How Do I Change a 1998 Ford Explorer Front Wheel Bearing?

Taking advantage of a small niche market at the time, Ford released the first of many luxury-style SUVs, the Explorer, in 1991. Thought the original Explorer did not hold a candle to more modern luxuries seen in SUVs, it was high-end for its era, including standard features like 15-inch wheels and an AM-FM stereo system. Its optional cruise control, premium audio system, leather interior and sunroof placed the upgraded Explorer, such as the Eddie Bauer edition, in a class all its own. When replacing the front wheel bearings on the 1998 Ford explorer, keep in mind that you must replace both bearings inner and outer.

Instructions

1

Loosen the front lug nuts with a ratchet and socket. Raise the Explorer with a floor jack and slide jack stands under the frame rails. Lower the Explorer onto the jack stands. Remove the lug nuts and pull the wheels off the front hubs.

2

Remove the brake caliper, by removing the two caliper bolts with a ratchet and socket and pulling the caliper off its bracket. Hang the caliper from a nearby suspension component with a bungee strap. Slide the brake pads from the caliper bracket. Remove the two caliper bracket bolts from the caliper bracket with a ratchet and socket, and pull the bracket from the Explorers steering knuckle.

3

Pry the grease cap from rotor with a flat-head screwdriver. Pull the cotter pin from the spindle shaft with needle-nose pliers and pull the spindle nut retainer from the nut and off the spindle shaft. Remove the spindle nut from the spindle shaft with a ratchet and socket. Pull the washer from spindle shaft and pull the rotor outward to disengage the outer wheel bearing. Remove the outer bearing from the spindle shaft. Remove rotor from spindle shaft.

4

Remove the grease seal from the rear of the rotor with a grease seal puller. Pull the inner bearing from the rear of the rotor.

5

Set the rotor face up on two 4-inch high blocks of wood. Insert a drift punch into the hole in the rotor until it contacts the inner bearing race. Drive the inner bearing race from the rotor by tapping around the circumference of the race with a hammer and drift punch. Flip the rotor over and repeat this step on the outer bearing race.

6

Clean inside the rotor thoroughly with parts cleaner and clean, lint-free cloths. Set a new outer bearing race in the center of the rotor with the tapered edge facing up, then drive the race into the rotor with a bearing race driver and a hammer. Flip the rotor over and repeat this step to drive in a new inner bearing race.

7

Fill a bearing packing tools reservoir with fresh long-life grease meeting Ford specification ESA-M1C75-B. Set a new inner bearing in the reservoir filled with grease, then slowly insert the packers plunger until it contacts the bearing. In one smooth stroke, press the plunger downward until it stops moving. Remove the plunger and pull the bearing out. Set the bearing on a clean, lint-free cloth. Repeat this step on the new outer wheel bearing.

8

Fill the hole inside the center of the rotor with fresh long-life grease meeting Ford specification ESA-M1C75-B. Set the inner bearing into the hole in the rear of the rotor. Position a new grease seal over the bearing and drive the seal in, using a seal driver and hammer.

9

Guide the rotor onto the spindle shaft. Slide the new outer bearing onto the spindle shaft and guide it into the hole in the center of the rotor. Slide the metal washer onto the spindle shaft until it contacts the outer bearing and hand-thread the spindle nut onto the spindle shaft.

10

Tighten the spindle shaft nut to between 17 and 24 foot-pounds with a torque wrench and socket while spinning the rotor backwards. Loosen the spindle nut about a half-turn with a ratchet and socket, then tighten it to 2 foot-pounds while spinning the rotor forward.

11

Slide the castellated spindle nut retainer onto the spindle shaft until it sets on the spindle nut and one of the valleys in its castellated top lines up with the hole through the spindle shaft. Insert a new cotter pin through the hole in the spindle shaft and bend the pins legs in opposite directions, using needle-nose pliers, to lock it into place.

12

Set the grease cap back on the rotor and seat it by tapping it lightly with a rubber mallet.

13

Set the caliper bracket in place on the steering knuckle and hand-thread its retaining bolts. Tighten the bracket-retaining bolts to between 72- and 97 foot-pounds. Slide the brake pads into the caliper bracket and set the caliper back onto the bracket. Tighten the caliper bolts to 24 foot-pounds.

14

Repeat steps 2 through 13 to replace the front wheel bearings on the other side of the Explorer, if needed.

15

Reinstall the front wheel on the front hubs and hand-tighten the lug nuts. Raise the SUV off the jack stands with a floor jack and remove the jack stands. Lower the Explorer to the ground and tighten the lug nuts, in a crisscross pattern, to 100 foot-pounds.