Rotor shredded and wobbling- help!!

[PBGUY420]

ok guys my 01 f250 i bought recently is giving me a hard time! the old owner must have not serviced a @(#& thing ever.... just redid two frozen rear calipers which toasted my rotors and pads.... so that was expensive enough.

now my front end is having problems. i was hearing a grinding/rattling type sound that seemed to be coming from my front driver side. i figured id wait a week since i wouldnt be driving and check it out when i installed my lift.... well in driving to get my new leaf springs the grinding got bad before i got out of the neighborhood so i limped her home and busted off the tires. my drivers side brakes are good but my passenger side rotor is ground to $%^^ along the top 1/2 inch of both sides, along with the pads, and its even scarring on both sides. my caliper is good, and no junk fell out from between the pad and rotor so im confused?

i spun the rotor assembly and heard the grinding sound, sounds like shot bearings or something, though it wasnt noticeably harder to turn than the other side. i also noticed the rotor seemed to wobble if i played with it. could this be wheel bearing or something? ive never played with 4x4 stuff so i didnt get too much further than that. mainly because i decided to put it all together to drive to autozone to ask my buddy and in my frustration i read the wrong torque value and broke a caliper slide pin bolt off.... oops

help me out please, i finally got to autozone and they have no clue except to put an entire new hub assembly on for 250 a pop! plus the new rotor and pads ill need.

is this the proper and route or is there a cheaper way to do this if its just a dang bearing?

also if i do have to do the whole hub i reckon i should just do both sides at the same time, what do yall think? if thats what i need can anyone do reccomend somewhere to get the hub cheaper or is that going to be my price?

and the final question, since im planning on building a lot of power in this beast, since i have to redo the rotors and such anyway. would yall reccommend a specific type of higher performance caliper, rotor, or pad than the standard autozone oem stuff?

[wookief350]

i just did both my front wheel bearin assembly if the assembly comes with the rear mounting bolts id get that one cause they are a pain in the arse to get out at least i had trouble getting them out. they should come with the lug nut studs already attached. i didnt buy the hubs at the same time but i had one of the cheaper ones from oriellys and then there one with 3 year warranty. the cheap one im pulling tomorrow and replacing already the other one is still good and havent had an issue with it. does the bearing assembly grind or howl at all.

[PBGUY420]

How much did you pay


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[rammertide07]

Look and see if you can grab the ujoint where the inboard and outboard shaft join. If you can shake it back and forth, its the needle bearings. But if you grab the hub assmb. and it wobbles, the replace it with a GOOD unit...you get what you pay for.

I bought power slot rotors off amazon, EBC Green Stuff brake pads from RiffRaff, and my Moog ball joints from RockAuto.



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[PBGUY420]

whats the full description for the hub assembly and what is a "good" one, need a description so i can find it online. im 4x4 and i believe im 4 wheel abs? anything better than what ill find at advance or autozone?

[wookief350]

rammertide07 is right you get what u pay for the low end at orriellys i paid 130 and for the 36 month warranty was around 240. i had an underlying problem with my 4x4 when i replaced one with the cheaper on so it fried the bearing again. while your in there check the seals to those are a pain in the arse to replace well atleast they where for me. so my project today is switching to warn manual lock outs.

[PBGUY420]

Ok so forgive my newness to this lol. I believe your speaking of checking the two u type joints that link together to turn the wheel correct? One comes from the driveshaft and one comes from the hub assembly.... If so, that wiggles, a lot Moreso than the other side that doesn't have problems.... The rotor itself also wiggles as a result of this obviously... On the good side the u joint has MINOR MINOR wiggle but the rotor doesn't wiggle at all so I believe that side is good...

So that means what? Can you PLEASE. Post a link to what your saying I need for this fix? Sorry guys I didn't get the auto experience growing up bc we didn't have a vehicle, now I'm in the military 2700 miles from my pops who does know this stuff but can't help me and I can't waste the money to take it to a repair guy in a military town because they all rip you off.... I'm learning as I go here and I don't know part names, terms etc so I need basic help lol.... It would help me tons!!

