I have a 2004 2wd with 117,000 miles. About 1-1/2 to 2 years ago my rotors were warped (also had previous warping problems) and front hub bearing were bad so I replaced them with a high end set of drilled rotors and pads. The high end rotors fixed the warping issues but the bearings still fail. About 8 months ago I had to replace the rotor bearings again and used the Timken set930 bought from ebay. A few weeks ago I started hearing the dreaded grinding noise again. This time I bought a set from napa, not sure what name but the part number is JRM4549CS. It says it's a Chinese bearing, but opening the box and looking at the bearing it says Timken on it. Only this time I'll get a 3 year warranty through Napa.

My ? is, has anybody found the problem as to why these bearings fail so frequently? 3 times within 2 yrs is insane. My mileage within those 2 years is easily below 30,000. The pads that came with the rotors still look new. Calipers are free and not sticking. I installed a 2 inch leveling kit and 275-60 tires a couple weeks back but this problem has been a problem since before.
I've searched on the forum but could'nt find an answer. I'm hoping maybe I missed something and that somebody can fill me in on the culprit? I'm out of ideas on what it could be. But I know I'm tired of replacing these bearing, lol.

 

Not sure, but my '06 Explorer eats bearings regularly. Luckily, I have an extended premium care warranty which I have used for bearings 3x. Like your truck, my '06 is low mileage so I can only attribute to cheap product.

 

Is this a 4X4 or 4X2 ?? Thinking maby an IWE problem if 4X4. Sorry, just caught the thread title, 4X2

 

Arrrgh, went to install the new bearings and found that the old bearings spun in the hub. Now the rotors that I loved so much are useless. Found a set of Centric 2 piece hub rotor upgrades locally that I'll install instead. What a pia these things are....

 

The centrics are a good swap. I run them on my 2WD and have no complaints. You might want to have the alignment checked if you continue to have this issue, as side loads may be contributing to the bearing wear.

 

Installed the Centrics. Brakes feel a lot better and grinding noise is gone again.
Only problem is I found out my lower control arm bushings are shot. Guess I'll look for some polyurethane upgrades and then get that alignment done.

 

mine was eating bearings up also. Found that the hub was worn out and there was very small amount of play in bearing and hub fit. went with the centrix 2 piece and no issues since.

 

Wrong torque made this on my ex ranger.

 

Well, almost been a year since installing the Centrics and new hub nuts. Glad to say I havn't had any problems since. No rotor warping, no bearing issues, and pads still look like new.
Anybody thinking about doing the 2 piece upgrade I'd highly recommend it.