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Brake and wheel bearing upgrade

12K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  SLO_F-250 
#1 ·
Would one recommend putting later 1999-2004 wheel bearings and brake rotors on or will the e99 hold up with a 4" lift and 38"-40" tires? I currently have 35's on my stock height with no problems yet.
Thanks
 
#2 ·
The rotors and wheel berrings are basicly the same, only spaced diffrently from early to late... I have both types, compaired them side to side, and did in fact swap my early '99 wheelberings and rotors to the newer style late '99/2000. You must change both the rotor and the wheel berring, the offset in the berring is counteracted by the same oppiset offset in the rotor... caliper never knows the diffrence from one to the other, caliper seems to be the same. There is only about 1/4" diffrence, but the newer style will make the front tires sit about 1/4" farther out of the fenders.

My only reason was having warrenteed parts on hand for the newer ones, and a set of freshly turned newer rotors...

Rotors, side by side...


Hubs, side by side...


However, in your case, running bigger tires (38" plus) I'd recomend the kits that convert from the unit berring style to fixed spindle and tappered berrings with adjusting nuts like a Dana 60 from the early 80's would have. Mutch stronger design, and worth the money. If you are willing to spend $3000 on fancy aluminum rims and new rubber in the 40" range, the $1800 for the spindle kit will be worth it over the life of the truck. Good luck eather way...
 
#3 ·
I had these on my 99, never did wheel bearings again. Kinda pricey though.

Dynatrac
 
#4 ·
I converted my truck to late99-03 bearings and rotors a few years ago for ease of getting parts. It was actually cheaper to get new bearings and rotors for late99-03 than it was to get bearings only for the early99.
 
#5 ·
What about for the 2wd e99s? I'm about to do bearings and rotors on my 2wd and would like to swap to the newer style. Is it basically the same thing and easy to swap or are the 2wds different?
 
#6 ·
I think the 2wd's are diffrent... the rotor and hub are one pc, and the berrings are a tappered berring with adjustable lock nut, not the non-adjustable unit berrings like in the 4x4 trucks... Not sure of the break diffrences there... I only have 4x4 trucks.
 
#7 · (Edited)
So I just change over the bearing assembly and rotors to the late 99 style? And what diameter of rotor do I need for the front on a F350 SRW? Oh, I also have Warn manual hub lockers, so would I be able to retain those in the swap?
 
#8 ·
match up the sizes on the rotor you remove... and yes, the lock out hubs you have will work on the replacement unit berring just the same...
 
#9 ·
Not to hijack, but are there any upgrade rotors for the E99s? My brakes are about 16K old and I have warped the FoMoCo rotors twice and they are expensive to have turned.
 
#11 ·
Quick question here. I am currently doing the swap and I just put everything back together but the auto locking hub and now the little snap ring wont fit on the axle shaft with the three washers behind it.

Has anyone gotten a hub that is wider than it should be? Outer axle shaft is new as well so I guess it could be short as well but I don't feel like ruining the seal to find out.

Any harm in only running one or two of those washers?
 
#12 ·
I also have a question, Im in need of a new wheel bearing and see that the hub with 4wheel abs is 115 dollars cheaper than the one with out abs... makes no sense to me but could i buy the 4 wheel abs one and just cut the wire off? I did something similar before on my ranger and it worked fine...
 
#14 ·
ABS wires are hangin under my E99 truck with no problem... I just looped them thru the frame, the look like they go somewhere from the outside of the truck! Havin the newer hubs with ABS wires doesn't affect the use of the berring, and the axle stub shaft is the same for all years, as is the lock out hub. Removing one of the 3 washers shouldn't hurt, but I'd try to get a prybar behind the universal joint and pry the axle toward the outside, to see if I gained the room needed for the washer before I tossed it. The axle seals might need compressed a little, shouldn't be an issue.
 
#15 ·
In my experience replacing my (4x4) early year 99 hubs and rotors with later year was worth it. I kept blowing front bearings. The later year has a thicker hat on the hub section of the rotor and the mounting flange on the bearings is also thicker. Since ford designed the bearing retaining cage in the sealed hub out of plastic/nylon for these year vehicles the thicker steel must reduce flex and distortion a little because they seem to hold up better or the retaining cage in the later year is changed back to metal again. I'm not sure, I haven't tore one of the late model hubs apart yet because it hasn't failed...yet. I have about 45k on the late model hubs I wasn't able to get that out of the early year 99's.

