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How to Replace a Ford Explorer Rear Hub Bearing

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
This article needs to be converted to wikiHow format as specified by the Writer's Guide. You can help by editing it now and then removing this notice. Notice added on 2008-01-08. This information is from the Ford Service Manual for a 2002 Ford Explorer, however it can be used for all 2002-2005 Ford Explorer’s, Mercury Mountaineer’s and Mercury Mariner vehicles.

Steps

1. The hub bearing on the rear of these vehicles is unfortunately not a bolt on hub assembly. This is a job that a do-it-yourselfer can do, however this repair requires the actual bearing and outer hub to be pressed in/out. This best way to go about this repair is to have a machine shop do the actual press work. You can do all of the other labor yourself and save several hundred dollars over what a shop would charge. A quick preface to these instructions is that you can remove the brakes and the entire hub and knuckle assembly yourself and then take the hub and knuckle assembly to a suitable machine shop with a new bearing kit in hand and have them do the pressing. Many machine shops have most likely performed this job several times in the past as these bearings are extremely common to fail. You should probably pop open the phone book and call for a quote from several machine shops to make sure they can do it and also they will probably want you to drop it off with them and then pick it up later when they are done. You can also call our tech support phone number at 1-866-770-2771.
2. We sell these hub repair kits on our website at wholesale, here is a link to the wheel hub bearing kit on our website:
3. Click here[[1]] for the 2002-2005 Ford Explorer Rear Wheel Hub Bearing Replacement Kit
4. REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION
5. Remove the wheel knuckle.
6. Wheel Knuckle
7. REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION
8. CAUTION: Do not loosen the axle wheel hub retainer until the wheel and tire are removed from the vehicle. Wheel bearing damage will occur if the wheel bearing is unloaded with the weight of the vehicle applied.
9. Remove the wheel and tire assembly.
10. NOTE: Have an assistant press the brake pedal to keep the axle from turning.
11. Remove the nut and washer and discard the nut. A new nut is recommended and can be purchased at a Ford dealer or we can supply one with the bearing. Call us at 1-866-770-2771 if you would like the nut with your order.
12. Remove the brake caliper by removing the bolts from the back side of the caliper bracket. Hold the caliper out of the way but do not allow it to hang by the brake hose. Hanging the caliper from the brake hose can cause internal damage to the brake hose. The brake caliper will slide off of the hub once the caliper is removed.
13. CAUTION: Do not damage the boot while separating the toe link from the knuckle.
14. Remove the nut and bolt and separate the toe link from the wheel knuckle and discard the nut.
15. CAUTION: Do not damage the boot while separating the ball joint from the knuckle.
16. Remove the nut and bolt and separate the upper ball joint from the wheel knuckle and discard the nut.
17. CAUTION: Do not use a hammer to separate the outboard CV joint from the hub. Damage to the threads and internal CV joint components may result.
18. Make sure the axle is free from the hub. The axle basically floats inside the hub and you can usually push slightly on the end of the axle to make sure it is disengaged from the hub.
19. Remove the nut and bolt and the wheel knuckle, hub and bearing as an assembly..
20. Rear Wheel Bearing***
21. NOTE*** This is where you can take the entire assembly and a new hub repair kit to a machine shop and let them do the actual press work. Doing this yourself is not recommended unless you have access to a heavy duty press with all of the proper adapters. Improper equipment or experience can cause damage to the new bearing, knuckle assembly, and could also cause bodily harm.
22. BEARING REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION
23. Remove the three bolts.
24. CAUTION: Make sure that the press adapter outside diameter is slightly smaller than the hub outside diameter or damage to the knuckle will result.
25. Using a suitable press, remove the hub from the bearing and discard the hub.
26. NOTE: The retainer ring is tapered and must be installed flat side down.
27. Remove and Discard the retainer ring.
28. Using a suitable press, remove the bearing from the wheel knuckle and discard the bearing.
29. CAUTION: The hub and bearing cannot be reused after disassembly.
30. To install, reverse the removal procedure.

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