edwx
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- July 4, 2006
- Messages
- 806
- Reaction score
- 9
- City, State
- Jacksonville, FL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2020 Ford Explorer XLT
My 2006 XLS has 97K miles on it and was making enough noise that I figured a front wheel bearing/hub swap was necessary. If I can do it on my cold, wet, garage floor in the corrosion, rust capital of the world, here in Syracuse NY in late December, anybody can do it. In my case proper planning is the key because I'm not a mechanic and I need to be completely comfortable before I start. I'm not one of those guys that can just dive in and get it done. Can't really add too much to the procedure that is so well documented a bazillion times already in this forum, and in the Gen III forum in the STICKY. My main thing was saving $. Since a wheel hub installation is not very labor intensive for the dealer and they would probably only charge an hour per side (plus whatever else they could find wrong with your truck,) the place where I thought I could save the most money was in the parts. I decided that Chinese (or poor quality) bearings was not the way to go. So I started looking at SKF, Motorcraft, Timkin, and National. I also wanted to buy hubs that came with the 5 bolt kit and ABS sensor. In my part research, I began noticing that 2 different part #'s for my 2006 were coming up for the SKF hubs...BR930456, and BR930741. The same thing with the Motorcraft hubs......HUB67 and HUB29. (This might get confusing, but I stuck with it and saved at least $300 in parts alone.) I couldn't tell what the difference in the parts were, except that the latter part numbers were alot more expensive. To this day I still don't know what the difference is, but if the less expensive part would fit my truck I wanted to use it. I had read that the SKF hubs were made in Canada and used Timkin bearings, and had the abs sensor and bolt kit. Someone on Ebay was selling them for about $150, so I began to focus on them. (The Motorcraft HUB67's were about $170 on Ebay.) I also noticed that on the RockAuto site the SKF BR930456 was cross-referenced to the Mororcraft 4L2Z1104AA, which is HUB67. OK, great. The problem is that the notes on the SKF hubs state that they aren't supposed to be used on builds after 7/25/05. (BTW the build date is on the sticker on your drivers door.) My build date is 10/17/05. CRAP! But, I ordered them anyway because of the cross-reference to the HUB67, which didn't have any such notes. While my hubs were on the way, I began to panic because of the note, and researched further. Advanced Auto, on their website, has the specs. for a Driveworks (China) bearing that fits my truck. I compared them to the specs. (flange diameter, etc.) for the SKF hub (which are easily seen on Ebay,) and they were identical. Beautiful! Now the only thing to do was see if they actually fit.
The only tools I had to buy were a 32mm deep impact socket from Harbor Freight for $4.99, and a 3/8" wobble extension from Sears for $6.99. The hubs were $147.40 each, with free shipping. I also bought a 15mm offset wrench but didn't need to use it. For a couple of weeks prior, I bathed the axle nuts and hub bolts in PB Blaster in my workplace parking lot every day so I wouldn't stink up my garage. My next door neighbor had an impact wrench that had no trouble with the axle nuts. I tried using a breaker bar and my hydraulic jack on the axle nuts, but no go. 1A Auto has a good video on YouTube on replacing a hub on an X. So I got the truck jacked up, and added a jack stand for safety. Got the brakes and the backing plate off no problem. The best thing I did, was tapping the axle shaft in about 3/4" or so, so I was able to get a full bite on the bolts with a 15mm socket. I used a 1/2" ratchet, 3/8" adapter, the 3/8" wobble, and 15mm socket. Got a full bite on all 3 bolts, and with a little muscle (which is all this middle-aged guy has left,) and a 12" piece of cheater pipe, all 3 bolts came out. I was excited until I saw how rusted tight these old hubs were in there. I even saw the dreaded gray rtv sealent they used to seal in the hub. I started using a chisel and a 3lb hammer on it and finally noticed it budged a little. I was banging the back edges with the hammer from behind either side. Yada, yada...finally got it out. The 3lb hammer I had was nice because one end was tapered and it could get a good hit on it. As the hub was coming out I just tapped the axle in. A hub puller would have been usless in my case. It would have just pushed the axle in. So I cleaned up the opening. A can of brake parts cleaner and wd-40 is handy. This was the moment of truth. The SKF BR930456 went in and seemed to fit like a glove. Putting things back together was fairly easy. Just had to route the abs cable and plug it in under the hood. I backed my truck out of the garage to turn it around so I could do the other side. No clunks or bangs or grinding noises, so I was encouraged. I did the other side. The whole thing took me about 5 hours soup to nuts, which included going as slow as possible, break time, and a couple of pictures. I'm sure the dealer would have charged me $800+. Motorcraft hubs are each $300+ from the dealer. I spent about $310 total, so a savings of at least $500 total. I still don't know what the difference in all the hubs is. I would definitely recommend the SKF BR930456, or the Motorcraft HUB67 for anyone with an '06, and possibly the following years also. Just compare the specs for yourself to something like the Advanced Auto Parts, Driveworks hub before you order to make sure they are the same. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it seems that parts manufacturers might want Gen IV owners to pay more for hubs than GEN III owners. Can anybody tell me what the actual difference is in the, lets say, HUB67 vs HUB29.......or BR930456 vs BR930741, other than price?? I'd really like to know. If you don't want to go through all the motions you could just use HUB29 or BR930741 to be safe, and still save decent $ over what the dealer would charge. Only did this a couple of days ago, so I'm not 100% comfortable with the job I did yet. Last night I drove the truck a few miles and noticed a strange sound....silence. Oh yeah, forgot to mention I tightened the axle nuts back up with my 150lb torque wrench and leaned on it as much as I could past the 150 mark, so I think it's back to around 180 ft lbs. I'll check it again in a day or two.
