Shake in front end after new hub

[Vinniety]

Well i finally replaced the Front Passenger Hub bearing on my 2000 sport. Very easy to do no problems at all. I even when on a quick test drive that night and no sounds, i was happy. The next morning driving on the parkway hit a few bigger then normal bumps doing about 70MPH and that was it the steering wheel started to shake like you wouldnt believe. I hit the brakes to slow down but when i had it under control i let go of the brakes to see if the brakes were causing the shake no luck still was shaking. I really mean shaking the whole front end, dash everything. Came to a stop and it went away like nothing. Got out to look at the wheel and saw nothing different so i got back in the truck and drove. Drove for about another hour and finally got home. I jacked the truck up and looked everything over. I made sure everything was tight and torqued down. The only think i see is when you grab the wheel at 12 and 6 the wheel has no shake but when you grab at 9 and 3 you have about 1/2 inch of movement that i cant see what is causing it. The bushings are not the issue. It looks like the entire hub is moving does this mean i have a bad hub? Also will this be the issue of the speratic front end shake. The shocks are about a year old. I have reciepts to prove it but they are not original quality. I think they were sensor tracks for autozone.

So i guess the question is what could have made the front end go crazy and also why do i have this 1/2 movement.

 

[Blee1099]

Well i finally replaced the Front Passenger Hub bearing on my 2000 sport. Very easy to do no problems at all. I even when on a quick test drive that night and no sounds, i was happy. The next morning driving on the parkway hit a few bigger then normal bumps doing about 70MPH and that was it the steering wheel started to shake like you wouldnt believe. I hit the brakes to slow down but when i had it under control i let go of the brakes to see if the brakes were causing the shake no luck still was shaking. I really mean shaking the whole front end, dash everything. Came to a stop and it went away like nothing. Got out to look at the wheel and saw nothing different so i got back in the truck and drove. Drove for about another hour and finally got home. I jacked the truck up and looked everything over. I made sure everything was tight and torqued down. The only think i see is when you grab the wheel at 12 and 6 the wheel has no shake but when you grab at 9 and 3 you have about 1/2 inch of movement that i cant see what is causing it. The bushings are not the issue. It looks like the entire hub is moving does this mean i have a bad hub? Also will this be the issue of the speratic front end shake. The shocks are about a year old. I have reciepts to prove it but they are not original quality. I think they were sensor tracks for autozone.

So i guess the question is what could have made the front end go crazy and also why do i have this 1/2 movement.

Tighten the center hub nut, the 1.25" you need to put some serious torque on it to get it tight.. I used a 3' cheater bar with a 18" breaker bar to tighten mine. Also don't forget to double check all the mounting bolts and even the caliper mounting bolts.

 

[Vinniety]

Tighten the center hub nut, the 1.25" you need to put some serious torque on it to get it tight.. I used a 3' cheater bar with a 18" breaker bar to tighten mine. Also don't forget to double check all the mounting bolts and even the caliper mounting bolts.

What should the hub nut be torqued down to? Also if i had the center cap of on the rim and i can see that nut and when i move the wheel i see that part moving with the wheel you think that nut is the problem. I had dam things like this. I will tighten that nut down some more but not sure if i can.

 

[Blee1099]

What should the hub nut be torqued down to? Also if i had the center cap of on the rim and i can see that nut and when i move the wheel i see that part moving with the wheel you think that nut is the problem. I had dam things like this. I will tighten that nut down some more but not sure if i can.

I say atleast 200 ft lbs minimum.. I remember when I had to break mine loose it was a b!tch. I had the normal breaker bar and it wouldn't even budge it, my IR 250 ft lb impact gun barely did anything to it. So I would say so tight that your eyes bulge out like this..

 

[Vinniety]

I say atleast 200 ft lbs minimum.. I remember when I had to break mine loose it was a b!tch. I had the normal breaker bar and it wouldn't even budge it, my IR 250 ft lb impact gun barely did anything to it. So I would say so tight that your eyes bulge out like this..

