Been chasing a noise for a while now and think I found it. Popped the front tire off today and spun the axle and it sounded like the bearing was bad. What parts and how much am I looking at to fix this? I read on guzzle's page that this could be as much as 500 or as little as 250 per side but I was having trouble grasping the language. thanks

 

The cost of the new hub assembly depends on a few items:
1. Do you have 4 wheel ABS?
2. Do you have ESOF or Manual Hubs?
3. What brand do you want to go with?

Knowing these three items can get an accurate price for a replacement hub assembly. I would go with Timken if I were you, as would many of the other folks on here. I found the best price on StockWiseAuto.com. It looks like you are looking at around $200 after shipping for your application.

You will also need new seals, o-rings, and studs (which bolt the hub assembly to the knuckle). If you buy a Timken it will come with the o-ring for the hub assembly as well as the replacement studs. You will still have to buy the o-ring for the locking hub and possibly seals for the axle shaft if you want to replace them while you are in there. (Just keep in mind that if you replace the big axle seal you will need to buy or fabricate a seal driver).

While doing my ball joints I found that there are several tutorials on doing ball joints, which of course includes removing the hub assembly. Any of those should help you out in getting an idea of what kind of job you are looking at. Luckily when looking at the tuturials you get to stop and start reassembling before you get to the real fun parts involving big hammers and presses .

2004 F250 Ball Joint Replacement
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/3...ll-joints.html

 

Seals and ball joints were just done. I forgot about going after market fords prices for the assemblies are jaw dropping.

 

I have a cringing noise in my front passenger side...thinking wheel bearing as I had to really beat the hub into submission to get it off (the studs were bent). Can I just replace the bearing for $15 or do I need the whole hub assembly? Thanks.

 

Correction...grinding noise not cringing. Also I was replacing the ball joints is why I had to remove the hub...thanks

 

keep in mind on the back of the unit bearing there is a smaller needle bearing that the stub shaft rides on for the 4wd. they do go bad and allow the shaft to flop around and make all kinds of strange noises while the wheel rotates. the stub shaft stays stationary in 2wd and the unit bearing rotates around it.

in my truck i had the passenger needle bearing go bad from lack of grease (installed 2 new unit bearings one year ago) and it gouged a 1/2" wide groove into my outer stub shaft. there was so much play my passenger hub would not engage. ultimately i replaced the 6 dollar bearing for now and im trying to source a new outer stub shaft.

one way to check to see if its the needle bearing im talking about. with the tire on the ground and the truck in 2wd rotate the inner u joint and listen for any grinding noise, also if that bearing is bad the shaft will have some up and down play.

hopefully it makes sense.

 

Thanks for the information Joe, I will use your tactics and post what I find to be the culprit. Have a great day!