How to Change a Wheel Hub for a 1999 Ford Escort

Starting in 1981, the Escort stood on the front line of Fords defense against the influx of import vehicles. Despite a rocky start that included a laundry list of mechanical and safety recalls, the Escort was successful at keeping Ford in the compact car market. The 1999 model year was the final year for the full lineup of Escorts, as the Focus changeover began the following year with the elimination of the wagon body style. Replacing the wheel hubs on the 1999 Escort is an in-depth task, but performing it yourself can save you money.

Instructions

Front Hub

1

Loosen the Escorts front lug nuts on the wheel with the failed hub, using a ratchet and socket. Raise the front of the vehicle with a floor jack and slide jack stands under the vehicles subframe. Lower the Escort onto the jack stands. Remove the lug nuts and pull the wheel off the vehicle.

2

Set a pointed-tip punch on the staked part of the front axle nut, and tap the punch with a hammer to bend the stake upward to free the axle nut. Instruct an assistant to press and hold the brake pedal, as you remove the axle nut with a ratchet and socket.

3

Remove the caliper bolts with a ratchet and socket and lift the caliper and brake pads, as one assembly, off the steering knuckle. Hang the caliper and from a nearby suspension component with a bungee cord. Pull the brake rotor off the Escorts front hub.

4

Remove the cotter pin from the tie-rod end stud with needle-nose pliers. Remove the castellated nut from the tie rod end.

5

Position a tie-rod end separator on the tie-rod end, so its screw part touches the tie-rod end stud and the fixed part touches the top of the steering knuckle. Tighten the tie-rod end separator with a ratchet and socket until the tie-rod end pops free from the steering knuckle.

6

Unfasten the two antilock brake system wheel speed sensor bolts with a ratchet and socket and pull the sensor from the front hub. Remove the bolt securing the ABS wheel-speed sensor wires bracket to the steering knuckle and pull the bracket from the knuckle.

7

Remove the nut on the pinch bolt on the bottom of the steering knuckle, using a ratchet and socket while holding the pinch bolt still with a combination wrench. Pull the pinch bolt from the steering knuckle. Pull downward on the lower control arm to remove the ball joint stud from the steering knuckle.

8

Remove the lower nuts from the lower strut bolts with a ratchet and socket, as you hold their respective bolts still with a combination wrench. Pull the lower strut bolts from the lower strut mounts.

9

Pull the top of the steering knuckle from the lower strut mount and remove the steering knuckle from the Escort.

10

Remove the grease seal from the rear of the steering knuckle with a grease seal puller.

11

Position a bearing splitter on the wheel hub, so the splitters blade is between the hub and the steering knuckle. Set the steering knuckle into an arbor press with the hub facing downward. Press the hub out with the arbor press.

12

Remove the snap ring securing the wheel bearing in the hub with snap-ring pliers. Set the steering knuckle back into the arbor press, with the outer part of the knuckle facing down, and press the bearing out with the arbor press.

13

Flip the steering knuckle over, so it is face up in the arbor press. Apply a thin coat of a thread-locking chemical meeting Ford specification WSK-M2G351-A6 on the outer race of a new wheel bearing. Set the wheel bearing in the hole in the center of the front hub and press it in with the arbor press until it seats into place in the hub. Squeeze a new wheel bearing snap ring with snap-ring pliers and seat it into the groove in the hub.

14

Set a new wheel hub on the steering knuckle, lining up the shaft on the rear of the hub with the hole in the bearing. Press the hub into the bearing until it seats into place on the bearing the hub stops moving once it seats.

15

Turn the steering knuckle over and set a new grease seal on the rear of the knuckle. Drive the seal into place with a grease seal driver and hammer.

16

Set the top of the steering knuckle back onto the lower shock mount and slide the lower shock bolts through the two mounting holes. Hand-thread the lower strut nuts onto the bolts. Guide the front axle through the front hub.

17

Guide the lower ball joint into its hole on the bottom of the steering knuckle and slide the pinch bolt back through its hole in the steering knuckle. Thread the nut onto the pinch bolt by hand.

18

Tighten the lower strut mount nuts to between 69 and 93 foot-pounds with a torque wrench and socket while holding the bolts steady with a combination wrench. Hold the pinch bolt steady with a combination wrench and tighten its nut to between 32 and 43 foot-pounds.

