Wheel bearing or locking hub?

mygsris2slo4u

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I noticed recently that my front passenger side tire was being chopped up on the inside. I checked to see if it was physically rubbing anything(nope), then I checked all the tierod ends(nope), so I pushed and pulled on the tire to see if I had any movement(yes), I noticed that it was not the ball joints moving, so that leaves me with the hub. This is where I have a few questions: 1. Can the locking hub cause this movement? 2. If it can, is there a way to determine if it is the hub or the locking hub?

I hope this makes sense!
 

Frankenstien

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Sounds like that FINELY engineered Front Wheel Bearing assembly. Just replaced drivers side yesterday. (bearing under warranty) Bought em with a 2 year warranty, So about every year and a half I replace one side ... then the other.
 

ghoff

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I tried Dorman bearing assemblies once. I went through 3...yes THREE sets in one year. If you replace it with a stock style unit, then stay with Motocraft or Ford. You will pay about $300 a pop but they should last for a while. Or go with the Dynatrack kit and be done with it;tu
 

ponyexpress94

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With the links provided below, you should pretty much be able to eliminate the need for the dynatrac kit. If you can do these maintenance items yourself then you should be able to make these items last indefinitely.

This link outlines how to remove the sealed wheel bearing assembly. You will have to scroll through the description a bit to look past the work done after removing it until you get back to the reinstallation but it does have some good info so my suggestion is to read the whole article. Since your hub failed I would take specific interest in the section of this repair where he links to two threads on the Ford Trucks Enthusiasts site titled Greasing you sealed hub wheel bearings:

2004 F250 Ball Joint Replacement

Then before reinstalling the hub assembly you'll need to service the needle bearing described here. This is the bearing that your owners manual lists as needing lubrication every 60,000 miles and for good reason too as it supports the outer stub shaft and if this bearing drys out you will damage the stub shaft and have to replace it:

2004 F250 Needle Bearing Replacement

After you have that done, read this article and you can service the last bearing inside the locking hub mechanism. This bearing is not replaceable but it only supports the end of the stub shaft for the axle drive:

2004 F250 ESOF Hub Service


On a special note, I recently did a service of the front end. Ball Joints, all new seals for the hubs and four wheel drive system and serviced all the bearings with the specific grease listed in FTE site links. Greasing the sealed hub assemblies was a definite improvement and I believe I can get to 200,000 miles on the original sealed hubs. I'm a firm believer in buying genuine Ford parts, they are the original style, designed to the original tolerances, with a 1 year/12,000 mile warranty, available at any dealership where the computers can pull up VIN # specific information to make sure you get the correct parts and get the project done. I'm suprised more people don't do this either, because most dealer parts counter employees survive on volume of sales so they like to discount parts prices to keep you coming back which allows you to get an excellent quality part at a competitive price. Just my 2 cents on the that.

Hope this helps, I got a little carried away on the info here but I really found these links helpful and it was actually a really fun project, especially when my dad came out in the garage with my truck completely disassembled and just looked in disbelief and said "How do you keep all the parts straight in your head?!" So yeah, use these links and you'll get your truck up and running good as new.
 
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ponyexpress94

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The needle bearing in that link is separate from the hub assembly and can be purchased from your local Ford dealer. The first link I posted lists all the parts used in the entire project that was spread out over those three links plus a few others. I believe the needle bearing assembly is $11 so it's cheap to replace it. As the link shows you have to drive the old bearing out of the Sealed Hub Assembly (this hub assembly has the non serviceable bearings) and then press a new needle bearing in.

I carefully drove the old needle bearing out as shown in the link and used my 20 ton shop press to press the new one in.

Hope this helps...
 
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mygsris2slo4u

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The needle bearing in that link is separate from the hub assembly and can be purchased from your local Ford dealer. The first link I posted lists all the parts used in the entire project that was spread out over those three links plus a few others. I believe the needle bearing assembly is $11 so it's cheap to replace it. As the link shows you have to drive the old bearing out of the Sealed Hub Assembly (this hub assembly has the non serviceable bearings) and then press a new needle bearing in.

I carefully drove the old needle bearing out as shown in the link and used my 20 ton shop press to press the new one in.

Hope this helps...

I see. You guys have been really helpful. Does anyone happen to know the part number for the axle seal that goes on the stub shaft in the knuckle?

I've also been thinking(this could be dangerous) I think this seal might have caused part of the hub bearing problem. When I did my ball joints last year I replaced those seals, but on this side I couldn't get the seal to sit right on the axle and was unable to put the locking hub back on. I ended up putting the old seal back on(so I could get to work the next day) which wasn't in the best of shape after being removed.
 

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