I have quite a bit of tire unevenness...which the Ford place failed to notice during my tire rotations. So I went to Firestone for an alignment on my truck before I invest $2,500 in new tires. They said one of my front bearings is bad and for that truck (18 F-150 4wd) the bearings and hub assembly is one piece and would run $599 for the hub assembly and $208 for installation. I told them I'd think about it and left. My mistake was not going out there while it was on the lift so they could show me. To their credit they didn't charge anything. I'm getting ready to jack it up myself and check for wheel play and rotation noise. Any other signs I should be checking for? Also, if it is bad, should I change both sides at the same time? I can buy the assembly online for $120 ea. I watched a couple of YouTube videos so I might try to replace myself...after buying a torque wrench.

Grab the tire at top and bottom and see if you have any play by pulling and pushing. If so change it. If the other side isn’t bad yet I wouldn’t change it.

Yes, buy the part and do it yourself. $700 for a hub bearing replacement is ridiculous

Went through this exact thing two years ago….NTB said the same thing.

I was just under 60,000 miles, so took it to the dealership…ended up being a lot more than that…..replaced the drivers side hub assembly, and when that didn’t solve the problem, they also replaced the fron differential and bearings (I think) in the transfer case.

All covered under the power train warranty….first time in my life that warranty was ever worth something.

I'm at 50k miles. I understand this is a common repair on these trucks. Did you have uneven tire wear?

A little….but had a sort of dull roar coming from the front left.

If you’re at 50, Ford will fix it under the power train warranty.

Interesting. I might take it in then. This truck was serviced every 5k miles at the dealership and they never said a word about the tire wear. I should have noticed it earlier myself.

Y’all got me going to check my tires. Just turned 57,000. I watch them pretty close though.

That's really early for that type of issue. You off road a lot?

Here is my thread from 3 years ago.

[img]https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/7494495/1[/img]

I’m on set number 3 of hubs for my Ram. First set was an obvious failure, tire canted in, ate up break pads, smelled like tar.

Second set failure was much less noticeable and the east way of checking by grabbing the tire and shaking didn’t work. There was no noise. Best I can figure out was that I had flattened some of the needle bearings and at certain times they would position themselves and cause a bad vibration. I chased this thinking it was tire balance issues for almost a year.

I will add that $208 for the labor is a great price. If you’ve never done it before and it’s anything like my Ram, it’s a tough job the first time.

I just hugged my Tundra.

I have some pretty rough areas of the lease I traverse regularly, and the oversize tires/wheels may have contributed. I just jacked it up and tried checking the usual. Couldn't rock it back and forth but it was rather hard to spin. I checked the other side and it spun easier. Guess I'll make a trip to Ford Monday morning.

Yea, I'd happily pay that service fee, but their price for the hub assembly is totally out of line. $120 brand new on Ebay.

Might also check your lower ball joint. On my last F150 I had tire wear and the lower ball joints were bad at 35k. I called a Ford dealer and they said I was lucky and some only make it to 25k. I said are you serious. I would check the country of origin before buying a hub assembly on Ebay. I have read nothing but bad stuff on Chinese wheel bearings.

Exactly

They’re nothing like doing the ones on your 2500 Ram.

Hubs are not bad to change
And yes your bigger tires don’t help the life expectancy of the hubs

I bought cheap ones once. Then a year later I bought better ones. That’s was on a F-250 diesel though.

Correct, I would do my research before choosing a hub and or bearing.

If you would like some help, PM me

I have an appt with Ford on Tuesday morning, but I may just show up on Monday. Hopefully, whatever it is, is covered under the warranty. I have both the regular and an extended coverage.
Definitely appreciate the offer, Sir.

Jimbo Monday is a holiday. Just saying

Dang if it isn't...still getting used to retired life! HaHa!!

Dealership techs only get the big holidays off. They’ll be open Monday.