Ford 7.3L Power Stroke (1999-2003) :: Replacing Front Wheel Bearing Hubs?
Jul 11, 2016
I was getting a growl/grinding noise from my front hubs (driver's side I think) when I do a slight right turn like going around a curve, not turning around a corner. Just started happening the last week after returning from a 4th of July roadtrip. First thought was wheel bearings going out and started reading up on the forum here to see what was needed. Last night, I started getting a continuous growl when I was 5 miles from the house so just pulled up and parked it. I'm assuming (without pulling anything apart), it's the bearing assembly and I can get the Timken version at Autozone locally.
The problem is I generally do my heavy maintenance at our family shop in San Antonio but I live in Austin so will need to do this in my driveway. I have all the basic tools, just need to know how involved it is to do in a driveway instead of a shop. Thoughts?
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I have 1999 F350 7.3 Crew Cab 4WD. I took it on a 4 hours trip towing a trailer to haul a small tractor on it. after 3 hours of driving, I started hearing grinding and metal chewing sound coming from the front axle or close the wheel hubs. It was awful, terrible, ... you name it!!! I had to continue or I will lose the tractor I paid for already. The sound was coming for 1-2 seconds each 500 feet or so. It never stopped or changed. I pulled over to see what's going on and found the following:
1. Left shock is leaking badly
2. Right locking hub is gone (not sure if the truck had one before). I bought this truck last year, but I never had to use 4x4 and I know the 4x4 motor by the transfer case is missing and the nipple on the transfer case is set to the 2wd position so the front drive-shaft does not turn.
I took the front shock off and continued to drive without it, the noise did not go away.
I pulled over again and this time I noticed that the dust cover on each end of the front axle is missing too. I have never worked on these axles before, but I jacked one side, and sure enough, gear oil was leaking from the other side. I took the plug off the front differential and stuck my finger in it. I felt a creamy brown-greenish stuff in the differential. The consistency is like mayonnaise or thin peanut butter. I put the plug back on and went to pick up the tractor because I did not want to miss it fooling around with the truck on the highway.
The truck made it there and back (almost 5 hours total after the break down). The sound never stopped every 500 to 1000 ft.
After getting home safely, I took the other locking hub off, and took it for a test drive. I did not hear the noise, but now my right brakes are locking.
I took of the wheels and saw that the retaining snap ring (C clip) for the front axle on the right side came off by hand. I took the washers behind it off. Took the calipers and brackets off. I have never done front axle rebuild. I am not sure what has been damaged and what's still good.
Right of the bat, I know, at least, I need 2 shocks, one brake caliper and pads.
My questions are:
1. Is it possible to take the front axles off on both sides and make it 2wd for now until I have the money to rebuild the axle?
2. Could I use the same hubs? or they are most likely damaged and how to tell?
3. How to tell if the differential is damaged/needs rebuilding?
4. How to tell if the axles/spindles are damaged?
5. Is there a step by step tutorial to rebuild the axle with all seals, bearings, ...etc? How hard is the job for a hobbyist? I do most of my repairs myself, and I was lucky at 36 years old, I never had to rebuild a differential.
6. What else I might have damaged in the process of driving it that long with the noise? How do I tell if I did?
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I need to replace the needle bearing in one of my hubs. I was wondering if the bearing needs pressed in or can it be hammered in with a large socket and a hammer?
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I'm in the middle of replacing the hub and bearing assembly, once i got the hub assembly off, I noticed when I grab the axle there is a lot of play if I pull the axle up and down or left to right. Is this normal as the hub assembly holds it in position? I don't have any fluid leaking so the seal must be good, or am I missing something. I am trying to do this in 30 degree weather and it sucks.
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My passenger side wheel bearing is going out. I had a local company replace it under extended warranty 7 years and 90k miles back. I think I have gotten pretty good life out of it. I think it was from Napa but not positive. I try to grease then once a year but I'm not always successful.
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As soon as I stepped on the brake and started to move backwards out of the garage, pedal pulsed and ABS light came on. Now it comes on shortly after starting and stepping on the brakes. I just finished the drivers side wheel bearing, u-joint, brake pads, rotors, outer axle stub, and all "outer axles" seals replacement.
AllAboutMPG offered a suggestion about shims on the sensor and checking the ring (never done this, figure it out when I'm there later today?) I figured I'd put this here for some additional input and (hopefully!) later be a good search source and fix for fellow members
Here is the original thread. I installed a Timken complete wheel hub unit with new sensor already installed on the hub.
[URL] ....
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2001, F250, 4x4, 432,000 miles...
Seems this truck eats up bearing assemblies. Its like every 2-3 years, I'm having to replace one side or the other. And we talking like 30-40,000 miles....
