Any else have a problem with there trucks eating up the front hub bearings? I have an 02 F150 S-cab 4X4. I replaced the right side front hub bearing in October 2010 and now its bad again. The left side was replaced in April 2010 and I just had to replace it again December 2010. Had the truck in last week at the Ford dealership for a front end alinement and tire rotation, they told me all the ball joints and tie rod ends are still tight and the tires are wearing very good. This is rediculous and I dont understand why both front bearing would have gone bad so quick. Any suggestions?

 

Well judging by your user name i would say you go offroading alot? Just a guess. haha
That is probably your main problem. Mud/dirt/Water=Fail bearings.

 

Wheeling these trucks will kill hub bearings regardless how good they are sealed. Also bigger heavier tires will do it to.. My grandfather FX4 has 146k mi on it an the stock hub are still tight.. I run over cranked lift keys and do ball joints, hub bearings, tie rods once a year.

 

same here man i have a 03 and i had to replace the front driver side the dirt and water gets in there and eats them up.

 

I'm not positive on this but i don't think you 4x4 guys can regrease them either since it's a whole assembly. I always repack my bearings whenever i have the front wheels off.

 

I have never taken this truck off roading. Ive owned it for 6 years, it had 21,000 miles on it when I bought it, now it has 204,500 miles on it. I run the stock tire size, torsion bars are at factory settings. All the preventive maintenance gets done on time to what Ford recomends. I bought the bearings from Ford, I just dont understand why it is eating up bearings, the one that I just replaced today is only two months old.

 

are you tightening the axle nut to the proper spec? is the hole in the spindle mis-shaped due to beating out one of the old bearings? Make sure you clean out the spindle and mating surfaces before installing new hub.

 

Axle nut was torqued to 90 lbs per Ford. Everything looks to be shaped correctly. Yes I cleaned all the mating surfaces before I put it back together. I know what I am doing, Idid the front hub bearings in my brothers 03 F150 and he doesnt have a problem with his. Someone told me that the C/V joint on the half shaft could be bad, causing a slight vibration, but its not making any noise, boots are not ripped or torn, and I dont feel a vibraton at all driving down the road.

 

Are you purchasing from the same manufacturer? Which would be? I just can't think of what would cause that. If you say everything looked good, then I'm sure it did, and was properly installed. I would think that a bad cv axle with a vibration bad enough to eat through bearings would be noticeable. How are your brakes?

 

I just replaced the front hubs on my 97. They were destroyed

 

@Toyz - bearings were purchased from Ford. Brakes are good. I talked to a few Ford techs today, and they all say that the outer C/V joint on the half shaft is bad, and that is why it is eating bearings, they also say you would never feel the vibration driving down the road. I guess I am going to buy a half shaft tomorrow and go from there. Still cheaper then a new truck, and I really cant complain, this has been a great truck and this is the first major problem.

 

Hopefully that fixes the problemoO. Must be one hell of a vibration to eat up bearings. Not sure why you wouldnt feel it, some sort of ultra sonic vibrations? J/K

 

I had a new wheel bearing go out in less than 5000 miles about 6 months ago. Although my truck is lifted with slightly larger tires, which could be the reason for the failure. The C/V shaft is relatively inexpensive and is very easy to change if you have a set of jack stands or access to a vehicle lift.

 

I have the exact same problem. My truck is eating hubs. Last time I replaced the hubs, I let the truck off the jacks and drove it directly to get an alignment (about 3 miles away) and by the time I got there, they said the hubs were toasted.

Did you figure out what's wrong????

 

This is an old thread but I read that the guy was torquing his hub nut on at 90 ft. lbs. on a 2003. I have a 2002 and when I replaced my front bearing hubs, the proper torque was 221 ft. lbs. as I remember. You are also supposed to use a new hub nut, (which I didn't do).