Wheel Bearing problem?

[mustang50v8]

so my car makes this noise when i drive that at first didnt bother me, but now i think its getting worse or its just aggravating me more...


its like a humming/ droning noise coming from the front of the car. it actually reminds me of the sound trucks/jeeps with VERY aggressive tires make when they drive. it corresponds to the speed i am traveling, not engine speed, so i know its not the exhaust. i originally thought it was the blizzaks i was using as they seem to be "knobby" tires, but now that i have the NT555's back on it still happens.


i think its the wheels bearing in one or both of my front hubs, but im not sure..can anyone confirm or deny this thinking? also how much does the part cost? im not so much worried about the labor, because my friend is a mechanic and will let me use his shop. i just dont want this to be some 200-300 part for each side cause one of my ball joints is starting to go too.

 

[squeak93]

Jack up the car in the front, spin each tire and see if you can duplicate the noise.

If it is the hub, they are 50-75 each depending on which place you go.

Check your wheels for side to side and top to bottom movement too.

 

[ran260gt]

My quess it your W/B , I paid around 100+$ for a new one and installed it myself , Its VERY EASY , the hardest part is finding what side it bad and getting the brakes off , and thats not even hard !
You need a 36mm nut from Ford its 20bucks !
You need a 36mm socket if you dont have one , you can get one at Autozone for 17bucks .
A Torque wrench that goes to 258lbs OR you can rent one from Autozone that goes up to 120 , go to Lowes or H.D. and get a Black pipe 1in by 48in long I had to do this because my T/W only goes to 150lbs.
and a 1/2 drive ratchet.
Brake cleaner and high temp grease!

Remove your brakes , be very carfull removing the rubber coated medal cap and you can reuse it , use two screw drivers and a hammer, and work it off Carefuly,
it you bent it you need to get one from Ford 7$ , after its off get your 36mm socket, put the 1/2 drive ratchet in your black pipe and take off the old 36mm nut it should be very tight and (its best not to reuse the old nut, one time only thing ) , ok now pull off your old hub(give it a few wacks with you hammer if it giving you trouble) after its off , use carb or brake cleaner to clean up the spindle , now grease the spindle and slid on new hub , install new 36mm nut tighten as tight you can get it with the ratchet , now torque it down as tight as the torque wrench will go , get you ratchet put it in your black pipe and tighten it( this part has to be done by feel ) remember what 120lbs felt like and double that , you will get the idea , it has to be very tight , Ford spec is 258 , but if you look in the Haye book if say something like 250-300fbls , so it does not have to be right at 258lbs , install cab , install brakes and tire , do a few power slids a burnout and a few figure 8s in the street your all done well the last part is just optional

Look in my photo album , I have some pics on W/B replace to give you an idea whats involved , good luck and remmeber it may sound alot harder then it is and if you have a T/W that goes to aleast 250 then even better !

 

[Dark_Horse]

My quess it your W/B , I paid around 100+$ for a new one and installed it myself , Its VERY EASY , the hardest part is finding what side it bad and getting the brakes off , and thats not even hard !
You need a 36mm nut from Ford its 20bucks !
You need a 36mm socket if you dont have one , you can get one at Autozone for 17bucks .
A Torque wrench that goes to 258lbs OR you can rent one from Autozone that goes up to 120 , go to Lowes or H.D. and get a Black pipe 1in by 48in long I had to do this because my T/W only goes to 150lbs.
and a 1/2 drive ratchet.
Brake cleaner and high temp grease!

Remove your brakes , be very carfull removing the rubber coated medal cap and you can reuse it , use two screw drivers and a hammer, and work it off Carefuly,
it you bent it you need to get one from Ford 7$ , after its off get your 36mm socket, put the 1/2 drive ratchet in your black pipe and take off the old 36mm nut it should be very tight and (its best not to reuse the old nut, one time only thing ) , ok now pull off your old hub(give it a few wacks with you hammer if it giving you trouble) after its off , use carb or brake cleaner to clean up the spindle , now grease the spindle and slid on new hub , install new 36mm nut tighten as tight you can get it with the ratchet , now torque it down as tight as the torque wrench will go , get you ratchet put it in your black pipe and tighten it( this part has to be done by feel ) remember what 120lbs felt like and double that , you will get the idea , it has to be very tight , Ford spec is 258 , but if you look in the Haye book if say something like 250-300fbls , so it does not have to be right at 258lbs , install cab , install brakes and tire , do a few power slids a burnout and a few figure 8s in the street your all done well the last part is just optional

Look in my photo album , I have some pics on W/B replace to give you an idea whats involved , good luck and remmeber it may sound alot harder then it is and if you have a T/W that goes to aleast 250 then even better !

