First time replacing a wheel bearing 2009 Ford Flex

Joined
Jan 27, 2004
Messages
4,131
Location
Richmond, VA
The wifes Flex had some noise a few months ago when i last drove it and i meant to check it out...never did. Last weekend we drove to a friends house and the noise was significantly worse. I have never experienced a failed wheel bearing in my 31 years of driving but I knew thats what it was. The weather was so awful last weekend so i couldnt replace it, told the wife to not go far and keep speed under 45. Ordered the hub assembly from Rockauto and started watching youtube videos. I was intimidated from the outset because I watched guys use torches, slide hammers, pullers and lots of other tools that I dont own but can usually rent from autozone. After i got the tire off i took off the brake caliper then loosened 3 of the 4 hub bolts and used my neighbors electric impact to pull off the axle nut which took all of 5 seconds. Said a quick prayer and started to loosen the 4th hub bolt and the entire hub fell right out. Cleaned the inside of the hub and slapped the new one in. Torqued the 4 hub bolts to spec and hit the axle nut pretty hard with the impact wrench. Put the brake caliper back on and then the wheel. Felt like i missed a step because this was fairly easy. Took her for a test drive and all of the moaning and groaning is gone...but i swear the trans is shifting a little funny, so i guess tomorrow i will pull the drain plug and throw some mercon V in. Total time spent working about 3 hours, and i work really slow because its hard to find the right socket when your garage is as messy as mine.
 
I've done all 4 wheel bearings on my Flex, the fronts 2x - once because of a defective WB only lasted 15k km and once because son slid on ice and hit a curb softly...but enough to damage WB.

Anyways, the original WB were all absolute BEARS to remove, the salt used on our roads made these weld themselves to the hubs. I purchased a $200 tool - The Hub Buster to remove the remaining 3 WB and it saved the day, but regardless even with the hub buster tool it felt like 3 of the 4 bolts were still on and torqued !!

You got very lucky, I guess not much salt on the roads in your area.
 
I've done all 4 wheel bearings on my Flex, the fronts 2x - once because of a defective WB only lasted 15k km and once because son slid on ice and hit a curb softly...but enough to damage WB.

Anyways, the original WB were all absolute BEARS to remove, the salt used on our roads made these weld themselves to the hubs. I purchased a $200 tool - The Hub Buster to remove the remaining 3 WB and it saved the day, but regardless even with the hub buster tool it felt like 3 of the 4 bolts were still on and torqued !!

You got very lucky, I guess not much salt on the roads in your area.
Almost none, we get 1 or 2 bad weather days per winter on average. So the next weekend i get under the cars and spray them down with a hose to rinse the junk off. I guess all of the youtube videos that i watched were from guys up north.
 
Any idea on the axle nut size? When working on my escape doing the tone ring everything said it was a 32mm but nothing I had would fit so I had to stuff paper in the 32mm I tried SAE and 31 the 31 was too small and the 32 too big. I know yours could be different but I’m just wondering. I personally would of replaced both otherwise I couldn’t sleep at night lol.
 
The wifes Flex had some noise a few months ago when i last drove it and i meant to check it out...never did. Last weekend we drove to a friends house and the noise was significantly worse. I have never experienced a failed wheel bearing in my 31 years of driving but I knew thats what it was. The weather was so awful last weekend so i couldnt replace it, told the wife to not go far and keep speed under 45. Ordered the hub assembly from Rockauto and started watching youtube videos. I was intimidated from the outset because I watched guys use torches, slide hammers, pullers and lots of other tools that I dont own but can usually rent from autozone. After i got the tire off i took off the brake caliper then loosened 3 of the 4 hub bolts and used my neighbors electric impact to pull off the axle nut which took all of 5 seconds. Said a quick prayer and started to loosen the 4th hub bolt and the entire hub fell right out. Cleaned the inside of the hub and slapped the new one in. Torqued the 4 hub bolts to spec and hit the axle nut pretty hard with the impact wrench. Put the brake caliper back on and then the wheel. Felt like i missed a step because this was fairly easy. Took her for a test drive and all of the moaning and groaning is gone...but i swear the trans is shifting a little funny, so i guess tomorrow i will pull the drain plug and throw some mercon V in. Total time spent working about 3 hours, and i work really slow because its hard to find the right socket when your garage is as messy as mine.
Great....
How much money did you save by doing it yourself??? Any idea?
 
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