19

Insert the ABS wheel speed sensor into its mounting hole in the front hub and hand-thread its retaining bolts. Tighten the bolts to between 12 and 16 foot-pounds. Set the ABS wheel speed sensor wire bracket back on the steering knuckle, so its bolt hole lines up with the bolt hole in the knuckle. Hand-thread the brackets bolt, then tighten it to 7 foot-pounds.

20

Guide the outer tie-rod end stud through its hole in the top of the steering knuckle and hand-thread the castellated nut onto its stud. Tighten the castellated nut to between 25 and 33 foot-pounds. Check that a valley in the castellated nut lines up with the hole through the tie-rod end stud. If one does not line up, slightly tighten the castellated nut until it does line up.

21

Insert a new cotter pin through the hole in the tie-rod end stud and bend its legs in opposite directions with needle-nose pliers to lock the pin in place. Hand-tighten a new axle nut onto the front axle shaft.

22

Set the brake rotor back onto the front hub. Set the brake caliper with the brake pads onto the steering knuckle and hand-thread its retaining bolts. Tighten the caliper bolts to between 36 and 43 foot-pounds.

23

Instruct your assistant to press and hold the brakes as you tighten the axle nut to between 174 and 235 foot-pounds. Stake the nut into the notch in the axle with a point-tipped punch and a hammer.

24

Reinstall the front wheel on the front hub and hand-tighten the Escorts lug nuts. Raise the Ford off the jack stands with a floor jack and remove the jack stands. Lower the Escort to the ground and tighten the lug nuts, in a crisscross pattern, to between 74 and 100 foot-pounds, if the Escort has alloy wheels, or between 66 and 88 foot-pounds if it has steel wheels.

Rear Hub

25

Loosen the rear lug nuts on the wheel with the bad hub, using a ratchet and socket. Raise the rear of the Escort with a floor jack and slide jack stands under the vehicles rear cross-member. Lower the Ford onto the jack stands.

26

Proceed directly to step 5, if your Escort has rear drum brakes, otherwise continue through to step 4. Remove the lower caliper bolt with a ratchet and socket and pivot the caliper upward, so it clears the brake pads and rotor. Press the caliper inward to remove it from the caliper bracket, only a pin secures the top of the caliper. Hang the caliper from a nearby suspension component with a bungee cord.

27

Squeeze each of the M-springs to disengage them from the holes on the pads and remove the M-springs. Slide the brake pads from the caliper bracket.

28

Unfasten the two caliper bracket bolts with a ratchet and socket and pull the caliper bracket from the rear hub. Remove the two screws securing the rotor to the hub, using a Phillips screwdriver, then pull the rotor off the rear hub. Proceed to step 6.

29

Remove the two drum-retaining screws with a Phillips screwdriver and pull the drum from the rear brake assembly with a slight wiggling motion.

30

Find where the rear hub nut is staked into the notch on the rear spindle shaft. Drive this stake out of the notch with a point-tipped punch and hammer. Remove the hub nut with a ratchet and socket.

31

Pull the hub off the rear spindle.

32

Guide a new rear hub onto the rear spindle and hand-thread a new hub nut onto the spindle shaft. Tighten the hub nut to between 130 and 174 foot-pounds with a torque wrench and socket. Using a point-tipped punch and a hammer, stake the new hub nut into the notch in the spindle shaft.

33

Proceed to step 10, if your Escort has disc brakes on the rear. Guide the drum onto the hub and press it onto the brake assembly until it seats into place. Tighten the two drum-retaining screws with a Phillips screwdriver. Proceed to step 12.

34

Set the rotor onto the rear hub and tighten the two rotor-retaining screws with a Phillips screwdriver. Set the caliper bracket on the rear spindle and hand-thread its retaining bolts. Tighten the caliper bracket bolts to between 34 and 44 foot-pounds.

35

Slide the brake pads into the caliper bracket and reinstall the two M-springs. Slide the upper caliper pin into place in the upper hole in the caliper bracket. Pivot the caliper downward, aligning the lower caliper bolt hole with the lower bolt hole on the caliper bracket. Hand-thread the lower caliper bolt, then torque it to between 33 and 43 foot-pounds.

36

Set the rear wheel back on the Escorts rear hub and hand-tighten the lug nuts. Raise the vehicle off the jack stands with a floor jack and remove the jack stands. Lower the Ford to the ground and tighten the lug nuts, in a crisscross pattern, to between 74 and 100 foot-pounds, if the Escort has alloy wheels, or between 66 and 88 foot-pounds if it has steel wheels.