more FRONT END love

[biffripjock]

hello all

i have a 2000 f350 sd cc 4x4 wth 95k miles on it

i have recentally noticed a little shimmy or vibration at highway speeds.

then every once in a while a cyclic lunking like a caliper is loose. but it goes away sparatically

i took off the tires and hte calipers and pads are fine. i noted on the passenger side that the "needle" bearing location there is some sort of washer or dust cover i guess that is loose and can be wiggled by hand with everything intact. the drivers side is tight.

i have read the forums and guzzles and roosters pic shows very nice indeed.!

however i feel it is a littl outside my comfort with the reseating of bearings and the factory ford yellow o ring etc.

i went ot my local ford dealer today and for the low cost of 38$ and 4 hours of my time they lifted it adn test drove it. no rumble, clunk or vibration on test drive, no recommendation of needle bearing replacemnt he says its hte hubs are not fully unlocking.!!

my esof is working fine as far as i can tell. the ball joints were done at 60k or so.

they want $480 a piece plus an hour install to put on new hubs and they keep talking about thespecial tool.

so................................

my questions are
if the washer / dust cover on the needle bearing is loose should it be replaced. if i replace one should i do both?

#2 are my hubs toast? if so replace them my self adn which brand should i get, new ford oem , warn or other?

#3 is there a special tool needed to replace the hubs or just the needle bearing?

#4 apart from teh torrington bearing reference is htere aftermarket parts to use or should i just get oem?

thanks in advance and of course in the past for the cps, vss, od switch, fuel line o ring and oil change help! not to mention air intake tire size and mods!
thanks again

live long, drive father!

B

[biffripjock]

edited for clarity

[Rooster]

tackle it yourself...not that bad. Check out my pics that I took of mine....

[Racer-X]

For the record, when I first bought my X, the previous owner had left the manual factory hubs locked. Not a bad thing from what I am told, and my mechanic was just happy they turn freely, as they tend to corrode and seize from lack of use.
I had no idea that you could auto lock by turning the dash switch, or actually get out and manually lock them.

I had initially thought my steering felt a bit heavy, and that the front end wandered a bit. There was also a steady clunk when I would make a tight turn. I had no real vibration though.

When I realized that the hubs were locked (from reading threads here), as soon as I unlocked them the steering was lighter and no more clunking.

So I don't know anything about the dust cover.

If you are worried about your hubs, clean them up as best you can and put it all back the way you found it. I would cycle them a bunch of times over a period of a week or so, and see if they lock and unlock okay. Then decide if you need to replace them.
I see WARN has hubs - that's what my mechanic has on his X.

Don't know about special tools, I am sure they can be rented or borrowed, once you know what "it" is

I guess factory, or OEM if you know who makes it for is the way to go.
I wouldn't want to spend lots of time, and replace your old part for an inferior part.... just my opinion.

I think a lot of 4WD failures are from not using the system. I cycle mine weekly while driving in a straight line at moderate speeds.

[biffripjock]

hi guys

thanks for hte input, just need a littlemore insight

i had 4x4 troubles when i first got hte truck, tuirned out to be the solenoid/switch at the transfer case was stuck for lack of cycling.
si ihave been cycling.

if someone could please address the other questions that would be great.

i will take off and clean the hubs, bu the needle bearing thing is another topic, also do i do both needle bearings?

thanks

[DieselDeaf]

Originally Posted by biffripjock

they want $480 a piece plus an hour install to put on new hubs and they keep talking about thespecial tool.

This is a rip off


my questions are
if the washer / dust cover on the needle bearing is loose should it be replaced. if i replace one should i do both?

Very common problem, don't worry about it yet

#2 are my hubs toast? if so replace them my self adn which brand should i get, new ford oem , warn or other?

I would put on Warn Premiums

#3 is there a special tool needed to replace the hubs or just the needle bearing?

A snap ring tool for the hubs and a press tool for the bearings


#4 apart from teh torrington bearing reference is htere aftermarket parts to use or should i just get oem?

I'm not sure if there is an OEM but do a search here and I'm sure you'll find an aftermarket equivalnet




live long, drive father!

Ok, I'll try that also maybe some Fahvengruven to go with?

B

That's it, hopefully I've helped