Front Wheel Bearings

[joey863]

I have a 1992 explorer 4x4 and today while I was out my explorer front end started to make a grinding noise and the whole front end was shaking and it felt like my tires were locking or grinding and my explorer lost idle and died out.I started it back up the front was still making that grinding noise and shaking I managed to make it home and started to inquire about my problem and I came to the conclusion that it might be my front wheel bearings if anyone has any insight about my problem I would like to hear different opinions before I go out and buy the bearings.And if it is the bearings is it a easy job to do and what tools will the job require?Any help or insight will be great thanks.

 

[Roadrunner777]

Not hard... tire and hub come off, then the brake caliper, a C clip and washer on the axle stub... next is the spindle nut(s). If you have manual hubs, then you need a big socket with 4 lugs. If you have automatic hubs, then it's a big regular hex socket, and you need to remove a little locking 'key'. Then, you pull off the rotor. The outer bearing will fall on the ground. The inner one will be nested in the rotor by a seal.

To parts: there are a number of posts here from people that bought cheap bearings and regretted it. The gold standard is Timken, SET37, same bearing inner and outer, so you need 2 x SET37 per side. You will need a seal and grease, of course. Examine the races in the rotor carefully, it sounds like they may be damaged. If so, then you need to replace those, or the entire rotor depending on the condition of the rotor overall. Here is a good link to the process for automatic hubs:

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

 

[joey863]

Thank you For you help and the insight.I'll be sure to buy the good set of bearings.

 

[Slowlyvverot]

Get this knocked out ASAP! If your bearings blow out while you're driving, your wheel will make a hasty exit from the rest of your vehicle and the aftermath is not pretty...or cheap. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[Roadrunner777]

I have about a week on new bearings, started hearing a little rumble from the left front, ended up putting another 1/4 turn on them. See where that goes.