I have ordered Timken Wheel bearing assemblies from Amazon and have my Saturday lined up for the repair. I have already read the "Ford Super Duty Ball Joint Replacement" write up among other related topics on FTE in preparation as well as watched a couple You Tube videos. I have seen repairs ranging from those folks who only grease the needle bearings to those who do it all (ball joints, hubs, hub assemblies, u-joints seals, axle shafts, etc.). I completely understand that each situation is subjective. With that in mind, I am only asking what is recommended by each person reading this based on their own personal experience.

In my case, our Ex. has 139,500 miles, is 4-wheel drive, has aftermarket Warn Manual Hubs, 35" Toyo AT tires, and, at some point had aftermarket ball joints installed (all four have greasible zerks now). The alignment place that I used said everything was tight and in good shape. I went ahead and ordered the bearings following several road trips and a new metal on metal rotational sound coming from the front end. I figure this is a failure point and now I will have a point of reference for when and what brand was installed. I plan to look over everything carefully and address anything that I find ( going to install new brake pads and rotors while I am at it ). With that said, when do the u-joints typically warrant replacement? Since I am not using ESOF hubs, is a new dust seal and axle seal necessary? I don't want to dig too far in 1) if the current repair doesn't warrant it and 2) if those reading this agree it is typically not necessary at my mileage.

Thank you in advance for the recommendations and feedback.

 

If you don't use the 4x4 often, your u-joints should be fine. They are a "wear" item, and if you don't use them they aren't "wearing". Skip the dust and axle seals if not using ESOF.

Bigger tires will make a set of hubs wear out faster. Stock tires will prolong the life of the bearings (barring abuse). Don't overlook calipers and a GOOD brake fluid flush while in there. Check your slide pins, and use only a thin coat of high-temp, brake-specific lube on them when putting the pins back in.

 

Thank you! I flushed the brake system a year ago following a M/C failure and replacement as well as installing Russell stainless steel brake lines ( one of the most noticeable mods to date ). Thanks for the reminder about the slide pins and calipers. From what I've read, I was going to go with Napa premium rotors and Wagner Thermoquiet pads. I don't tow much but do go up and down hills often where we live.