Front Wheel Bearings

Has anyone replaced their front wheel bearings? I was looking at the procedure and it looks somewhat straight forward. Almost too straightforward. If i remember correctly one has to remove the calipers and rotors and separate the tie rod and control arm and then unbolt (?) the bearings. I was expecting to have to drive them out somehow using a press.

I haven't tested them but I am curious as to what is involved.

I suppose there is a part 2 as well. The front ball joint is sold as part of the control arm. Is there an aftermarket ball joint that doesn't require replacing the control arm?

Unless your a seasoned mechanic or at bet "well inclined" toward mechanic's then I suggest it's best to pay to have it done, I have a 1995 windstar that started howling and such last week and I watched the guy at my local repair shop disasemble the entire strut/spindle unit then hammer out the old bearing and press in a new one, Im a true "shadetree" mechanic and I dont even have the tools necessary to attempt this job, I just replaced the water pump and lemme tell you WHEWWW I will pay next time!....I only payed $50 to have one side done, will have the other side done when and IF it needs it!... bearing was like $30 from autozone and it was a timken.



Hope this helps!!!!

DRW
So far, I've been lucky with wheel bearings on the Winnie ... but I've replaced a few on other models over the years. Newer models are designed better in this area than the earlier front wheel drive units. Some of the earlier FWD's had separate inner and outer bearings ... now a single wide bearing cartridge is usually used.

Please do not use a hammer to drive the half-shalf in or out of the knuckle. Use a gear puller or rig something up. Using a hammer will damage something ... perhaps inside the tranny.

Once the knuckle is off the car and separated from the driveshaft, of course you can drive the old bearing out using a hammer.

I like to put the new bearing in a zip-loc bag and put in freezer overnight. The knuckle I warm up on a barbeque grill until its too hot to touch ... will spatter water dropped on it. Using a brush I coat the inside of bearing journal with grease. If the grease smokes, I wait for the knuckle to cool a bit. As soon as the grease seems to be stable, I drop the frozen bearing into the knuckle. It will fall into place.

Avoiding getting water on bearing cartridge, use cold water to quickly cool down the assembly. You don't want the grease to come out of the new pregreased bearing unit because of too much heat.

Thanks 12ounce. The method in your post sounded familiar and I think you have discussed this previously. (I couldn't find it when I searched).

I like your method of temperature differential for getting the bearing in.

Thanks again

May have been in "cartrackers" .... can't remember.

Hi
I have done a wheel bearing on a '96. What year are we talking here? I took out the knuckle and carried it to a merc. dealer who pressed out the old and pressed in the new. That portion of the job cost around $40. I am amazed a guy could hammer out the bearing as the hub is pressed into it from the opposite direction i.e. hub must be pressed out of bearing before bearing can be pressed in the opposite direction out of the knuckle. My dealer happily installed my autozone bearing. Taking the knuckle out is a chore but do-able. You will need the autozone "borrow" tools for the CV shaft removal and to separate the tie rod.
BTW I have changed my control arms $55 at Napa and it wasn't too bad. You could do it while you have the knuckle off :) I think you will find the ball joint too is a pressed item so you have to take the arm off anyway.
Good luck

Oops! ... I'm guilty of confusing "knuckle" and "hub" ... again!

I'll try to edit away my error above ...

From 95 to 98 models, the wheel bearings were a press in style, then in 99 and up FORD went to a bolt in style hub., alot easier to repair