Picture 1 shows the box that actually says Made in USA on the white label under HUBG3. The bearings themselves say Timken.
Picture 2 shows the axle tapped in a little to allow for good access to the bolts with a socket.
Picture 3 shows the hub free. You can see the gray rtv hanging around.
Picture 4 shows the socket set-up I used to get the bolts out.
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The only tools I had to buy were a 32mm deep impact socket from Harbor Freight for $4.99, and a 3/8" wobble extension from Sears for $6.99. The hubs were $147.40 each, with free shipping. I also bought a 15mm offset wrench but didn't need to use it. For a couple of weeks prior, I bathed the axle nuts and hub bolts in PB Blaster in my workplace parking lot every day so I wouldn't stink up my garage. My next door neighbor had an impact wrench that had no trouble with the axle nuts. I tried using a breaker bar and my hydraulic jack on the axle nuts, but no go. 1A Auto has a good video on YouTube on replacing a hub on an X. So I got the truck jacked up, and added a jack stand for safety. Got the brakes and the backing plate off no problem. The best thing I did, was tapping the axle shaft in about 3/4" or so, so I was able to get a full bite on the bolts with a 15mm socket. I used a 1/2" ratchet, 3/8" adapter, the 3/8" wobble, and 15mm socket. Got a full bite on all 3 bolts, and with a little muscle (which is all this middle-aged guy has left,) and a 12" piece of cheater pipe, all 3 bolts came out. I was excited until I saw how rusted tight these old hubs were in there. I even saw the dreaded gray rtv sealent they used to seal in the hub. I started using a chisel and a 3lb hammer on it and finally noticed it budged a little. I was banging the back edges with the hammer from behind either side. Yada, yada...finally got it out. The 3lb hammer I had was nice because one end was tapered and it could get a good hit on it. As the hub was coming out I just tapped the axle in. A hub puller would have been usless in my case. It would have just pushed the axle in. So I cleaned up the opening. A can of brake parts cleaner and wd-40 is handy. This was the moment of truth. The SKF BR930456 went in and seemed to fit like a glove. Putting things back together was fairly easy. Just had to route the abs cable and plug it in under the hood. I backed my truck out of the garage to turn it around so I could do the other side. No clunks or bangs or grinding noises, so I was encouraged. I did the other side. The whole thing took me about 5 hours soup to nuts, which included going as slow as possible, break time, and a couple of pictures. I'm sure the dealer would have charged me $800+. Motorcraft hubs are each $300+ from the dealer. I spent about $310 total, so a savings of at least $500 total. I still don't know what the difference in all the hubs is. I would definitely recommend the SKF BR930456, or the Motorcraft HUB67 for anyone with an '06, and possibly the following years also. Just compare the specs for yourself to something like the Advanced Auto Parts, Driveworks hub before you order to make sure they are the same. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it seems that parts manufacturers might want Gen IV owners to pay more for hubs than GEN III owners. Can anybody tell me what the actual difference is in the, lets say, HUB67 vs HUB29.......or BR930456 vs BR930741, other than price?? I'd really like to know. If you don't want to go through all the motions you could just use HUB29 or BR930741 to be safe, and still save decent $ over what the dealer would charge. Only did this a couple of days ago, so I'm not 100% comfortable with the job I did yet. Last night I drove the truck a few miles and noticed a strange sound....silence. Oh yeah, forgot to mention I tightened the axle nuts back up with my 150lb torque wrench and leaned on it as much as I could past the 150 mark, so I think it's back to around 180 ft lbs. I'll check it again in a day or two.
Picture 1 shows the box that actually says Made in USA on the white label under HUBG3. The bearings themselves say Timken.
Picture 2 shows the axle tapped in a little to allow for good access to the bolts with a socket.
Picture 3 shows the hub free. You can see the gray rtv hanging around.
Picture 4 shows the socket set-up I used to get the bolts out.
View attachment 72138
View attachment 72139
View attachment 72140
View attachment 72141
