front wheel bearing noises

[kcmoe]

i had a vibration/hum from the front end on my 2000 XLS/2-WD. had the tires rotated and balanced at the time they said a front wheel bearing was "loose" so they tightened it up saying it didn't need to be replaced. three days later the noise/vibration came back. took it to another shop that said the bearings needed replaced. they wanted $200. no thanks. sunday i replaced the outer bearings. the noise/vibration is gone, but now there is a bad grinding sound when i back up at all and the brakes feel mushy and the pedal goes almost to the floor. i put new grease in and tighten the soindle nut with a torque wrench to the suggested amount in the Haynes manual. anyone have any ideas what is going on now? thanks.

 

[fliedlice]

did you check your break fluid...that might be why the brakes are mushy and grinding....

 

[Tedman]

Ok have a Question about the bearings.

Mine broke and crumbled cousing my EX to make a strong right turn doing 90 on the I15 almost ramming an 18 wheeler.

Anyway took the EX to a mecanic (he didnt know much but he was right bout my bearings ) He thought it might be my front wheel bearing on the inner side.

I went to autozone (where else?) bought the bearing ( $8.00) and went home after ripping the whole thing apart the rollers (normaly inside the bearing ) fell out anf what ever was left of the bearing housing lay loose in the knuckle.

Everywhere i read the same thing replacing and repacking the bearings!

I am clueless, i thought it would be easy to replace the frontwheel bearings but i have no pictures to guide me in it and i never did it before.

Please even after a search here i didnt find any pics on how to replace the front wheel bearings on a 91 4X4 ex.
thanks..

 

[kcmoe]

it was the brake fluid. guess i should have checked that first huh. oh well, thanks for the tip!!

 

[Creager]

Everything you will ever need to know about replacing/servicing you front wheel bearings and brakes on 91-94 explorers can be found on this site at...

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122696

 

[outhouse]

Have to say that $200 was a steal I've just paid $700 for the front off-side to be done! And $8 for a bearing - the box it came in must have cost more!!

 

[gijoecam]

Have to say that $200 was a steal I've just paid $700 for the front off-side to be done! And $8 for a bearing - the box it came in must have cost more!!

2wds are a piece of cake. One nut and the whole shebang falls apart. Tapered roller bearings are dirt cheap as they've been around for darn near 100 years.

Not so with our 4x4s.

-Joe

 

[ExplorerDMB]

Have to say that $200 was a steal I've just paid $700 for the front off-side to be done! And $8 for a bearing - the box it came in must have cost more!!

There's a lot more up front for the 4wd group than the 2wd. And to anyone who is replacing bearings, don't just do one on one side - replace both (why be in there twice?).

-Drew

 

[outhouse]

Valid DMB but at what cost. In mitigation though I'm sure my car suffered off-side front damage before I bought it therefore felt that this was premature wear on that side due to this. A new stearing rack was fitted early in my ownership as I was fed up with heading for the boon docks everytime I let go of the wheel.

The car was Ford Direct supply - word has it that press cars aside these cars though fully certified often conceal a dark past worthy of a Stephen king novel.

 

[kcmoe]

well the grinding is back. after topping off the brake fluid it was fine for about two days. then when backing out of a parking stall the brakes grind terribly and drag. the pedal is really soft again. they also seem to grind/drag slightly though not as bad when turning and applying the brakes at the same time. i've checked the fluid mutiple times and it has not lost any. the pads were replaced about 6 months ago.