05 F250 front wheel hub replacement 4x4
 

Hi,

I thought I would run it by here since I'm getting varying estimates on this work.

I was told by a shop that my front bearings are shot and the wheel hubs would need to be replaced. They mentioned that on one side the inner bearing was shot and the other side the outer bearing was shot. Not sure how they could differentiate between inner and outer since they didnt pull the wheels off but I know the wobbling in the wheel indicates bad bearings. (Ball joints are good - done about 6k miles ago).

Ive tried searching but not really getting the information I'm looking for.

Here are my questions:
1. One dealer indicates the hub is the only set of bearings up front - another dealer indicates that there is the hub along with a set of inner bearings. I dont have an exploded diagram so I cant really tell. Which one is correct?

2. My truck has auto-locking hubs - procedures Ive seen indicate its a matter of basically removing caliper, releasing some c-clips, undoing the bolts on the back side of the knuckle, disconnect abs and pull the hub. Is that all thats really to it?? I tried finding something more definitive but nothing for 05 and above. Not sure how much has changed. I am mechanically inclined and have no problem doing this work but I dont want too many suprises since its the wife's truck...:)

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Angelo

1. They are both right. Models up to 2004 have the main unit bearing, and inside that is a needle bearing that carries the front axle stub shaft through the main bearing. 2005 and up models the needle bearings were moved out of the main bearing and into the hub lock.

2. You are confusing the hub locks with the hubs. Removing the hub lock is as simple as you described. Removing the main bearing is not. To remove the main bearing, you have to remove the wheel, the brake disk and caliper, some wiring and then there are 4 studs holding the main unit bearing on.

Guzzle has a pretty good writeup on greasing the needle bearings on '04 and older trucks. It includes removing the main unit bearing. While none of the needle bearing stuff in his writeup would apply, and the o-ring and snap ring part numbers might be different, the removal of the unit bearing part of his writeup should be pretty much the same as it would be on your '05.

Welcome to guzzle's 4x4 Needle Bearing Maintenance Web Page

Thanks for the input. Now let me see if I got this right - the hub lock which is the outer piece is held in with some sort of c-clip. Release the c-clip and it should just pull out. In the hub lock there is a set of needle bearings - are these replaceable or does the hub lock need to be replaced? Remove caliper, unplug abs, undo 4 bolts and I hopefully should be good...:)

I was wrong about the hub lock. According to the service manual procedure I've attached below, the hub is held in by screws, not a snap ring like earlier models. I don't think the needle bearings in the hub lock are replaceable, I think you need to replace the whole hub lock. I'm not sure because I've not seen the '05 and up hub lock, nor pictures of it. But the needle bearings are probably not the problem anyway.

The rest sounds about right. I've attached the procedure out of the service manual below.

Thanks for the pdf - its a big help!

Reps to you DChambelain :-X22