I need to change my front left needle bearing (wheel bearing) on my 2002 f250 4x4 7.3L. I've done a search and some say you cant change the bearings thier a sealed unit and some say you can change them and even give a part number so my question is for the ones who have changed them. How did you remove the bearing from the hub assembly?

 

1st off u have to replacethe whole thing ,its a kinda pain, first you take off the wheel, then you take your brake caliper off, then the bracket that holds the caliper on,then you remove the rotor,you then remove the hub locking ***,you do this by using needle noses and there is a kinda snap ring around it but its not a snapring, then you remove the snapring on the axle shaft, then you cut your wheels completely to the right and on the back of the knuckle there will be four bolts,you will be ableto access the two,take the nuts off, turn the wheels the other way and get the other two, then this is the fun part, trying to pull the whole hub bearing assembly off beccause it is replace as a whole and about $350.00 from ford, myswell get it from them because they will make sure you get all the new seals you need and it comes with new bolts to bolts it on, its hard to get off because it is pressed in there so to speak and it seals realtight, i used a puller and it broke, these fords just werent meant to fall apart which is good

 

You're asking about two different bearings:

There is a wheel bearing .... not replaceable/repackable

There is also a needle bearing in the hub (that the axle end rides in) ... that is both replaceable and repackable, and is part of preventive maintenace.

Here is the needle bearing .....



Hope this helps.

 

Jim the one thier pointing at in the picture is it replaceable (if it is how do i get it out of there) because i believe thats the one that is bad. I remove to that point and lubed the bearing in the picture but when i turned it with my fingers it felt like there was a flat spot on one of the bearings even though i could not see it. Thanks for the help.

 

Yes, that is the replaceable bearing ... the needle bearing. (You will note that the actual wheel bearing is around the needle bearing. These wheel bearings are sealed, and you cannot remove them. Many people on this forum, including me, had to buy entire new hub assy's because of wheel bearing failure.

The needle bearing (the bearing with the small cylindrical rollers) just pops out of there. You have to get behind it with the edge of a tool, and pull it out. Generally, you use an internal bearing puller for these jobs .... like a pilot bearing puller. I have a little hook that attaches to a small slide hammer that I use... kinda like a seal puller. Reached in there to the back of the bearing, grabbed the back of it with the hook, and it pulls out.

Mine came out very easily, and went in just as easily ... 2002 F250. If you can't get it out, AutoZone or Advance Auto may will probably have a tool to lend you for free. And people on this forum may know little tricks.

And, yes .... they get flat spots. If so, they need to be replaced, not repacked. Next thing would have been damage to the axle end.

Often, when the needle bearings are failing, you will hear a noise when the hubs are NOT locked in. When you lock in the hubs, the noise will disappear.

If you are going to buy new needle bearings (they are cheap), you might think about buying any large o/rings you saw while taking the hub off, they are easily damaged.

good luck.

 

Take a look at the link in this post, it's a great resource site...

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...-pointers.html

Not entirely true, on several points...

You can replace just the needle(spindle) bearing, you can leave the caliper attached to the caliper mounting bracket removing both when you remove the bracket, you can just squeeze the locking hub clip with your fingers and remove it(or at least I did), I got all four nuts off the hub without having to turn the wheel, the hub is not a press fit to the knuckle though it may be rusted on there pretty good.

If you could find or make a tool similar to the rear hub tool(see below) I'm sure you could replace the other(sealed hub) bearing too but Ford would rather you buy the whole hub and bearing assembly from them. You can buy the knuckle seal(F81Z-3254-CB), yellow O-ring hub seal(F81Z-4A322-AA), and locking hub seal kit(4C3Z-1K106-AA) which contains one clip and two O-rings and a four pack of new studs(F81Z-1107-AA) as seperate items.

Rear hub tool, AmPro part No. T72041. Use the Product Search feature on the link to see it(sorry, couldn't get a direct link to it). For front, something like T75868.

http://www.ampro-usa.com/

 

Has anyone bought a Hub Assembly from ebay. like this one. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/99-00...spagenameZWDVW

If you have how well did it work? Was it worth it?

 

I bought one like it from someone else, I am having it put in tomorrow, the only thing I have been asked is the ABS sensor in the right place. I guess I will find out in the morning. The one I purchased was 149.00 plus shipping....total was 164.00 It has a 24 month warranty or 24,000 mile on it

 

My wheel hub bearings are shot and need to replace them.

From the forums I can see it is simple to do, but the difference in prices is so huge that I need to ask if quality will be compromised if I buy the cheap ones.

Auto Parts and Accessories Catalog - 2005 Ford Excursion Wheel Hub

The non brand hub is 121 dollars while the Timken brand is 212. That is 93 dollars difference per hub.

Which one should I buy?

Thanks.