Somewhere along the line I think I am getting scewd.
My front end bearings were gone so I brought the Explorer (V8) to my Mechanic who I trust. He told me the left side was bad so he replaced the bearings.
He charged me $410.00 for the bearings and 1 hour of labor.

I knew that both sides were going but he said the right side was fine, which it is not. So I phoned a ford dealer here in Southern Ontario to get a price.
He said Labor (about 3 hours work) at $100/hr. plus the bearings he priced at $259.58.

Either the Ford dealer is screwing me on time or my mechanic is screwing me on parts. Can anybody tell me what the deal is? How long does it take and how much do the parts cost?????

Thanks
Ian

 

Front hub assy in Bower/BCA is 420.44 list and 178.42 wholesale.
Front hub assy in "store brand" is 224.40 list and 120.26 wholesale.
Advance Auto Parts prices are 163.00 "good" and 203.00 "better(name brand)"
Go here if you want to see what they're replacing. 2003 Explorer front hub, All matching items for sale.
I don't know what the Ford flat rate is on replacing them.

 

Are you just replacing wheel bearings? I just did this on a 1993, and I have no idea if it's close to the same for your 2003; however, I spent $200 and changed rotors, pads, wheel bearings on both sides of the vehicle. It was approximately a 3 hour job. I'm guessing your dealer is quoting you time for both sides, unless it is significantly different than replacing rotors, pads, and bearings on a 1993.

Based on what you posted it sounds like the mechanic replaced bearings only, so that's why I posted (because that's what I did), I was thinking you were not replacing a whole hub assembly.

 

Thanks Ranchero and Ace.
The List on the bearing Hub assbmly here is $452.00 he charged me $410.00 He also said it took 1 1/2 hours to do the job but he billed me for 1 hour as he didn't have it done in time. I tend to trust him as he has been a family friend for along time.

When I spoke to Service at Ford they told me 3 hours to do the job. Perhaps he was figuring both sides. I'll have to go back to ford and find out. I am thinking that he gave me a price for the bearings only. Not the whole Assembly?????

Cheers
Ian

 

I have a Jan '01 Ford price book and the hub assy, 1L2Z-1104AB, was $168.00 each way back then.

Edit:
Actually I just called a local Ford dealer, one that doesn't know me, and asked for list price on the hub assembly .................$130.00. Hard to believe!

 

Sorry, I didn't realize it was a hub assembly. Obviously that would be more than just wheel bearings.

 

Apparently I can't get JUST the bearings for this year and model. They sell the compete hub only.

NCRanchero: When you got that price for the Hub assemlby did you tell them it was a 2003 model? Could be there was a design change between 02 and 03 ????

 

See this link from the sponsor here, ROCKAUTO
2003 FORD EXPLORER Axle Bearing and Hub Assembly

The BCA 515050 is what my aftermarket supplier carries. (Bower/BCA/National is like one of the two bearing manufacturing giants, Timken being the other.) Their catalog listed as 02-05 models, with the ABS sensor. The Ford dealership parts tech didn't seem like the brightest light in the house ..... but I don't usually deal with that dealership. Their price does seem quite low but that $410.00 is ridiculous! BTW,the parts business is something I do know a bit about.
From our OEM FORD sponsors:
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...&siteid=215005
http://directfordparts.com/partlocat...model=Explorer

 

Thanks NCRanchero. The unit I got was COMPLETE with the sensor cable I beleive. I was watching him feed it through the engine compartment. Can you purchase a complete set or is the cable sold seperately?

All of the units listed in ROCKAUTO did not inlcude the sensor cable.

Oops. It looks like the BCA 5155050 DOES show the sensor cable attached in the image.

 

Okay so I did some checking here as well. Ford says the Bearing/Hub assembly is $260.00
plus 3 hours for install. That works out to $560.00 at $100/hr for labor.

I still came in cheaper at $496.00 before taxes, although I still can't figure out why he charged me $410.00 for the parts and only 1 hours worth of labor?????

I know he worked at least 2 hours on the truck.

 

Both of the Ford Dealer Sponsors here offer the hub for around $140.00 , RockAuto for $159.00. Those all include the ABS sensor.

Guess if you're happy that's all that matters...........

 

I usually post in the Super Duty section but had to do some research on my wifes 2004 Ford Explorer AWD so I thought I would share my story. Had a strong vibration through the steering wheel and you definately felt it when you turned either left or right. Ended up replacing both front and left front wheel bearings which is actually the whole front hub assembly.

I used alldatadiy.com and purchased the manual for her vehicle. They list that the labor at 1 hour and the hub assembly at $200 from Ford. The Precision Auto mechanic quoted 1.5 hours a side. Using a Ford sponsor on this site ftepartsguy.com, I could get them for $146 a hub I believe. I ended up going with Carquest premium wheel hub that was $259 a wheel hub. The reason I ended up going with these as they assured me they were of a higher quality and with the Ford ones, I only got 84,000 miles on the original ones, which is not impressive. These front wheel hubs are unique to 2002-2005 I believe and hopefully these Carquest ones are better.

It was a very easy thing to do as all you do is unbolt the old wheel hub off and put the new ones on. I would highly recomend the alldatadiy.com as I was not impressed with the Haynes or Chilton manuals. The ride is definately improved. I have read that these wheel bearings were a weak spot and my experience affirms this.

 

One thing I would add was I did not know about the mark up Auto shops do. When I went to Precision Auto, they wanted to charge me $360 per front wheel hub which I found out was only a 30 markup from there vendor. I told them I could get the same part from Carquest themselves as it was a Carquest part for $257 plus tax. Of course, then you have to install it yourself. Precision Auto wanted $150 for the install which is 1.5 hours of labor. I mentioned about what alldatadiy.com said the cost should be and was informed that they use another company that is more for auto shops in the north of the USA which has higher labor times to compensate for rust and other headaches he said. Anyways, it would have been $150 for labor and $360 for the front hub for $510 a front wheel hub. Times that by 2 for both wheels, and thats $1010. WOW

 

All I can say about that is to go back and read my posts on hub assy prices. Carquest is blowing smoke up your wa-zoo telling you that their "Premium" is better than so-and-so's. Prices from my posts were for Timken and/or Bower BCA .......... there is no better ......... anywhere.

 

That maybe true for all I know. If it makes you feel better, they due offer a lower grade unit that was comparable in price but this was for there premiun unit. I did find lower prices on ebay for this same wheel assembly but did not want to wait that long. Also, they offer a life time warranty on this part, so if it fails, free replacement but it does not include labor. Of course, maybe with the higher price, I am just paying for the warranty. One more plus, this part is made in the USA where as the lower priced unit wasn't.

Irregardless, I thought I would give these a try as any other unit that is only made to OEM standards is not up to the task in my opinion. If these crap out, I will let everyone know.