How to Repack the Front Wheel Bearings on a 2000 Ford Taurus

In the 2000 model year, Ford gave the aging Taurus a much needed overhaul, eliminating the oval-crazy body design that lasted from 1996 through 1999. The 2000 Taurus came standard with a 155-horsepower, 3.0-liter V-6 engine and struts on the front suspension. The wheel bearings on the front of the Taurus are an integral component with the hub, so repacking aging bearings is not an option. Once the front bearing starts wearing, you must replace the entire hub-and-bearing assembly, which is a rather in-depth process.

Instructions

Removal

1

Pry the center cap from the front wheels using a flat-head screwdriver. Remove the axle nuts, using a 1/2-inch-drive breaker bar and socket, as an assistant holds the brake pedal, then pull the washer off the end of each axle. Discard the axle nuts. Loosen the front lug nuts.

2

Raise the front of the vehicle with a floor jack and slide jack stands under the subframe. Lower the vehicle onto the jack stands, remove the lug nuts and pull the front wheels off the front hub.

3

Remove the two caliper bracket bolts using a ratchet and socket. Pull the caliper, pads and caliper bracket off the steering knuckle as one assembly. Hang the assembly from the front strut spring using a bungee strap.

4

Pull the cotter pin from the outer tie rod end stud with needle-nose pliers and remove the tie rod end nut using a ratchet and socket. Free the tie rod end by pressing it from the steering knuckle with a tie rod end puller.

5

Unfasten the bolt securing the antilock brake system sensor using a ratchet and Torx-bit socket. Pull the ABS sensor from the steering knuckle. Trace the ABS sensor wire away from the sensor until you reach the clip securing it to the strut. Pull the clip from the strut firmly. Position the sensor and wiring aside.

6

Unfasten the nut from the strut-to-steering knuckle pinch bolt using a ratchet and socket. Throw out this nut; you must replace it.

7

Remove and throw out the lower ball joint nut using a ratchet and socket. Disengage the lower control arm from the lower ball joint using a ball joint separator. Pry downward on the lower control arm with a 12-inch pry bar until it is free from the lower ball joint, then pull outward on the steering knuckle slightly to guide the lower ball joint from the lower control arm.

8

Position a hub puller and installer on the front hub and pull the hub from the axle, using the hub puller and installer. Remove the strut-to-steering knuckle pinch bolt, and remove the steering knuckle from the strut and off the Taurus. Hang the front axle in a level position with mechanics wire.

9

Secure the steering knuckle in a soft-jawed bench vise and remove the three bolts securing the hub-and-bearing assembly to the steering knuckle. Pull the hub-and-bearing assembly from the steering knuckle. Discard the three bolts.

10

Repeat Steps 3 through 9 to remove the hub-and-bearing assembly on the other side of the vehicle, if needed.

Installation

11

Clean the hub-and-bearing assemblys bore in the steering knuckle using parts cleaner and a clean, lint-free cloth. Coat the bore with high-temperature nickel anti-seize lubricant meeting Ford specification ESE-M12A4-A.

12

Slide the new hub-and-bearing assembly into the bore in the steering knuckle and hand-thread the three new hub-and-bearing assembly bolts, which came with the new assembly. Tighten the three bolts to 70 foot-pounds with a torque wrench and socket.

13

Guide the top of the steering knuckle onto the base of the strut and slide the strut-to-steering knuckle pinch bolt into place, with its metal tab facing upward.

14

Slide the axle shaft through the hole in the center of the hub-and-bearing assembly, then pull it outward with a hub puller and installer until the axle shaft seats fully in the hub-and-bearing assembly. Remove the mechanics wire that secures the axle.

15

Pry downward on the lower control arm with a 12-inch pry bar and guide the lower ball joint through its hole in the lower control arm. Hand-thread a new lower ball joint nut, then torque it to 59 foot-pounds with a torque wrench and socket.

16

Thread a new nut onto the strut-to-steering knuckle pinch bolt and tighten it to 85 foot-pounds.

17

Press the ABS wiring bracket back onto the strut until it clicks into place, securing the wiring. Insert the ABS sensor into its hole in the steering knuckle and hand-thread its retaining nut. Tighten the ABS sensors nut to 9 foot-pounds.

18

Guide the tie rod end stud through its hole in the top of the steering knuckle and tighten its castellated nut by hand. Tighten the castellated nut to 41 foot-pounds. Tighten the nut as needed until a valley on the castellated nut aligns with the hole through the outer tie rod end stud.

19

Slide a new cotter pin through the tie rod end stud and bend its legs in opposite directions, using needle-nose pliers, to secure it.

20

Set the rotor onto the new hub and position the caliper, brake pads and bracket onto the steering knuckle. Hand-tighten new caliper bracket bolts, then torque them to 76 foot-pounds.

21

Repeat Steps 1 through 10 to install the other new hub-and-bearing assembly.

22

Reinstall the front wheels onto the hub and hand-tighten its lug nuts. Raise the car from the jack stands and lower it to the ground. Tighten the lug nuts, in a crisscross pattern, to 95 foot-pounds.

23

Slide the washers back onto the axle shafts, then hand-tighten new axle nuts onto the axles. Tighten the axle nuts to 184 foot-pounds, then press the center caps back onto the wheels.

24

Take the Taurus to an automotive repair facility to have an alignment performed.