Is the rear wheel bearing job harder to do than the front?

[Shawn w]

Well I just finished up doing the pass front wheel bearing on my explorer. The rear one on the right side is noisey too now that the front one is quiet. I gotta say that taking that front one apart was no fun at all. I am pretty good mechanically (put the motor and trans in my mustang last summer with no lift and no air tools) but that job sucks. The last one of those three bolts actually broke in half after getting stuck. How bad is the rear one to do? I know I will have to have it pressed in, but removing the hub. How bad is it? If it's not any worse than the front, I will probably do it myself.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

[ericautopart]

It says you have a 99 but you posted in the 02-05 section. What year is the truck?

 

[Shawn w]

its an '02. 99 was previous

 

[backfrmcolorado]

i got a 1994 and had to replace both rear bearings and seals. it wasent that hard just make sure you have the right tools, luckly my dad works at fords so it wasent a problem. if worse goes to worst get the chiltons manual, it helped me out a bunch on different jobs that i had to fix.

 

[EasyRhino]

i got a 1994 and had to replace both rear bearings and seals. it wasent that hard just make sure you have the right tools, luckly my dad works at fords so it wasent a problem. if worse goes to worst get the chiltons manual, it helped me out a bunch on different jobs that i had to fix.

The third generation is significantly different from the 1994. I had a 1997, and have a 2002, and there are almost no interchangable parts. The 94 has a solid axle, therefore, the rear bearings are in the axle housing ends and not that hard to replace. For the 2002's and up, the bearings are pressed into the rear control arm, which is part of the independent rear suspension.

As the OP states the front are a major PITA. I have done these and it wasn't too bad, but took about 1/2 a day.

The rears are worse according to those who have done them. I have not yet, but soon. . . .

 

[RickM]

I'd say the rears are in some ways a bit harder. But, if you read through the related threads and prepare yourself upfront it will go smoothly.

IMO, the most critical part of the job is pressing the old bearings out. You'll have luck at a well tooled repair shop or machine shop.

Aside from the great info here I also used the instructions on Ebay: http://reviews.ebay.com/Ford-Explorer-Rear-Wheel-Hub-Bearing-Replacement_W0QQugidZ10000000002672288

 

[Shawn w]

Well i'm planning on having the bearing pressed out/in at a maching shop. So I would just be removing the knuckle and then taking it to them. However if it is harder to do than the front was, I don't know if I want to tackle it. I'm sure I could do it, but for the frustrations of messing with it, I might just have it done.

I don't know who ford got to make the hub asseblies for these things The person responsible for that decission should be sentanced to an enternity of removing and then replacing ford explorer hub assemblies. I'm betting I will end up having to replace everyone of mine, before I get the noise to stop. With 80k thats a bit rediculous. I bought a third gen, because my second gen was such a tough reliable vehicle, I am hoping this one turns out the same way.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

[RickM]

Shawn,
If you did the fronts you can definitely do the rears. However, it is a relatively involved job.

 

[Shawn w]

And now that i've done the front, I could probably do it much easier/faster. The key is sliding the half shaft back far enough to get to the bolts. It's a good thing I got some experience at it, as it kinda sounds like the drivers one is making some noise too, but can't really tell becasue the pass rear one is soo loud. I mean really all freaking wheel bearing only last 80k. If I had to pay to have this done, at a dealer or such. I would be pissed!

 

[Shawn w]

Also what would you recomend as for replacements? I went with a National branded front hub, when I did it over this past weekend. I am not really worried about using OE parts, as they obviously are not very good. Hopefully the aftermarket hubs hold up better. Hopefully this will fix my truck for a while also. I never had this much problems with wheel bearing in my previous 4 second gen explorers.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

[sportrac03]

Yes it is because the bearin is serviced seperate from the hub so they have to be pressed in and out unlike the front which is a complete unit.

 

[EasyRhino]

Also what would you recomend as for replacements? I went with a National branded front hub, when I did it over this past weekend. I am not really worried about using OE parts, as they obviously are not very good. Hopefully the aftermarket hubs hold up better. Hopefully this will fix my truck for a while also. I never had this much problems with wheel bearing in my previous 4 second gen explorers.

Thanks,
Shawn

Good point on the OEM bearings, but I did replace mine with ones from the Ford dealeship. Time will tell if that was a mistake.

I would avoid any Chinese-manufactured bearings and try to get Timkens.

 

[mountaineer02]

I recently went to the dealer about a seperate service bullitin about the rear diff noise and found that they have one about the bearings aswell. IMO there oem stuff isnt proving so well in the drivetrain area. anybody have any opinion about switching the rear end out?

 

[rhofer]

Good Morning,
I must qualify this by saying I haven't worked on a car since 1974, until recently. I have a 2002 Explorer and replaced the front bearings with no problems whatsoever. One of the rears has since gone out and I'm attempting to fix it. I have looked for info with pictures ( i need visuals) on the forums and elsewhere on the web, but have found mostly only info on replacing the fronts.
So I am asking questions without trying to sound as ignorant as I am.
Tire and wheel are off, rotor is pulled. Removed 3 bolts from the 'wheel knukle?' used fork seperated lower bar, but the upper (which is a flat metal w/holes)- is difficult to remove and I'm afraid of damaging it.
Removed nut from spindle, saw a video showing the nut being threaded on the spindle with the a socket and then hitting the socket with a hammer to remove- don't know if that's proper protocol.
I'm assuming ( I know what that implies), that after getting this off of the spindle and removing the upper pc that is connected then I take it to the shop, are there pix out there anywhere so I don't feel too stupid?
Thanks for reading and hopefully I won't get too much abuse for my ignorance.

 

[Shawn w]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251915&highlight=rear+hub

There ya go.

 

[rhofer]

Thanks Shawn, I really appreciate the help!

 

[RickM]

Good Morning,
but the upper (which is a flat metal w/holes)- is difficult to remove and I'm afraid of damaging it.

I'll have to verify by looking for a pic but, IIRC, I used a small flat screw driver and drove it in the slot of the knuckle to get a slight spread. Then it was a matter of tapping a few times with a hammer to separate.

Yes, here's the quote from the link just provided (The pic illustrates the technique):
"Now it's time to tackle the two pinch bolts that hold the upper control arm and the toe link to the knuckle. You will use an 18mm deep well socket to remove the nuts. As mine were rusted in pretty good, the way I got mine out was to insert a chisel into the slot shown to help spread apart the knuckle. Tap lightly and it should come right out. Don't hammer it too hard as you can damage the end of the bolt."

 

[Shawn w]

Any other recomendations for replacement parts?

Thanks,
Shawn

 

[rhofer]

Got mine at Autozone $121.00 for the rear hub and bearings.

 

[mountaineer02]

Thank you for the link shawn! That helps out soo much!