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Wheel Bearing issues?

GodStang

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November 30, 2018
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City, State
SC
Year, Model & Trim Level
2010 Explorer Limited
I found info on the old Explorers but was wondering if the newer ones have Wheel bearing issues also. I have a 2010 with 78K miles. We have large round-a-bouts going into my neighborhood. While in the round-a-bout taking a long left I hear a very loud wailing noise. Pretty sure it's front driver side. How hear are they to replace?
 



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Fronts are not to bad. Rears are pressed on. Never assume it's the fronts. Bad rear hubs can transmit sound that sounds like it's coming from the front. Check them all
 






Fronts are easy. 1 in 50 will give you hard time if it's seized in the knuckle, otherwise fairly simple job. Three 15mm bolts from behind, and the axle nut if you have 4WD
 






Here are a couple of videos showing how to replace the front wheel bearing hubs. They're not hard if you have the right tools.



 






1 in 50 is WAY low IMO.... About 50-75% of the people I have read about changing their front wheel bearings (myself included) had major issues replacing front wheel bearings due to a poor design that allows them to easily seize in the front hubs. If you live in a place where rust is not an issue, you will probably get lucky, but if they salt the roads where you live, prepare for a fight.... you can see my saga to prepare yourself here Front Wheel Hub Bearing
 






I must be one of the lucky people, I live in north eastern New Jersey where they use road salt four or five months out of the year. Yet, when I replaced the front wheel bearings on my 2006 Explorer that I bought new, they both came out with a few taps from a small hammer. And this was when the vehicle was 11 and 12 years old And I was replacing the original bearings
 






Replaced both front hubs on my 2002 Explorer XLS. Not too bad; the second one (which failed within 500 miles of the first one) was easier to do.

I bought a spare front hub for my 2010 Explorer--just to have on hand! I want to be able to swap it in upon a failure w/o having to wait days or a week for a discount hub to arrive.

I've had good luck with the WJB Heavy Duty front hubs from RockAuto, which are half the price of the Timken. But I'd go with Timken or Motorcraft or SKF on the rear bearings (b/c they're so much harder to replace).
 






I've had to replace 3/4 on mine since I bought my Limited 2 years ago. Still waiting for the passenger rear to go. I agree with Drewmcg. I would only use Timkin, Motorcraft or SKF. Timkin is actually the factory supplier for Ford's wheel bearings.
 






I need to replace the front driver side bearing on my 08 explorer 4x4 as well as the front driver lower ball joint too.

Does it need to be aligned if the hub and lower ball joint is replaced?

Soon I will be getting new tires for it but I don’t know if I should wait to replace the hub and ball joint til after the new tires and alignment or should I replace the hub and ball joint before the new tires and alignment? I don’t want to mess up the new tires and new alignment (if that’s even possible) if I wait to replace the hub and ball joint until after the new tires and alignment.
 






No alignment necessary after changing front hubs. Alignment definitely recommended if you change inner or outer tie rods. I don't believe alignment is required if you simply change upper or lower ball joints -- unless you replace the upper by replacing entire control arm assembly (I could be wrong). But if you're planning new tires, and your front suspension parts have enough miles for that much wear, it might be time for an alignment anyways.
 






If you need an alignment now I would replace the parts first. From what I was told if you have loose ball joints they need to be fixed before you get an alignment.
 






Thanks everyone. I will get it up on the lift in the next few days and take a look around. I have only had it since October. I live in the south east so I don't know what snow is but it came from Iowa. Had it shipped down since it only had 75K miles.
 






A lot of places will check alignment in a hunter quick align system for free. I have seen a lot of Ford quicklane service depts with one you drive on and they check specs and print out actual vs spec.

If you change a ball joint, bushings, tie rods, and especially a control arm, typically an alignment check is smart to do. If you have an alignment done with used suspension then when you replace the components t you more than likely will be off spec.

In other words, lets say you never had an alignment since new and at 80,000 mi you hit a curb and get an alignment. You now are in spec with components with wear. Then you replace components at 100,000mi. You most certainly will be off spec then even if you match as close to the worn setup since the alignment is matching those components with wear.
 






This is my first post. Here goes. I'm getting ready to change the front hub assemblies on my 2010 Premier AWD. I plan on getting the Motorcraft ones from Rockauto. They list two part numbers and I'm wondering if anyone knows the difference between the NHUB6's and the NHUB30's? The description on Rockauto doesn't really tell me any difference between the two other than the ABS sensor ring is a little better on the NHUB6. It also the more expensive of the two (about $40). Thanks.
 






For my 2010 XLT, rockauto only lists the NHUB6 for the front. For some reason it's listed under "economy", as an "aftermarket" design.
 






There has been lots of discussions about the hubs.

I have used HUB-29 and HUB-67 on my 06. I think 67 is cheaper, and I think they are the same except for different ABS wire and extra bolts.
Check eBay and Amazon
 






Yeah, I have seen both of these across multiple sites. My biggest concern is that I don't order the incorrect part. I have checked multiple sources and cannot find a definitive answer as to what the difference is between these two. If the answer is that one harness is shorter than the other, and they both work, then I will likely go with the least expensive of the two.
 






Few times, I replaced the hub and left the old harness in. Not the wisest solution, but it worked.
 






Few times, I replaced the hub and left the old harness in. Not the wisest solution, but it worked.
I was wondering about that. I know that the sensor/harness can be replaced, so therefore I could just leave the old one in place. On the Rockauto site, there are two of these as well (Motorcraft versions for my vehicle). There is a difference of about $80 between the two (one of them comes with hardware). How do you choose? Every site says that each one will fit. Just like with the hub assemblies.
 



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This is my first post. Here goes. I'm getting ready to change the front hub assemblies on my 2010 Premier AWD. I plan on getting the Motorcraft ones from Rockauto. They list two part numbers and I'm wondering if anyone knows the difference between the NHUB6's and the NHUB30's? The description on Rockauto doesn't really tell me any difference between the two other than the ABS sensor ring is a little better on the NHUB6. It also the more expensive of the two (about $40). Thanks.

Basicaly, NHUB6 is hub 29 and NHUB30 is hub 67. This has been a longstanding question and the word from those who have used both is, they both work... Hub 29 comes with some extra hardware, but thats not used on the 06-10's. Hub 67 includes a clip that hub 29 doesnt, which was on the original one, so IMO, hub 67 is the correct one.
The one caveat here though is everything I have read is for a 4x4. however, yours being AWD, im not sure, since we dont see those all that often....
 






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