Wheel Bearing

[mikehawncho]

Anyone else have any issues with wheel bearings? I bought a 2019 Raptor with 34,000 miles - on the test drive I heard what I thought was a bad wheel bearing but wrote it off as potential tire noise because the tires were pretty chopped up from not being rotated.
Brought the truck home and jacked it up to rotate the tires, checked for play in the bearing and sure enough the bearing was shot. Brought the truck back to the dealership, the techs took it out for a 30 mile joyride and come back to let me know, “driver side wheel bearing is shot”.


yeah, I know.

Takes almost 2 weeks to order the part and get my truck back in the dealership for the repair. They replaced the hub, humming noise went away for the rest of the day and came back the following day. I jack the truck up again when I got home from work and there’s play in the bearing again, just like the first time. Also noticed the 1/8” black tubing that runs down to the hub was rubbing against the inside of my wheel because the clip was reinstalled upside down causing the wheel to run through that tube(not sure of the purpose?).


The dealership says it’s another week before they can look at it, will be a week to order the part, another week to get an appointment. The truck also has the cam phaser rattling issue - the Ford techs told me they couldn’t hear it. Strange, I could hear it from the waiting room but they couldn’t hear it standing next to the truck.

I’ve owned the truck for 3 weeks and it’s going on it’s 3rd trip back to the dealership. Not happy.

 

[nikhsub1]

Sounds like you have a dealer problem more than anything.

 

[mikehawncho]

The post was more of a venting session than anything.

But, the real reason I started the post is I am curious if anyone else has experienced the wheel bearing going bad so quick, and more so having two go bad - just got off on a tangent.

 

[nikhsub1]

Honestly wheel bearings don’t come up much around here so Im gonna say it isn’t a know issue like the phasers or the iwe check valve. You could have just gotten a bad batch or whatever. My comment wasn’t meant to be *******- it really seems like your dealer is the bigger issue so far.

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Most of the issues are with iwe’s making a grinding noise and not wheel bearings. Did you check to see if the nut backed off for the axle? Sounds like you might need a new hub assy now, but who knows, something to ponder. Maybe ask if you can have a more experienced tech look at your truck this time. Might help. But good luck and keep us informed.

 

[FordTechOne]

There are no common issues with wheel bearings. You bought a used truck; there is no way to know the entire history or how it was used.

As far as the replacement bearing failure, following the installation procedure on these bearings is critical. The fact that the replacement failed the next day is a good indication that it was installed incorrectly or that there is underlying suspension damage (bent components, etc.) from the prior owner. You may want to have them put it on the alignment rack to verify everything is within spec.

 

[mikehawncho]

There are no common issues with wheel bearings. You bought a used truck; there is no way to know the entire history or how it was used.

As far as the replacement bearing failure, following the installation procedure on these bearings is critical. The fact that the replacement failed the next day is a good indication that it was installed incorrectly or that there is underlying suspension damage (bent components, etc.) from the prior owner. You may want to have them put it on the alignment rack to verify everything is within spec.

I understand your point of not knowing the history prior to purchase - nothing else is showing wear or signs of abuse.

The dealer replaced the entire hub - could you elaborate on the critical part of the install that could have been done incorrectly? I’ve replaced hubs due to bad wheel bearings on older trucks in the past, thought it was a very straight forward job.

 

[FordTechOne]

I understand your point of not knowing the history prior to purchase - nothing else is showing wear or signs of abuse.

The dealer replaced the entire hub - could you elaborate on the critical part of the install that could have been done incorrectly? I’ve replaced hubs due to bad wheel bearings on older trucks in the past, thought it was a very straight forward job.

On these trucks the hub assembly interfaces with the Integrated Wheel End (IWE). It is critical that the IWE is compressed with vacuum during hub installation to avoid damage to either component. Once the axle shaft is inserted into the wheel bearing, the threaded end needs to be measured for depth within the wheel bearing. It it's too shallow, the splines are not aligned and damage will occur. If CV depth is correct, the axle nut then needs to be torqued to 30 lb.ft. That is of course much lower than a typical axle nut torque spec, which is often 150-300 lb.ft.

 

[Jakenbake]

On these trucks the hub assembly interfaces with the Integrated Wheel End (IWE). It is critical that the IWE is compressed with vacuum during hub installation to avoid damage to either component. Once the axle shaft is inserted into the wheel bearing, the threaded end needs to be measured for depth within the wheel bearing. It it's too shallow, the splines are not aligned and damage will occur. If CV depth is correct, the axle nut then needs to be torqued to 30 lb.ft. That is of course much lower than a typical axle nut torque spec, which is often 150-300 lb.ft.

Does that apply to gen 1’s as well or just the gen 2? Good info either way!

 

[Oldfart]

I've never seen one mention in here of bearing failure like that. Sounds like you had a fluke and then got a tech that didn't do the repair/install properly.