Bad front wheel bearing?

[Rapid Red]

The rear hubs in the older 15-17 GTs failed pretty often, but Ford has been reving the parts and we don’t see nearly the failure rate today we used to see. Front hub failures seem pretty unusual, I was surprised to see this one.

There is no way to pull that dust cover, inspect & repack the bearings. There is a crown nut and cotter key behind it or not?

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[NightmareMoon]

There is no way to pull that dust cover, inspect & repack the bearings. There is a crown nut and cotter key behind it or not?

there a nut behind it yeah.. removal of the dust cover is destructive but you can buy another to replace it.

 

[txgt]

This morning I replaced the hub, but… here’s the interesting part: when I went to take the spindle/hub nut off, it was definitely not tight enough!

As I started to loosen it with the breaker bar, it was way too easy to loosen the nut. At that point I decided to see what the hub/bearing would feel like if I just re-torqued the nut. After torquing to 250 ft/lbs, everything seemed perfect: no play in the hub/bearing and spun with the same amount of resistance as the good passenger side hub.

So, I had a decision to make… consider the problem resolved and return the parts or go ahead with the replacement.

I opted to play it safe and go ahead and replace the parts and use some red loctite.

There didn’t seem to be any evidence that a previous owner had this part serviced before ( the dust cap looked perfect aside from the marks from my removal ).

Seems crazy to me that the nut would have lost its full torque from the factory…

 

[geep81]

Had my front passenger bearing replaced around 7k miles. Currently getting some noise I think from my left side, thinking maybe it's a bearing again.

 

[Cory S]

This morning I replaced the hub, but… here’s the interesting part: when I went to take the spindle/hub nut off, it was definitely not tight enough!

As I started to loosen it with the breaker bar, it was way too easy to loosen the nut. At that point I decided to see what the hub/bearing would feel like if I just re-torqued the nut. After torquing to 250 ft/lbs, everything seemed perfect: no play in the hub/bearing and spun with the same amount of resistance as the good passenger side hub.

So, I had a decision to make… consider the problem resolved and return the parts or go ahead with the replacement.

I opted to play it safe and go ahead and replace the parts and use some red loctite.

There didn’t seem to be any evidence that a previous owner had this part serviced before ( the dust cap looked perfect aside from the marks from my removal ).

Seems crazy to me that the nut would have lost its full torque from the factory…

Yeah, good choice. If it was loose, it would have probably had pre-mature wear on the bearing anyway. Probably last for the rest of the time you own the car and then some now...

 

[txgt]

Yeah, good choice. If it was loose, it would have probably had pre-mature wear on the bearing anyway. Probably last for the rest of the time you own the car and then some now...

Makes me think I should replace the passenger side nut and use some red loctite as a preventative measure…

 

[Cory S]

Makes me think I should replace the passenger side nut and use some red loctite as a preventative measure…

I use 242 Blue. On everything.

 

[NightmareMoon]

What I was thinking cause you spinning it did not sound ruff or squeaky.

Was there a castle nut & cotter pin behind the dust cover?

Rule of thumb for front wheel bearings.

1. Torque the nut to 25 ft lb (sets the preload)

2. Back nut off 1/2 turn

3. Re torque to 22 in lb

front wheel bearing nut is 251 ft/lbs., what in tarnation are you jabbering about?

 

[Rapid Red]

front wheel bearing nut is 251 ft/lbs., what in tarnation are you jabbering about?

Ok I see the assembly, differeance I'll delete the misinformation.

Thanks

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