Replacing front wheel bearings and races

someone mentioned replacing their wheel bearings last night and was wondering how easy it was to do, well, it's not hard, it was time to get them done on the flood victim, so I took some pictures, I hope it answers any questions people have about doing this

first, get your tools together, I have to replace my bearing races, so I need something to get them out, I just use a piece of 1/4" stock I have around the shop and a 2lb mallet
the following items everyone will need to do their wheel bearings:
1/2" drive ratchet, set of allen wrenches, your bearings and inner seal, hub nut socket (proper for your truck, mine's a D60), wheel bearing grease, and some creeper oil and brake parts cleaner, also not shown in the picture that you need are a 3/16" flathead screwdriver and either a pick/awl or snap ring pliers



this is the offending wheel (have already replaced the other side last week), has minor noise and vibration on the road, rough turning by hand when jacked up, so it's time to take care of it


first things first, jack it up and get the wheel out of your way


next take your hub screws out, if they are stuck, liberally soak them down with creeper oil, they are steel screwed into aluminum, and they are sometimes a PITA


pull off the lockout, if the retaining screw is missing, you may catch the engaging sprocket and spring, don't worry, you should be pulling them out to clean it anyway



this is not a good sign to be pulling out from behind the hub



after pulling out the retaining screw, engage sprocket, and spring, this is what you should have


I am intentionally using a flathead and awl to do this hub, I normally use snap ring pliers to do it, but this is just as fast. Use the pick in the snap ring hole to pull the ring away from the groove, slip the screwdriver in behind the ring and work it around the ring completely and it will peel it off

here's the ring after pulling


next, use the screwdriver to pop up the end of the outer retaining ring and go all the way around to remove it


pull out the remaining hub assembly (yours should remain intact, this one's shot, will explain in later portion)


remove the first retaining nut (using your hub nut socket)


then wiggle the nut locking ring out (has to come fairly straight out)


then use your hub nut socket to remove the inner nut


next, pull off your caliper and rest it on the leaf spring (or wire it up so it doesn't stress the brake line)


now you have nothing holding your hub/rotor to the spindle, pull it and it will slide off, there's really nothing to hurt at this point (unless you drop it on a lug stud), so give it a good yank if it needs it

the outer bearing will drop out on its own, use a screwdriver or pliers to remove the inner seal from the rear, or lay the rotor on it's back and put a piece of wood or metal through and smack it out with a hammer


those rust grooves (from being under water for 3 weeks) are why I have to replace races, if you are replacing your rotor at this time, it will come with a new race in it already, if not, you must buy the inner bearing race separately from the bearing, the outer race and bearing come together


replacing the races is straight forward, using the piece of metal, catch the edge of the race and pound it out a little at a time with the hammer, rotating across and around to keep it from binding in the hub


now clean all the old grease out of the inside of the hub, I use an old towel to get most of it, then I use brake parts cleaner to remove the last bits
if you are replacing the races, insert the new ones just like you removed the old ones, using a hammer and the piece of metal to pound them in
if you are re-using your bearings, clean them well and re-pack them
at this point, I always like to touch up the black on the hub


make sure you pack your bearings well with grease, I use the method of putting grease into my palm and smacking the bearing edge into it repeatedly, they also have tools you can buy that press the grease through the bearing
place the inner bearing into the hub, then put the seal on (open side in), place a piece of wood across the back and smack it flush into place



the outer bearing just rests in place, the grease will help hold it there



place the hub back on the spindle




now clean all your internal hub parts...
remember those metal pieces I had in mine???



this is where they came from...
this little plastic bushing...... love it.... take it out for dinner.... ****** it.... whatever.... because if it breaks......



this is your repair kit......


that's right... it's a piece that IS NOT AVAILABLE from any parts store.... you will be replacing the hubs (Like I had to do today)

cheapest I could find, from O'reilly's, cost me $230+tax

put this retaining nut in first, make sure the peg sticks OUT, crank it tight with your ratchet and hub nut socket, and back it off a hair (to line up with the hole in the retaining ring)


make sure the peg sticks through a hole in the ring, if not it won't seat and your hub won't work right
then get the ring on and tighten the flat nut against it


put in the cup portion of the hub and then the spring and engaging sprocket, grease all of these parts lightly, put in the retaingin screw if you have it


put on the center retaining snap ring and the outer snap ring (the ford one isn't hard, but the new warn one is a PITA that has to be threaded through one of the gaps, it makes 2 full revolutions around the hub)


put on your lockout and screw it into place, tighten the screws like torquing a wheel, going across, make sure you line the lockout alignment tabs into the wide grooves


reattach the caliper and put the wheel back on


congrats, you just replaced your wheel bearings and made sure your hubs are problem-free

Few notes:

u do not need to remove the retaining spring for the inner guts of the hub. Also, while putting on the first hub nut, spin the rotor while torquing (yes there is a torque sequence) to seat the bearing. Also take it a few steps further and inspect/replace the spindle bearings is a good idea if it was never done.

good info and pics

I just replaced mine last week. Some clown packed them with white Lithium grease which turns to liquid @ about 150F. So my bearings were pitted and noisey. Turned my 1 hr brake job into a 4 hr job. Nobody locally had good bearings on a saturday afternoon so I had to use Chinese ones.

Also, IF your replacing the rotors, DO NOT use the races that come installed with most rotors. I used a set of Raybestos rotors, and thought they would come with quality races. NOT!. Do yourself a favor, and replace the races with TImkens while you still have good bearings to ride on.

Except for the D60's and the D50's... I don't know about the D44's though...

The rotor mates with the hub (via the studs), which has the races... I wish the rotor would just slide onto the hub, like the drums slide onto the studs on the sterling rear... Oh well...

Good write up!!!

great write up!

Thanks jwalterus!