BTW.... although I'm not out doing much 4x4 driving, this truck does do a lot of dirt roads, probably over 50%...
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I tried to replace the rear spring bushing of the drivers side front leaf spring.
Got the nutz off the shackle... The lower bolt was bumping into the front drive shaft and would not come out all the way.
Biggest problem I was having seemed to be I could not get the axle to drop far enough to release the pressure on the bolts in the shackle.
NOTE: I was trying to do this without unbolting the U-Bolts from the axle.
I was under the impression you could do this without unbolting the u-bolts. I have all new hyperflex suspension bushings and would like to get them on.
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I have a 2003 F350 srw 6.0. 4x4. Front driver side wheel bearing went out. Went to the auto parts store got a replacement. Got it all tore apart, put the new one on and the lockout didn't seem to fit right. Is there a difference in wheel bearing assemblies for electronic shift on the fly and regular lockout? I have the electronic shift on the fly lockouts and it had just a little bit of play in it when I put the snap ring back in.
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I am needing to replace the front hub wheel bearing assemblies on my 03 F250 4x4. I know Ford changed the studs from coarse thread to fine thread in between the 02 and 03 model years. Mine has a build date of 08/02 and I haven't been able to find the exact date they switched over. I'm ordering the parts online and want to get it right the first time.
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Warn Premiums, installed them and now the 4x4 is engaging, but still have a grinding issue. When the hubs are locked and the switch is in 2 wheel drive, the frond end is grinding, if I switch it to 4 hi, the grinding goes away.
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I have my vacuum system back up and working and using my vacuum pump I determined my lines are all good. They hold a vacuum fine, but my ESOF isn't engaging my hubs. I guess that leaves either the selector on the dash or the seal at the hubs.
If it is the selector, I should just be able to just disconnect the vacuum line at the selector and use my pump to engage my hubs. How much it is supposed to take to activate the hubs?
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To those of you that have replaced your unit bearing hubs on your 4 x 4's; are they giving comparable service to the OEM units? I'm replacing ball-joints right now and it would sure be easy to slap on some new hubs. The only issue is I have 130k on the originals and have been lubing them through the ABS port for the last 20k miles - the hubs seem to be in good condition. I've noticed some posters stating that since lubing an already good hub, that they are now getting a lot more than the standard 150k out of them. I also worry about replacing perfectly good US bearing hubs with most likely a Chinese bearing hub (Timken or not!).
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I am thinking on installing a shutoff in the vacuum line that supplies the hubs so I can use 4LO for backing uphill with a trailer without having the hubs engage. Its either that or a switch to disable the PVH solenoid.
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As my truck stands it has OEM automatic locking hubs with a selector for auto or lock. So, why would some one buy manual locking hubs and cap off the ESOF vacuum line when the OEM ones perform the same function by being auto or locked?
I hope this makes sense because if I felt I wanted to go to manual style locking hubs, I think I could simply cap off the vacuum line and then switch the hub to lock if I wanted 4x4 because the electric switch inside the truck is actually what engages the transfer case and puts the truck into 4x4.
Is this thinking/theory correct or am I missing something here?
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I have some whine coming from my front wheel bearings so I'm going to replace them both. I'm not sure if this had been done on my truck before, but I'm thinking so since I have Moog greaseable ball joints.
Truck has 250k miles on it. I'm going to check the pads, rotors and slide pins. Anything else that might need work? I'm sure the half shaft could use a once over, but I don't keep my hubs locked so they don't turn much in regular driving.
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I am in the process of replacing the complete front end on my 02 CC 4x4. Im replacing the hubs the lockers all seals and spindle axles. complete brakes with power stop and stainless brake lines ......I am going to switch back to the original automatic lockers. I am curious if has a simplified one line for the vacuum routing from the pump to the hubs?
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I know this is going to sounds lame, my wife can't turn them, they have cover over it that has to be unscrewed to get at 'em. It would be nice to shift in and out "on the fly" as weather condition change.
Is it a difficult change?
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My transfer case engages the front drive shaft spins but even when I manually lock my hubs neither of my tires will pull! I was thinking either the hubs are shot but I was told it could be the 4wd locking solenoid??
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I've had a rattling/clunking sound from my front left wheel recently so I jacked up that corner. As soon as the tire elevated off the ground the bottom fell inward. I could easily push the top of the tire inward and pull the bottom of the tire outward. Does this lead to a bad hub or bad ball joint(s)?
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Ok, so I leave the fire station this morning headed home and my steering felt weird. About 1/2 mile from home I hit a bump and my drivers side front wheel started making a screeching noise. I stopped and looked out the window and it appeared fine. I limped home and as I pull in the driveway, I lost all my steering. I look under the truck and this is what I found.
Not sure what to do. This is my daily driver and neither of my 2 mechanic friends will answer their phones.
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