Bearings

[general98]

I have a 2002 Explorer XLT with 95,000 miles and have had right rear and left rear bearings replaced within the last 5,000 miles. The right rear was just done and was quiet for a week and is now back to making noise. So, my questions are, if this is another issue other than bearing, any ideas? Secondly, how soon does a bearing issue need to be addressed? How long is it driveable? Thanks in advance.

 

[jakedrew]

did you replace the bearings or a shop? If a shop did take it back and see what they say. Some places offer a year warranty on parts/ labor.

Also are you sure it is a bearing noise? Rear ends whine . (look it up/ lots of post about it).

good luck.

 

[general98]

I took it to a shop and will take it back later this week to have them take a look. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[gbranh]

If changing out the bearing made the noise go away, then I'd say it was a bearing that was bad. If the same noise came back on the same corner, then I'd take it back to your mechanic to have him replace it under warranty (if applicable).

My wife drove her 2002 with a bad bearing for months, before she told me something was "making a noise". I drove it, and I attributed the problem to tire whine. A few months later, it got bad...real bad. At that point, I knew it was a bearing, so I took it in to have it replaced. It had failed bad enough that the hub assembly had to be replaced, as well. Instead of a $30 bearing (+labor), we had to pay for a new hub assembly ($180), plus a bit more labor, for a total of $500.

So, if you think you've got a failing bearing, which is very common on these trucks, get it replaced before other components are damaged.

Greg

 

[ericautopart]

$30 for the bearing? I sell them for under $10...

 

[daveleeander]

$30 for the bearing? I sell them for under $10...

You can't be talking about the Timken wheel bearings. You may be selling the Chinese junk for under $10.00, but anyone who puts one of those in will be putting another one in within 30k miles.
Put a Timken in and solve the problem. I know, I've had 6 of them replaced in 225k miles on my 02 XLT. Both I and the dealer have done the replacements.

D

 

[blue_goose]

how hard is it to do this? my repair book said to take it to a mechanic to fix because of some specialized tools required to fix it. Can a rather expirienced backyard grease monkey do this? and if so, is it as straight forward as a solid axle vehicle?

 

[Carguy3J]

how hard is it to do this? my repair book said to take it to a mechanic to fix because of some specialized tools required to fix it. Can a rather expirienced backyard grease monkey do this? and if so, is it as straight forward as a solid axle vehicle?

Sure, as long as you have a fairly large hydraulic shop press, and quite possibly an oxy-acetylene torch. The bearing and hub are pressed in. The old one needs to be pressed out, and the new back in. Sometimes, especially if you let it get really bad, they can distort and make it very hard to even press them out (hence the need for the torch).

What you can do is remove the complete knuckle/spindle, strip it down to just the bare spindle, with hub/bearing, and bring it, and the new parts to a local shop. Most will press the bearings for $20-$30 for each side, assuming they aren't too bad/time consuming to get out.