Another note since you brought up the 4x4- to get my 4x4 to work I've had to lock the hubs manually even tho they say auto----lock on them, the auto feature does not seem to work...

If there's anything I can do more than seeing what wiggles, like tearing it down to see if a specific piece is broken it would help... My Haynes manual has proved useless so far lol.... I just want to do this right the first time, and replace with quality parts, but I DON'T want to replace working parts thinking their bad....

So if it's the needle bearings I'd like to know for sure you know what I mean, cause that hub assembly for a 4x4 with 4 wheel abs is 250$!!!

Please break it down Barney style! I don't get much time off work and I'm deploying relatively soon so I don't want to sit here dicking around not knowing what I'm doing!!



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[rammertide07]

Yes, its the u-joint that attached the axle to the outside wheel and hub assmb. I had a video on YouTube of mine when the needle bearings were shot. But the privacy settings and my bad memmory of passwords I can't find it. Wiggle is ok. But if you can take it and slam it side to side...enough to make a knock...needle bearings are shot. I think you could try locking in the hubs and it might make the vibration go away. Not a fix, just a diagnosis. I'd rather be a hub assmb than needle bearing because IIRC the axle has to come out if it is the needle bearings....or maybe it was just for the ball joints? Somebody like RT or oneof6 can help you out better. oneof6, I haven't seen any activity from him in a while..might have to pm. Im very vaugley familiar with all this from my past experience. You might want to consider emailing Bob at dieselorings.com. He sales the o-rings that keep the vacuum system working in the 4x4 system.

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[klhansen]

The best way to check if the wheel hub/bearing unit is bad if you're getting movement is to jack the wheel just off the ground, grab hold of it and shake, watching where the movement occurs. If it's between the hub and knuckle, it's the wheel hub/bearing unit. If the movement is between the knuckle and the axle housing, it's the ball joints.

Here's the instructions on R&R for the wheel hub/bearing.
Wheel Hub-Bearing R&R.pdf
Hope that helps.

[PBGUY420]

Thanks I'll check it out when I get home from work tomorrow... Going to have to drive my wife's car... It got BAD today and where before I only heard grinding of bearing type sound and felt vibration now I can hear the rotor screaming for help... I know the rotors already shot, but I'd prefer not to hurt anything else by driving it like that


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[PBGUY420]

Ok I called ford again and actually got a knowledgeable guy, he narrowed it to the hub assembly as well. What I don't get is why the heck cant I buy just the wheel bearings and not a whole hub assembly


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[klhansen]

Originally Posted by PBGUY420

What I don't get is why the heck cant I buy just the wheel bearings and not a whole hub assembly.

That's what every manufacturer is going to now. The Techs love them, as they don't have to mess with greasing bearings and getting them adjusted correctly, they just bolt in place.

The hub assemblies use hardened in place bearing races, even if you replaced the bearing cone, the races, if worn, would take out new bearings in short order. They can be disassembled, but the nut is staked on after tightening to spec, and getting the proper bearing preload would be impossible for even a fairly well equipped shop.

[PBGUY420]

Ok so I'm heading to buy the hub assembly... What is the difference between the advance and the napa one? Y'all reccomended napa for quality but they quoted me 219 instead of advances 295 so I'm confused?


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[klhansen]

Originally Posted by PBGUY420

Ok so I'm heading to buy the hub assembly... What is the difference between the advance and the napa one? Y'all reccomended napa for quality but they quoted me 219 instead of advances 295 so I'm confused?

You have to pay for quality. What you want to look for is a hub assembly made by Timken or BCA/National, and preferably in the US. You may have to open the box and eyeball the unit to find the brand. Store brands are sometimes made by good manufacturers (Timken or BCA/National), and often by offshore manufacturers, which you probably want to avoid. Definitely not those from the country with the red flag with one big and 4 smaller stars on it.

[wookief350]

thats the reason i think i have to replace one of my hubs already 3 months and its shot