early 99 hub assembly

[fullthrottle99]

Last week I'm leaving the portland airport....clickety clack grinding starts from front left side. By the time I get home, the grinding is so bad I wanted to pull the truck over and call a wrecker, but I made it home, tg. When I jack the truck up and shake the wheel, there is absolutely no play on any direction, nor any unusual sounds when spinning the wheel. I tore the whole assembly down last year because I felt grinding, and was convinced it was the wheel hub. Everythig looked great then, it ended up being the tires needing rotated.
I'm seeing that early bird 99's have different hubs than the rest. Im in a extreme pinch for money, aka, poor white college kid. There is no way I could afford the dynatrac kit. My truck just has rear wheel ABS. Has anyone used the wheel hub assemblies off ebay? I hate to put junk on my truck, but I hate spending $300 each from autozone. I think I can get them for around $100 each on ebay. Are the early 99's less quality to the later 99 hubs and brake rotors? Would it be beneficial for me to buy new rotors/hubs that were the later year style? Sorry so many questions, just curious on what the best route is to get me back on the road.

Sincerely,
broke down in Albany, lol.

 

[jestersv]

are you sure its not the hub locks

 

[DaveBen]

Try Ford Parts Direct; Ford Parts Direct Online: Buy genuine Ford OEM auto parts & aftermarket accessories at wholesale prices. These guys beat every auto parts for the hub assy.

Dave

 

[Tail_Gunner]

.....When I jack the truck up and shake the wheel, there is absolutely no play on any direction, nor any unusual sounds when spinning the wheel.

Manually lock the front drive hubs and see if the noise stops. If you then unlock them and the noise comes back, it's not the wheel bearing hub. It'll be the roller needle bearing inside the drive hub that supports the end of the outer axle shaft. Much cheaper than a bearing hub.

 

[fullthrottle99]

I inspected the front end, and sure enough, the wheel bearing assembly is toast. Since then, I did some research on my possible options. I talked to a guy where I work and he was charged over $5k to "get his front end rebuilt" on his 1999 SD. He said they did ball joints, shocks, wheel bearings, hubs, and tie rods. Pretty hard for me to believe this, until I looked at NAPA's prices for the hub assembly...over $700!! I've purchased two timkin hub assemblies off ebay for $111 ea. (free shipping) These are intended for late 99-04. I've also ordered moog ball joints, 8 shocks (going duals on front, with dual stabilizers), drilled rotors w/ ceramic pads (these are needed for an early 99 conversion to the less expensive hub assemblies), and all required seals and o-rings. Total cost of $883. I wanted to share this story, and urge everyone to please not go to an auto repair shop and let them buy the same wheel hubs for $600 each more than you can buy them on ebay; its just flushing money away. I'll update this if I get them from ebay and their not as advertised. Also, I need some guages, anyone know of a fair priced setup? That's one piece of equipment I'm afraid to order off of ebay, I'll end up with neon glowing P.O.S's.

 

[orion_134]

OK, if you got later 99 hubs you need to make sure the rotors you got is also for 99+ because the hat depth is different between early and late. Also, Advance Auto parts has them the cheapest at about $270 as of last year when I did mine. Make sure the ball joints are greasable. As for guages, anything autometer is respectable.
Jesse
Jesse

 

[fullthrottle99]

thx jesse, I did make sure to get the later rotors and the ball joints are greasable. I'm gonna look into some autometer guages and get ready for the front end overhaul!

 

[orion_134]

Make sure you pay attention to how you put the balljoints go back in, one has to go in before the other...I think it's the bottom goes in first.
Jesse

 

[fullthrottle99]

Hey Jesse,
Would you send me a pic of your truck? Mine's an early 99 with a shackle leveling kit. The front end sits down right higher than the back. I think I'm the only one that has ever noticed it, but its bothering the heck out of me. As it stands, the truck had 315/70/17's on it when i bought it but it rubbed a little bit. I stepped down to 285's and now it looks under tired. I'm just curious what other trucks this height look like, and what tire combo you have. I'm considering taking the shackles off and rounding the holes out so it sits about a 1/4 inch lower in the front. What do you think?

 

[orion_134]

I have a big block in the rear from the factory, I think it's 3"+ and mine sits level. WTT/WTS: 99 F250 7.3 4x4 many mods..what do you have? - Corral Forums Here's my truck on 33x12.50r16.5
Jesse