Labor hours for rear wheel bearing? (2007 EB) | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Labor hours for rear wheel bearing? (2007 EB)

Alan03gt

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Joined
March 22, 2011
Messages
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City, State
Baltimore MD
Year, Model & Trim Level
01 Sport Trac
Had the pleasure of replacing both rear wheel bearings on my 2007 Eddie Bauer today. Started with the right which I presumed was the loud one. Interesting how these are set up, you don’t get any wheel end play with the CV axle shaft tight... as soon as I pulled the shaft, the hub was wobbling like drunk Santa on Dec 26.

First one (right) went well, left side didn’t appear to be bad, but I replaced anyway. She was a bear to get apart!

My method was:
Remove brakes
Remove e brake cable (PITA)
Remove ABS sensor
Remove CV axle nut
Unbolt knuckle 6 bolts (1 upper CA, 1 Lower CA, 1 lateral connecting rod, 3 trailing arm)
* I was able to leave my shoes on, they were in good shape.
Knuckle in vise, slide hammer for hub removal (1 was easy 25-30 hits, 1 hard 25-30 minutes haha)
Remove snap ring
Press out
Clean knuckle
Clean hub
Press New in
Install snap ring
Press in Hub
Reinstall on vehicle

Just wondering what a shop labor hours might be for both. Took me just shy of 5 hours including 2 new sway bar/stabilizer links.

I went with National bearings as they have been good to me and are good quality IMHO.

Wasn’t too difficult, just had to figure it out for the first time
 



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RepairPal says:
The average cost for a Ford Explorer wheel bearing replacement is between $311 and $430. Labor costs are estimated between $158 and $200 while parts are priced between $153 and $230. Estimate does not include taxes and fees.
Seems about right to me although I've never paid to have one replaced - I've also done them myself. Of course, you paid a lot less for the parts so figuring you saved about $500 or more on the job for both isn't unreasonable.
 






I saw that through my google search as well. Didn’t seem to specify front or rear. Did the fronts for the 2nd time last November... they are far easier than the rear... 45 min per side once you know how it’s done... probably faster for a seasoned tech with a lift. 190k on this exploder, riding like a Cadillac again.
 






How’s your ride holding up 07EB? Just noticed your name is same year/model.

Mines been a faithful workhorse. Aside from necessary suspension/brake/ wheel end components due to mileage, I haven’t had too many problems (knock on wood)

Alt., Battery, thermo. Housing (@125k) and radiator(@180k)
 






RepairPal says:
The average cost for a Ford Explorer wheel bearing replacement is between $311 and $430. Labor costs are estimated between $158 and $200 while parts are priced between $153 and $230. Estimate does not include taxes and fees.
Seems about right to me although I've never paid to have one replaced - I've also done them myself. Of course, you paid a lot less for the parts so figuring you saved about $500 or more on the job for both isn't unreasonable.

I've found repairpal to be wildly inaccurate, normally on the low side. It told me around $300 to replace my rear differential.... labor would be way more than that.... I dont know where they get their estimates, but I wish that mechanic was near me, I would certainly do less of my own work....
 






About 10 years ago I had my rear bearing replaced. The total cost for the job was about $ 450 including everything.
Since then, I do it myself with the exception of taking the knuckle to a local shop where they replace the bearing.
Alan -
what did you use to press it back in ?
 






You can easily loose your sanity trying to swap a rear wheel bearing on a rust belt truck. Not to mention most of the time you have to replace the ebrake pads also.

I charge $250 at my shop and only use a quality bearing. Extra $50 if you want the ebrake pads and hardware replaced on that side. Then I give you the rest of the ebrake stuff to hold onto till the other side bearing needs to replaced.
 






Wow, bX !!!!-

can you move to NY/NJ area and open the shop here ? :)
What's the hourly rate down there ?
Here it's anything between 109-139 an hour.
One of the shops here wanted $ 200 just to press out and press in the bearing if I gave them the knuckle on a golden plate.
Luckily, I have a shop that does it for $ 60.
 






If I moved up there if I'd have to charge more to deal with the rust lol. Rarely do I see a vehicle with rocker rust here but they are around. My labor rate is $85 an hour but I am a hidden secret. 75% of my business is commercial fleet accounts and the other 25% is referral customers. I do no advertising and like being "off the beaten path".
 






LOL
For $ 85 you get " Hello, how can we help you ?" to start with up here.
Then, you get hit with the actual charges.....
 






Had the pleasure of replacing both rear wheel bearings on my 2007 Eddie Bauer today. Started with the right which I presumed was the loud one. Interesting how these are set up, you don’t get any wheel end play with the CV axle shaft tight... as soon as I pulled the shaft, the hub was wobbling like drunk Santa on Dec 26.....

I noticed this with my front wheel bearing. Everyone shows how to check for wheel bearings by checking play, and I've seen it in some videos. Mine didn't budge in/out, side to side, or top to bottom. I was almost doubting a wheel bearing issue, but I changed it anyway. The old one was very rough to rotate, and the new one was much quieter.
 






yep same thing here. my explorer had a bearing growl in the front when I bought it, "no worries, its a 20 min job", I thought. Ha, joke was on me on that one.... anyway I checked and rechecked but my front tires never did the bad bearing wiggle..... I had read about people going nuts replacing bearing after bearings, starting at the knuckling and working in trying to get rid of bearing noise to no avail, so I decided to do nothing till it got worse.... Never got the wiggle, but eventually i started to see abnormal tire wear, so replaced the bearing on that tire, and the bearing noise was cut about in half. 5k miles later I replaced the other and the noise was gone. Post change inspection, only one side seemed obviously bad, the second felt fine in my hands....
 






I was finally able to confirm my rear wheel bearing. Once I removed the wheel, caliper, and brake disc, I was able to feel the roughness in the bearing as I rotated the hub. But, I was only able to feel it by rotating the hub directly without the wheel or brake disc.
 






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