2011 F-250 Repeat wheel bearing failure
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'11 F-250 6.2L belongs to a fleet company that we work with regularly. Since the first wheel hub assembly got replaced in January 2019 at 132,453 miles, we've put five more hub bearings in this truck. Total of six hub assemblies. :ohmy: Four on the left front, two on the right, if I'm reading the service history right.
The odometer is over 150,000 miles now, and we're about to put two more hubs in it. Truck came in today with the left front smoked, excessive play. The right front had no play but excessive roughness when spun by hand.
First few hub assemblies were Moog. Next were Precision. No significant difference in bearing life between them.
So I ask you, what's causing this truck to eat it's wheel hubs? :huh: And before you suggest an overtorqued spindle nut, you should know that there is no spindle nut on this design. Solid front axle with locking hubs. Hub assembly bolts to the knuckle with four studs/nuts.
It's been suggested that the driver may just be an animal. :silly: But we see lots of abused trucks, and none eat bearings this quickly. Even lifted ones. Crap parts are definitely possible. But two different brands? I've seen other techs discuss poor engine grounding, causing current to flow across the bearings themselves. I've never seen it personally, but I intend to voltage drop the engine and body grounds during cranking once the new hubs are installed.
Any suggestions?
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- Hardtopdr2
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Tyler wrote: Surprised you haven't gone with O.E. or a bearing manufacturer before now. What's it getting this time?
More Precision. :silly: I've never worked on this truck, it's just been passed around to other techs.
Motorcraft bearings were suggested last time, but nobody wanted to pay for them. We made the same suggestion this time...
One other thought on parts is check you aren't getting hubs for a Dually. They might fit but will be designed to work with a very different wheel offset.
I'll check.
I've heard of that happening on vehicles with transaxles but it seems unlikely on a truck with solid axles IMO. Diff bearings would be the shorter path to ground.
Agreed, just trying to think outside the box.
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Or Motorcraft hub assembly.
Are you having to replace these failing assemblies under shop warranty?
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I did check the block ground for excessive voltage drop, despite the fact that it probably isn't the problem. No issues found.
RJMARRA, I hear ya. I've advocated for Motorcraft parts to anyone that'll listen. Oh well. We do all the oil changes for this fleet, so we'll see how the new hubs are in a few months.
Nelson60, I'm not sure who is footing the bills for these hubs, to be honest. I know that the shop doesn't get their labor claims paid back for months, so they're eating the labor in the short term, at least.
MATT T - I overwrote your post with my reply, and I have absolutely no idea how. :blush: I'm very sorry sir. Was not intentional. Remind me not to post while hangry during my lunch break.
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- BreakerPoints
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Hard to believe it is driver problem damaging only bearings or ground problem without any electrical symptoms or ground going only through bearing hmm and doesn't damage other rotating parts.
Ready to believe it is bad quality parts.
I do believe bearing doesn't fit or sit properly, car was in front hit accident, hit hard something with front wheels and shifted driveline and suspension parts.
What kind of bearings are used, gen1, gen2? Any special tool required to press fit them in?
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- Hardtopdr2
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Also hubs bolt on no special tools (at least for the dana front axle) and if you have to do ball joints you will have to pull axles out and replace vacuum actuated locking hub seals when doing ball joints. Those suck the daylight out of your day.
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Hub in Auto. Ball joints are Moog only a year old. Not sure on the balance but he is getting new tires soon so we will see how the new bearings fare.
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I'll check on Monday. I know we've seen this truck at least once since I opened this thread.2012 F-250 here. I have constant wheel hub failures also. Mine are always the inner bearing that the 4x4 shaft rides in. Any conclusions on what actually fixed the issue would be great!
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The last set of bearings were Precision P/N 590435, if anyone is interested. That's the same part number that we'd put on previously, so I don't think there's anything special about that P/N. Either we just got lucky with the last set, or the bearings are smoked and no one caught it.
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