Has anyone done this job yet. I here the whole hub needs replaced. The bearing sounds dry with no play in the wheel. 2000 F150 4X4 5.4L EFI 4 wheel ABS. I thought it was tire noise until I jacked the wheel up and gave her a spin.

 

yes, bearing and hub are one assembly. cost is around $100. for parts on e-bay or $200 at Auto Zone, etc. If you do it yourself you wont need the extra $200 labor.
Hub is held in with 3 bolts , maybe 15 mm heads from the back side. you need to poke the front axle half shaft inward toward the center of the truck to get to the bolt heads. easiest to remove the lower ball joint and tie rod to get more clearance. you also need to see if you need lower ball joints while you are there. now is the time if needed. follow the directions below.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/3...f-150-4x4.html

 

if you take the entire knuckel off, you can then get to the 3 big bolts on the back side that hold the hub and bearing to the knuckel.

http://www.clubfte.com/users/racergu...of100_0081.JPG

 

Take the knuckle off?? why......
All you gotta do is remove the brakes, and the 23 mm nut holding the cv on. Then pull out your 3 bolts holding on your hub and hit it with an air hammer. No need to pull of ball joints and definatly no need to pull off the knuckle. Its about a 15 minute job per side. Its very easy.

 

i did not take the knuckel off when i replaced the lower ball joints. You need to pull the bearing/ hub when you replace the joint. The above post was written by a Racer who is a factory Ford mechanic. They think it is faster and easier to pull the knuckle for the joint. I agree, you can remove the hub only. After you take the axle nut off, push the axle inward to get clearance to the three bolt head. It all depends on how tight the bolts are in the hub. Many have run into bolts that had loctite on them and were difficult to remove. I had to cut the ears off one old hub on an explorer due to bolts too tight, and not enough leverage to get them out. If you get it done in 15 minutes your lucky. An hour would be good time.

 

lucks got nothing to do with it.....

 

I was tackling my hub today.....once I got everything out of the way I noticed the 3 bolts holding the hub in place are stripped.

What would be the best way to remove them now ?

 

oh that sux.,,,, goto your local tool shop, they will fix you up im sure..

 

once the axle nut is off, you push the splined shaft inward an inch to get better access to the bolt head. I use a Craftsman 6 point box end wrench with no offset on the bolts. I smack the wrench with a 5 pound hammer several times to pop them loose. If the heads are rounded, you might try a 6 point wrench. If the threads are damaged, or you cant get the wrench on the heads, you need to take a 4 inch waffer wheel in a die grinder and cut the hub ear right by the bolt thread. drive a chisel into the cut and pop the ear off. The deeper you cut, the easier to get off. Cut enough of the ear off and you can get the bolt to come out. Might take a little over 15 mminutes.--- LOL

 

I ended up spraying a boat load of WD40.....looks like the 12 point socket I was using was expanding causing it to slip.....I used a 6 point socket and with WD40 on the bolt every 2 minutes for a good 1/2 hour they came of...thank god.

 

I have 4 questions.
1) What size socket do I use for the axle nut?
2) What is the torque?
3) Is there a seal that needs replaced once the hub is removed?
4) I bought new SKF Hub Bearings for $220 but notice them on line for $130. Do you think I should bring them back and go with the cheaper Bearings?

 

IMO it depends where the cheaper ones are made. I recently had to joy of doing the passenger side bearing on my Dodge twice. The first time Oreilly only had the cheaper bearing, Made in China. I put it on (45 minutes), and it lasted a whole 1200 miles. I ordered the National and paid the difference and have not trouble so far. Second swap took, 20 mins.....yes 20 minutes.

 

I installed the P/S bearing without a problem then come to realize the studs were to small. They should have been 14mm. Took them back and ordered Timken Bearings online for $50 less.

I am still trying to Confirm the Wheel nut torque. I think it is 188-254

and the 3 bolts holding the assembly in are 110-148 does that sound correct?

 

I would turn the BIG nut with as much force as I have using a breaker bar. You can judge torque by the size of the fastener. Some fasteners require max torque like head bolts and axle bolts on 4X4x, but most fasteners don't require that much. Be cautious when installing a steel fastener into aluminum. This can be a problem area if you don't use care.