I am researching the 97+ 4x4 front hubs for a race car application. Here are the "facts" as I know them from searching this site:

The '97-'99 F150's had 12mm lugs and the late '99-up use the 14mm lugs. It seems they are all 5 on 135mm. The front hub nut is 36mm. The stock wheels have about 4 3/4" back spacing. The hub flange has three bolts.

Possible donor vehicles may be:

97-?? F-150's, F-250's, Expeditions, Navigators, and Explorer?

Can any of you guys tell me exactly which hubs and years are physically interchangeable? I prefer the 14mm wheel studs.

Please correct any mistakes above. Thanks a million.

 

If you want the 14mm studs then you're looking at trucks with a build date of dec 99 and later......I think. I don't remember the exact date of the switch over, but I think thats the right date. The trucks that got the 14mm studs were 2000 model years, not 99s. This setup ran until 03 when it was changed for the new body style (6x135mm pattern). The bearing assembly (its not a hub, 97-03 F150s don't even have hubs) with 14mm studs can be gotten off of any 00-03 F150. The Expedition and Navigator will be from 00-02, since in 03 they went to 6 lug. Explorers used a different bolt pattern (5x4.5"). The F250LD that used this setup was a 7 lug axle, and the SD is an 8 lug. I'm not really sure why you'd wanna use a setup like this on a race car. The assembly is expensive ($200 ea) and they're non servicable. On something like a race car I'd want to use something thats serviceable. The only advantage I could see to this would be if you're running a splined shaft through this bearing.

 

Thanks for the great info. These hubs are ideal for what I want to do. To summarize, I would want:

00-03 F150, and 00-02 Expedition and Navigator

These should all be interchangeable, right? I don't care about ABS. Do you know if there are differences in the rotors and calipers in the above models?

 

Those hubs are interchangeable, and you can get them with or without ABS provisions. I'm pretty sure the rotors are the same as long as they're for the front since they all used the same front end. The calipers I think are the same deal. Best way to know for sure is to go to the parts store and have them look up the parts for both an F150 and Expedition and they should come up with the same number.

 

I scored my first hub today and ordered the rest from the junkyard. Woohoo!

It's just what I was looking for. It has the ABS sensor with the encoder wheel inside. I didn't really want the ABS, but after pulling out the sensor, it seems like it might be a handy grease port!

Apparently, Pep Boys has the rotors for only 28.99. Now if only I could find some broken axles...