DAM well its not on that tight i know as a fact but i was told not to tighten it that tight becasue that is how you destry the hub bearings.

What ever i am going to hit with a impact wrench a few times and gr from there.

 

[Ranger482]

Definatley dont tighten this nut too much, as it will cause future damage. IT should be snug though, i used a impact just a few times to tighten mine. I would double check your maounting bolts on the wheel bearing and make sure they are tight, as welll as everything else. Otherwise, the bearing could possibly be bad, although this is very rare. I have a bad nosie in th efront of mine, but it is my tire that is out of balance. Only here it up to around 35 mph.

Hope this helps.

 

[Hartman]

Whoa whoa whoa, first tell his if your truck is a 2WD or 4WD.

THe 4WD hub needs to be tightened as tight as you can get it (I think the official torque is 200ft/lbs.)

The 2WD hub nut needs to be tightened just enough to seat the inner and outer bearings (not very much at all).

 

[Vinniety]

Whoa whoa whoa, first tell his if your truck is a 2WD or 4WD.

THe 4WD hub needs to be tightened as tight as you can get it (I think the official torque is 200ft/lbs.)

The 2WD hub nut needs to be tightened just enough to seat the inner and outer bearings (not very much at all).

Yes mine is 4x4. So i guess that is the issue. I KNOW as a fact i dont have it torqed down to anywhere near 200FT/LBS. thanks guys appreciate all the help, like always.

 

[Hartman]

You didn't have any issues getting it off? I had trouble getting mine off even with airtools.

 

[Vinniety]

You didn't have any issues getting it off? I had trouble getting mine off even with airtools.

Mine came off easy. The rotor was a pain but a few hits with the rubber malot and that was it. On saturday i am going to a friend and let him torque it down becasue my torque wrench i noticed doesnt go that high. O well just driving to the train station and back home about 10 minutes a day.

thanks everyone for all the help!

 

[explrths]

yea i beleive the torque should be between 183 and 210lbs. Also, did you use an air gun to tighten your wheels down? If so you might have warped the rotor. The lugs should only get to about 100lbs torque

 

[toyman]

I have had similiar issues with my 2000 Mountaineer 4WD. I had replaced the front passenger hub bearing on mine with no issues a few months ago. The truck was driving fine for about an additional month. At the time I knew I also needed to replace all four front ball joints. Since I had never done this type of repair, I enlisted the help of a local (and trusted) indepdent mechanic to do the job. The ball joint job was done and I immediately drove it about a mile to the nearest alignment shop. The alignment was completed and on the way home I noticed that the steering was shaking very violently when I got up to around 60 mph. After having multiple places look it over (including a couple of "master mechanics"), I have about given up. I think I will go out to the garage tomorrow morning and re-check the torque on the hubs to make sure they are sitting at around 200 lb.

 

[TerryS1980]

on 2wd the hub adjusting nut should only be tightened to 20 in-lbs

 

[Vinniety]

I have had similiar issues with my 2000 Mountaineer 4WD. I had replaced the front passenger hub bearing on mine with no issues a few months ago. The truck was driving fine for about an additional month. At the time I knew I also needed to replace all four front ball joints. Since I had never done this type of repair, I enlisted the help of a local (and trusted) indepdent mechanic to do the job. The ball joint job was done and I immediately drove it about a mile to the nearest alignment shop. The alignment was completed and on the way home I noticed that the steering was shaking very violently when I got up to around 60 mph. After having multiple places look it over (including a couple of "master mechanics"), I have about given up. I think I will go out to the garage tomorrow morning and re-check the torque on the hubs to make sure they are sitting at around 200 lb.

I had a simialr issue before with a car that i owned not with my truck and rebalancing the wheels did the job. Even though i didnt have the problem before doing the front end. Hey you never know. Its worth the try.

good luck