Need bearing hub advice

[bowman818]

I need to replace my front axle bearing hubs. Early99 F250 4X4. What brands are good? I have found them from $280 to $545 each for professional grade. Where is a good place to buy them?
Also, are the bearing conversion kits any good, and where can you buy them?
Thanks for any help.

[JSchuricht]

I have the Dynatrac freespin on my 00, don't recall where I bought it but it's worth it.

[Schnot]

If you have the cash id say convert it. The sealed unit bearing on these things are junk. Ive had both the expensive ones and the cheaper ones and they have both lasted about the same. The stock ones lasted the longest believe it or not.

[dieselcrawler]

a middle-ground solution for a early '99 is to convert to newer unit berrings and rotors. They bolt right in, and are cheaper to buy and easier to find. No modifications needed, but just buy a wheel/unit berring for a 2000, and a rotor for same, and you're set... local Advance Auto Parts normally sells them to me for about $180/ea. for the unit berring.

You have to change both the unit berring and the rotor, as they are slightly diffrent, about a 1/4" depth diffrence... if you use your old rotor it will hit the brake caliper bracket. I posted some pictures in another thread a while back... not computer savvy enough to help you out with a link, but try a search for 'rotor caliper e99' top thread should be 'break and wheel berring upgrade' in the early '99 forum

[bowman818]

Thanks for the info everyone.
dieselcrawler: I think I will do like you suggested and switch to later bearing and rotor. That is more in my price range. I'll try to find your other posts about it.

[dieselcrawler]

Originally Posted by bowman818

Thanks for the info everyone.
dieselcrawler: I think I will do like you suggested and switch to later bearing and rotor. That is more in my price range. I'll try to find your other posts about it.

Others have reported that the cost of the newer unit berrings and newer rotors was still cheaper than the older style unit berring alone... I had an old set of rotors from my F350 from when I replaced them, so my cost was even less, just had to have my used rotors turned, and my buddy works at the parts store, so I've kept a 'warrenteed' unit berring handy on the shelf... I lucked out, and only had about $30 in the whole thing!
good luck with your swap!

[bowman818]

Thanks. I located some Timken hubs for $170 each for the newer hub. Rotors aren't too bad, so it should work out well. I should be able to fix it for under $500.

[bowman818]

Thanks for the help everyone. Got everything put in and it works great. I used late '99 hubs and spaced the brake caliper out with .125 washer to make up the difference in the hub flange diameter ( the hub flange thickness is apparrently the only difference between the early and late '99). Well, that and a lot of money! Whenever I need to replace the rotors I will pull the washers and use late '99 rotors. I also performed a crude alignment until I can get it to a shop Monday. It had close to 1/4 of toe in after doing ball joints and hub! Also replaced axle debris seals.



Parts used:

last week: Raybestos professional grade ball joints from RockAuto.com @ ~$190 total

this week: Timken professional grade hub bearings from AutoZone @ ~$360 total

Timken debris seal @ for ~$18 each.

[Microwave F E]

What's the difference in the bearings?
Thanks gents.


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app

[oteps]

If your main unit bearing is ok, you can buy the needle bearing inside it from napa for about $20.