2007 4WD Front Wheel Bearing

[Rob_EddieB]

At 50,000 miles I had the left front wheel bearing replaced, now at 85,000 miles I'm hearing the same noise. Is this common? Is there a heavy duty upgrade?

 

[edwx]

Are you sure it's the front left? If it is, the noise should increase when making a right turn, and lessen when you make a left turn.

 

[Explorer_PL]

I have 06 EB v8 with 111k miles (including towing and plowing), and my rear left went bad at 75 K, a shop replaced it and it went bad again in 10 k miles. They replaced it again under warranty, and it's OK so far. My right front bearing went bad at 99 k miles, but it was not really the bearing but ABS sensor which is inside, so I had to replace the whole thing. I bought the replacement on ebay for 120 bucks, looked nice, but it broke before I even put the car down, the wheel was wibbling all over. They send me a replacement (both made in China), and it was the same case. I bought a new one from Ford for 330 and it was it. I guess what I am saying, get the OEM parts if you can. On your question, 50k is kind of early, but it may happen. The front you can do yourself if you have tools.

 

[jakeamondo]

Wheel Bearings 2007 Explorer

I had my front hub/wheel bearings replaced at 52,000 on my 07 XLT. The noise actually started well before that, but got louder over time. The noise was constant regardless of road surface. After replacing the noise was gone and when driving from concrete road to asphalt road the tire noise is distinctly different. I had no play in the bearings. They do not make a heavy duty to my knowledge. You would think a replacement would also last 50,000, but the main reason they don't is the fact that they are installed wrong and over tightened. tightening to the correct torque specification is critical. Most repair shops use impact wrenches and just blast them tight. You would be surprised how many shops don't even have torque wrenches. OEM vs aftermarket: I use Ford parts, however they are also made in China. I just hope they are made to fords strict specifications.

 

[Rob_EddieB]

Well,
Obviously I need to replace it soon but it's not getting worse but I'm going on vacation so I gotta get to it. Any tips or things to watch out for on this fix? I sure would hope there was a high performance or heavier duty assembly for this. I'd spend the dough to do it right other than just putting the same stuff on. I plan on keeping this this for a long time.