Ford sure does seal those hubs so you can't get inside to service them. I built my own spanner nut and bolted it back to the rim then parked my suv on one side of the tire but I spun the rim out from under it so i pinned the rim down with two trucks and used an 8 foot cheater bar....it came apart. Thats how I found they use plastic as the new retaining cage in the bearing and that is what failed in mine.
 
#16 ·
Finished the 99+ Wheel Bearing Upgrade

Well, just did a good amount of front end work on my e99 (8/98) - did the wheel bearing upgrade (ball joints too, lubed the locking hubs, etc etc) -discovered I didn't need to get new rotors on mine as clearance was fine for all parts involved. Perhaps previous owner updated the rotors? Anyhow, I did the upgrade because $170.00 Timken unit bearings sound so much better than $600+ "cheap" unit bearings. Of course they came with the 4 wheel ABS wheel speed sensors hanging out... I just routed them to the nearest frame hole, and that's when I discovered my truck has the pigtails for these sensors fastened to the frame... now I am pretty much POSITIVE I only have rear wheel abs due to the build date and looking around under the hood, just wondering if anyone else has ever noticed this on their e99? thinking I will just connect them up as a good way to keep them out of the way...

Just when I thought I had this early 99 thing figured out... :umno:
 
#18 ·
What do you mean? My ABS works fine on my early 99.

Sent from my Acer Android Tablet
 
#20 ·
Rear ABS Yes, Front?

Always had rear wheel ABS on my truck - never had the front, almost worried about plugging in those sensors now based on HVAC supertech's post, were these trucks equipped to do 4wheel ABS but just never had the hubs with speed sensors or are there other considerations I should be investigating... not really interested in having 4 wheel ABS on my truck, but would like to know why those pigtails are there.
 
#21 ·
Im getting ready to do the swap because I found the later model Timkin Wheel bearings with the abs sensor (not that it matters) new with warranty for 160 for the pair... but I have one more question. When you guys have done the swap do you have to get new lug nuts? It seems like all the late 99 bearings make it very clear that they have Course threads... or are the rotors the only thing ill have to change out.

Thanks
 
#23 ·
New Lug Nuts not needed

Mine is a December 98 build and it did not need new lug nuts when I switched to Timken Wheel bearings (late model style with the ABS sensor) - just did the change out about 2 months ago and its very fresh in my mind.

Next question - where in the heck did you find Timkens for 160 for a pair? If they are real - pm me a link and I will stock up for future. I paid 170 per unit bearing for a total of 340.00 for the pair.

Also beware of counterfeit Timken bearings - do a google search and you will find that its a really big issue and Timken & SKF have filed multiple suits on this due to China etc going so far as to mark/stamp the fake bearings with Timken or SKF markings for a full on counterfeit - just FYI - too good to be true often is...

Good luck
 
#24 ·
Mine is a December 98 build and it did not need new lug nuts when I switched to Timken Wheel bearings (late model style with the ABS sensor) - just did the change out about 2 months ago and its very fresh in my mind.

Next question - where in the heck did you find Timkens for 160 for a pair? If they are real - pm me a link and I will stock up for future. I paid 170 per unit bearing for a total of 340.00 for the pair.

Also beware of counterfeit Timken bearings - do a google search and you will find that its a really big issue and Timken & SKF have filed multiple suits on this due to China etc going so far as to mark/stamp the fake bearings with Timken or SKF markings for a full on counterfeit - just FYI - too good to be true often is...

Good luck
Alaskan, where did you find them for $340. Im looking on Rock Auto and for the non ABS ones they are $200 per. Thanks.

Also, does anyone have any feedback on the "ebay" brake rotor deals out there? They seem to have some really good deals for drilled and slotted rotors with pads. Links Below:

[FRONT + REAR KIT] 4 DRILLED SLOTTED BRAKE ROTORS AND 8 CERAMIC PADS 4WD 4X4 | eBay
FORD F250 SUPER DUTY [FRT+RR Kit] *DRILLED & SLOTTED* Brake Rotors +CERAMIC Pads | eBay
[Rear Kit] Performance Cross Drilled & Slotted Brake Rotors Ceramic Pads | eBay

Any opinions are welcome! Thanks guys! Im getting ready to do the full front end overhaul soon so I am loading up on joints, seals, etc. There goes some $$$ :eek:hnoes: haha

Paul
 
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