you will be left with the caliper brackets. those 2-3 (cant remember) bolts on the back side will come out. and then there is three seperate smaller bolts on the back side that hold the dust shield on. the actual hub is only held on by the axle nut if i remember correctly but its been quite a long time since ive done this.

It's been a while since you did it.

The caliper bracket is 2 bolts, the hub is held in by 3 different bolts, and then there's the 32mm axle nut.

 

[rob3302]

What type of bolts are the hub held on by?? It looks like i am going to have to cut those bolts off and i want to have the proper replacement......