This is kinda of a 2 part post.....

Part 1
I thought my brakes where getting bad up front, front pedal was soft on first press then it stiffened up on second press of the pedal. Front brakes look good and Rear pad and rotors done less than 9 months ago and inspected them and in good shape.

So the question is what could be my problem.

Part 2
Is what I found on the left front wheel. Oh joy.....

About a 1/4 cup of water poured out when I took it off, it looks a lot worse.


Looking down at the top hub and ABS sensor


Looking into the back of the hub


And the video of how bad it is


I felt no serious shimmy in the wheel, most have been from the big tires i'm running that I didn't feel it.

Next question is what hub assembly should I get, Motorcraft or a Store(O'Rielly's) brand with a 1yr warranty for $119 or 3 yr for $209 and should I do both sides? (right side had a very small amount of play)

 

Yea, that's pretty shot.

As long as you have the large (37") tires, you will have to expect the unit bearing hubs to fail sooner. I have had good luck with replacement Timken hubs. Rockauto is a good price on them.

Unfortunately, there a lot of Chinese knock offs out there with moderate quality. The only way you will absolutely know for sure is to go with Motorcraft. Timkens are a Top brand for quality.

All that said, With the large tires, if you are hard on your suspension via off roading and such, you might want to consider a free spin kit from SpynTec or Dynatrac. They are much better at taking the loads without premature fail.


Edit to add: Heck YES replace both sides!!!

 

They should have zero play so I would do both sides. I would go with O'Reilly's 1 year but that's just me. ( Probably last as long as you have the truck).

 

hey its not supposed to do that ..

 

Yeah I thought so......


So does have any idea on my first question about the brakes.

 

On the first pump the pads were "taking up the slack" caused by the wobbling rotors and they were more "subdued" by the second push. (The wobbling rotors pushed the pistons further in which created a longer travel.) Under normal conditions there is very little pad travel and they should be fine with the new main wheel bearing hubs.

 

Oh ok......I was possible thinking that....but was thinking it could be a couple of other things. Thanks for seconding my thoughts.

 

Well..... I dug into the hub yesterday, not to bad......till I seen that the "vaccum" seal/outer axle seal was shot no one had parts, so ordered spicer seals from eBay. Should be here in a couple of days. Also what a PITA to get the axle out of knuckle.