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Front wheel bearing replacement




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I wouldn't do it. Have to assume you have a 2WD, and your races are still inside the rotors.

Spend a little extra and get new rotors and replace entire bearing. If you are a decent mechanic with tools you can remove the old races with punches and a hammer and use the old rotors.
 






Save yourself some time and just buy the rotors with the races pressed in. It's never a good idea to use new bearings on old races or visa versa.. Each bearing wears differently and a worn race will destroy a new bearing fairly quickly.
 












New wheel bearings typically will come with new races. If my rotors were okay personally I'd just install the new races with the new bearings. You're going to have to pack the bearings with grease and install new seals whichever route you take. With the right tools installing new races is not that hard to do. Do not install new bearings on old races.

It's true that it will easier to just buy new rotors, but at a fairly large additional expense. If your old rotors are warped, or worn to below the minimum thickness to have them turned then replace them. They'll come with new races installed.

Front rotors for a 2WD run $26-$60 each on RockAuto. Auto parts stores will charge more. It's your time and money.
 






I have decided to replace the rotors, bearings, upper control arms, inner and outer tie rod ends, boots and stabilizer links and shocks. I want to do the lower tie rod ends too but am afraid that it might be a little much for me. Any thoughts or words of incouragment?
 






Do you mean the lower ball joints? You can rent a press from AutoZone, Advance Auto, or O'Reilly's and press them in and out. Just have a breaker bar handy and take your time. Make sure that the joints are greased before putting everything back together and you should be good.

Oh and lube the threads on the bearing press during use. They are fairly fine and can bind under extreme stress.
 






If the wheel bearings were not hurt the races should be good too, easily judged by visual inspection. I replaced wheel bearings as I decided they needed to go, not after a problem turned up. So I almost never had bad bearings or races that showed any bluing. But some people don't do maintenance actively, and they need to replace the races often, thus new rotors or R&R the old from new bearing sets. How good the races are is based on age and installation done right, quality grease etc. If you aren't sure, then just replace them, better safe than sorry.

Your list of parts is not that hard to do, except the upper control arms. If you are not familiar with doing those, it'd be best to let an alignment shop do them. R&Ring the UCA bolts can be trouble if you don't have the right combination of sockets or wrenches, and the emission line can be a PITA to work around. Working on the UCA/LCA requires getting an alignment, and doing the outer TRE's is not hard, but an alignment would be good to do if it's been awhile. You need a big hammer(baby sledge at a minimum) to break the TRE's free, or use a pickle fork knowing they are to be replaced.
 






Do you think I should replace to the brake pads and install rebuilt calipers since I am replacing the rotors? The ones on there now are in reasonable condition. I am leaning towards doing it. I know I will have to take it to a brake shop to get the system properly bleed.
 






Why would you replace the calipers? If they are functioning fine leave 'em alone. New pads on new rotors would not be a bad idea, however.

As for brake bleeding, get yourself a big bottle of brake fluid, a glass jar, and some tube that will fit over the bleeders on the calipers/wheel cylinders. Fill up the jar with a little fluid,dunk the tube in until it is submerged in fluid, and install the other end on the bleeder. Use a 7/16" box end, open the bleeder valve, and pump the brake a few times. Close bleeder, top off the fluid in the master cylinder, and repeat for the other 3 calipers/wheel cylinders. Order is passenger rear, driver rear, passenger front, and then driver front.
 






Calipers should only need to be changed if the pads start wearing too fast or unevenly. A vehicle which is not driven for a long time can often develop a sticking caliper piston; the piston doesn't retract properly when the pedal is release, and it more quickly wears out the pad(s). Normally there's no need to replace a caliper, but if you do one, do them in pairs if possible.
 






New pads for sure.
 






Ok, new pads, keep the calipers. I am also having trouble getting all the air out of my cooling system. I jacked the front end up so the radiator was higher than the heater core. I idled until the thermostat opened (180°) and with the heater valve open but it still has air in the radiator return hose between the metal pipe and the radiator. Any suggestions?
 






Ok, new pads, keep the calipers. I am also having trouble getting all the air out of my cooling system. I jacked the front end up so the radiator was higher than the heater core. I idled until the thermostat opened (180°) and with the heater valve open but it still has air in the radiator return hose between the metal pipe and the radiator. Any suggestions?

How long did the engine run before you checked to see if there was air in it? How many times did the engine get shut off and allowed to cool, heat up and cool off, without opening the radiator cap? Is the overflow bottle at the proper level, and has the level changed during the time the engine has run, and cooled off, run, cooled off etc?

Watch the overflow bottle, that level should drop some as the coolant is pulled into the system to displace the air pushed out. The cap is in complete control of that. If the level doesn't change, then replace the cap.
 






New cap. Cycled 3 times. Reservoir at proper level and doesn't seem to drop any. When I say I have air in the hose I mean when I squeeze it sounds swishy like the water is moving in an air pocket
 






Very good, squeezing the upper hose is the right way to check for air. If the level isn't dropping in the bottle, I'd say that cap is not working properly. I've had a cap go bad in under 6000 miles and about two years, a new OEM Ford cap. It sounds like you need to try another one.
 












The cap has to create a vacuum tight seal, to be able to pull fluid in as it all cools down. Also be sure the edges around the radiator cap inlet are smooth for the cap to seal to.
 









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Do you mean the lower ball joints? You can rent a press from AutoZone, Advance Auto, or O'Reilly's

Beware of O'Reilly's loaner tool terms, they only allow returns for refund within 48 hours (last time I checked), opposed to 30 days or more from AZ & AA.

O'Reilly's used to show this on their website but I couldn't find this info there now... very shady, IMO, like a ploy to stick people with overpriced rental tool purchase.
 






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