Another Wheel Bearing

[Johnny O]

Another front wheel bearing yesterday. :angry: This makes seven in 110,000 miles, four left and three right. Off extended warranty now. At this rate it might be cheaper to get a new F-150. The bastiges KNOW when the Ford 1 year parts warranty expires too.

 

[Todd Z]

Something is wrong....... What brand bearings are being installed?

Is the mechanic doing it right? Proper torques and replacing what should be? Cleaning the mating surface? maybe you have a bad front suspension part causing this.



Todd Z

 

[Yardsale]

Agree - something else is causing this. Or ... they are misdiagnosing and replacing what they think are bad bearings.

 

[Johnny O]

Something is wrong....... What brand bearings are being installed?

Ford. Most were installed by the dealer on the extended warranty. Had a shop put on an aftermarket hub and bearing once and it only lasted 6 months. Service station put this one on but used a Ford part.

Been a rough and expensive week for the Trac. Battery died Sunday, got to Auto Zone just before they closed, only had to pay half because it was still on partial warranty. ABS light comes on Monday and shortly the traction control won't shut off and locks the brakes every time I give it gas. Luckily I was in the shopping center across from the Gulf service station I use anyway so I coaxed it in there. They diagnose and replace the RF ABS sensor. Pick it up after work and everything is fine although I could feel a wheel bearing going bad for the past couple weeks. Go to PetSmart for dog food and when I'm leaving the same thing happens with the ABS and traction control not letting me drive it, nor can I turn the traction control off. Call AAA who came reasonably quickly with a flatbed and drop it off at the Gulf station just before they close, of course they are overjoyed to see it back so soon. They replace the hub and bearing but didn't charge me labor.

 

[Todd Z]

That sucks.



Todd Z

 

[Yardsale]

What are the chances that the ABS problems are due to the wrong hub bearing being installed?

 

[Gavin Allan]

Do you have non-OEM tires and/or wheels installed?

 

[Johnny O]

1. I dunno. How many times can the dealer put on the wrong hub and bearing?

2. Have OE wheels and all-terrain tires in the stock size.

 

[Yardsale]

You indicate that the last set had the ABS problem, so once (you also state that it was not the dealer).



While unlikely, a wrong hub (unit) bearing can be installed as many times as anyone in the parts labeling, ordering, shipping, receiving and installation chain can make a simple mistake.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Dang the bad luck... :angry::fire:

 

[Taylor Corn]

+1 wrong unit being installed or other cause. Parts should come with their own warranty as well. TIMKEN or Moog hubs?

 

[Allen Bock]

Just had the LF replaced at 40,000. (07 4x4) with Moog. Was singing pretty good, hope this isn't gonna been a habit for me.

 

[Brad Schultz 2]

FYI. I was told by a GM mechanic that one reason for wheel bearing failure is a bad chassis to body ground or static charge from road to chassis. Might be worth while making secondary grounding straps close to the source!

 

[Yardsale]

FYI. I was told by a GM mechanic that one reason for wheel bearing failure is a bad chassis to body ground or static charge from road to chassis. Might be worth while making secondary grounding straps close to the source!

Any chance this GM mechanic could provide a scientific or technical explanation for this?

 

[Johnny O]

The wheel bearing that went bad was put on by the Ford dealer. Both were replaced about a year and a half ago. Never had an ABS problem until now. I've had the Trac from new.

 

[kevinbakon]

Just chiming in and wish I had more to offer, other than the reassurance that you're not the only one...

I had mine replaced 3 times on each side by my local dealership (around 9 months apart, currently just under 90k miles). Now that I'm out of warranty, and both sides have gone out on me again, I've decided the last thing I want to do is go back to the dealer. I'm thinking about buying aftermarket/3rd party hubs and possibly doing them myself (with assistance from a mechanic friend of mine).

I wonder if the solution is to not use the same parts that Ford uses.... Any thought?

 

[Gavin Allan]

OEM parts, especially Ford's are usually pretty good. I used to work for a Tier I supplier. Ford busted our ass if we sent anything substandard.

 

[Marvin Cox]

My front driver's side bearings started howling a couple weeks ago on my '08 4x4. Any recommendations for which part to get? I see rockauto has Timken, Moog/National, and Motorcraft. Should I stick with Motorcraft? Thanks!

 

[Igor Smetaniuk]

I just posted to another thread.



IMHO, If it's a bearing, it's got to be Timken. I replaced both of my front axle shaft hub/bearing assemblies back in 2007 because I had one bad one and I was going through replacing the entire front end because of other worn joints and bushings so I did the other side since I figured it would come to bite me. It was only another $200.00 for piece of mind! Felt good to know that I had a solid front end at that point - ready for alignment!