Why are the old 36mm nuts unusable? I'm wondering because i just replaced my hubs, bearings, brakes, steering rack, and installed new bumpsteer kit. I never thought to replace the nuts so I'm wondering if this is the reason why I'm getting some front wheel vibrations at higher speeds (already got the alignment).

mustang50v8 - pulling the hubs off is really easy and replacing the bearings is a cinch. Just make sure that you have a good torque bar so you'll be able to get the 36mm nuts off, it takes quite a bit of force but you can get em

 

[bhuff30]

The nuts do need to be replaced. I believe that's because it is a crush type nut which permanently deforms when torque.

When the bearing in my right front hub went bad, it never made any noise. I only noticed the steering was loose. After getting the front in the air, I verified it was the wheel bearing by wiggling the wheel to find what was loose.

 

[mustang50v8]

when replacing the hub is there a specific brand i should be buying?

autozone has 3 different brands, and napa only has one...but doenst list a brand.


autozone - timken

autozone - dynapak

autozone - valucraft

napa - no brand

 

[ran260gt]

Almost everything I replace for my car comes from Ford , but when my hub/bearing took a **** on me,
Ford wanted like 110 or so and it came on a Bill week , so I had to get one from PepBoys , Proline for 59.99 ,
it seems fine so im sure an Autozone hub is just as good !

 

[ran260gt]

Why are the old 36mm nuts unusable? I'm wondering because i just replaced my hubs, bearings, brakes, steering rack, and installed new bumpsteer kit. I never thought to replace the nuts so I'm wondering if this is the reason why I'm getting some front wheel vibrations at higher speeds (already got the alignment).

mustang50v8 - pulling the hubs off is really easy and replacing the bearings is a cinch. Just make sure that you have a good torque bar so you'll be able to get the 36mm nuts off, it takes quite a bit of force but you can get em

Everything I have read suggest to replace the Nut , as its a one time only kind of nut , it sucks because its almost 20bucks ,
but I guess something that holds your wheel on, 20bucks isnt to bad !

 

[Dark_Horse]

Everything I have read suggest to replace the Nut , as its a one time only kind of nut , it sucks because its almost 20bucks ,
but I guess something that holds your wheel on, 20bucks isnt to bad !

Hmm this is good info to have, I need to replace those nuts very soon then. Thanks for the tip.

 

[04War]

I had a similiar problem. The inside of the wheel was rubbing against the break line. How do you replace the rear wheel bearings on a 04 mustang GT? Do they need to be pressed with a machine? I can't even figure out how to remove the set.

 

[squeak93]

Are you talking about the front or rear wheel bearings? The front was explained above and the rear here in your other thread: http://forums.stangnet.com/782145-04-gt-rear-wheel-bearing.html

 

[96SCstang]

you can reuse the nut....it's done all the time. if you are worried about it just put some blue locktite on it before assembly. make SURE you torque to spec though or you will prematurly wear the new bearing out. only put a timken or ford bearing on the car. i put lots of bearings on lots of cars and never have a problem with timken.

 

[mustang50v8]

i did bearings and ball joints done on my car today. car drives and tracks so much nicer now. i got Moog ball joints, they are MUCH nicer than the stock ones and i got National hubs. i was surprised, but the National ones also look to be much better built than the factory ones as well.


it no longer sounds like i am driving a jeep with an 8" lift and 44" mudders

 

[mustang50v8]

also, incase anybody is still reading this thread....if you replace the ball joints, i highly reccomend the moog's.....they are not only a higher quality piece, they are grease-able and the dust boot is more durable.....none of that "lifetime" garbage that ford puts on.

 

[knightmare90]

Where do I but the 36mm nut? Online?

 

[ran260gt]

Where do I but the 36mm nut? Online?

Ford parts desk !

 

[DAZ]

you can reuse the nut....it's done all the time. if you are worried about it just put some blue locktite on it before assembly. make SURE you torque to spec though or you will prematurly wear the new bearing out. only put a timken or ford bearing on the car. i put lots of bearings on lots of cars and never have a problem with timken.

I just replaced both front wheel hubs. I went to Ford Dealer and asked parts department for two wheel hub nuts and caps. The manual says that both have to be replaced. The parts guys said he rarely sells these and the repair department just uses the originals. So I reused the original. I haven't noticed any problem yet and I have put on about 200 miles so far. I used Timken Wheel Hubs.