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Old Apr 4, 2014 | 02:17 PM
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help please!

I had a little bit of play in the wheels when I rocked them from the top and bottom and alot of wander and clunking so I changed the balljoints with Mevotech balljoints.

It went well but now the play when rocking from top and bottom position on tire is alot worse.

I recorded the movements or lack of... the balljoints don't even seem to be the problem anymore since I can't SEE any movements from them.

What could it be? It seems everytime I try to fix something on this truck it just gets worse...

I changed both top and bottom balljoints, u joints, knuckle seal, dust seal and o ring. Greased everything and repacked the bearings... even greased the hub assembly through the ABS hole...

When I rock it, the u joints move around but the balljoints dont seem to...
 
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Old Apr 4, 2014 | 02:26 PM
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Sound like you are going to need some unit bearings, they are very common to need replaced.
 
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Old Apr 4, 2014 | 02:49 PM
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They are a year old (although I'm not sure what brand, I bought them brand new from someone who had sold his truck before replacing them - probably ebay no name) and both were fine before.

The only thing I did to them was grease them through the abs hole... I pumped alot in there but could that really have ruined them?
 
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Old Apr 4, 2014 | 08:01 PM
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Well... either I'm an idiot or I have really bad luck. I remember reading somewhere that to grease your bearings you just pumped grease in there until it started seeping out the seams.

Well it turns out mine were hermetically sealed or something and I pumped in too much grease I guess because now they're ruined.

Both were fine before, now both have a lot of play in the 12 & 6 and the 9 & 3 positions now.

I slapped on an old (previously removed) bearing assembly and it confirms the situation. Maybe one day I'll be able to fix something without breaking something else.

 
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Old Apr 4, 2014 | 08:12 PM
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Originally Posted by jayjjcc
Well... either I'm an idiot or I have really bad luck. I remember reading somewhere that to grease your bearings you just pumped grease in there until it started seeping out the seams.

Well it turns out mine were hermetically sealed or something and I pumped in too much grease I guess because now they're ruined.

Both were fine before, now both have a lot of play in the 12 & 6 and the 9 & 3 positions now.

I slapped on an old (previously removed) bearing assembly and it confirms the situation. Maybe one day I'll be able to fix something without breaking something else.

Grease has NOTHING to do with them being loose.......NOTHING!
 
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Old Apr 4, 2014 | 08:42 PM
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More than likely they were the cheap fleabay bearings, some of them are so cheap they can't last that long under the weight.
 
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Old Apr 4, 2014 | 10:26 PM
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The had to be the cheap units... but believe it or not they were fine before and loose after. What else could it be? The truck was on jackstands the whole time!
 
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Old Apr 4, 2014 | 10:27 PM
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I'm going ahead and purchasing a quality pair of wheel bearings.
 
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Old Apr 5, 2014 | 10:08 AM
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Originally Posted by jayjjcc
The had to be the cheap units... but believe it or not they were fine before and loose after. What else could it be? The truck was on jackstands the whole time!
Maybe they had so much debris in there that they would move the full distance before you greased them on the road but not by hand and when you greased them they eased up and were able to move easily by hand. There is no way adding grease would hurt them. As an example I packed both of mine so full grease was oozing everywhere 2 years ago and they are still very tight after 170k miles.
 
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Old Apr 5, 2014 | 11:11 AM
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Originally Posted by EXv10
Maybe they had so much debris in there that they would move the full distance before you greased them on the road but not by hand and when you greased them they eased up and were able to move easily by hand. There is no way adding grease would hurt them. As an example I packed both of mine so full grease was oozing everywhere 2 years ago and they are still very tight after 170k miles.
^^^ THIS.

You can't hurt them by adding more lubrication.
 
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Old Apr 5, 2014 | 01:59 PM
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I'm trying to say that cheap brands are cheap not that greasing is bad. These ones lasted about 18 months & 15k miles. Terrible, especially when you figure that the Ex was parked for 6 of those months.
 
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Old Apr 5, 2014 | 08:49 PM
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Details on what to do to grease them? My truck has 190000 miles on it now probably wouldnt hurt to grease them.
 
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Old Apr 5, 2014 | 09:03 PM
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I had 3/8" OD surgical tubing left over from the door seal mod. I cut a length about an inch long, stuck a zerk in one opening and put the other end in the ABS sensor hole and pumped grease into it.

Best part is, it worked real well... they spun easier than ever.
 
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Old Apr 6, 2014 | 06:30 AM
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Originally Posted by jayjjcc
I had 3/8" OD surgical tubing left over from the door seal mod. I cut a length about an inch long, stuck a zerk in one opening and put the other end in the ABS sensor hole and pumped grease into it.

Best part is, it worked real well... they spun easier than ever.

Good luck with the replacement bearings, I know you gotta be frustrated with doing all of the balljoint work and still having a drivable rig!


Originally Posted by fordboy2
Details on what to do to grease them? My truck has 190000 miles on it now probably wouldnt hurt to grease them.
I bought a fitting from Andy (Snowseeker) and shot about 24 pumps of Mobil 1 red synth into each hub bearing almost 3 years ago and they are still running cool and smooth.
Info on the fitting here:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1234633-how-its-made-fte-zerk-fitting.html
And here:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1111501-brotherhood-of-the-travelling-hub-zerk.html
 
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Old Apr 6, 2014 | 12:16 PM
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I took mine out and packed them until they oozed everywhere with just a funnel and a grease gun 3 years ago and they are still cool and tight at 175k miles. I truly believe the grease saved them.
 
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