question for those with fseries non serviceable hubs.

[shenrie]

when I converted my quigley to regular non quigley 8x170 hubs I went with timken as numerous people had recommended them. shortly after I heard that timkens quality had taken a turn for the worse and that the quality they once had was no longer. not much I could do since they were already installed but find out for myself.

well the van is up on the lift here at work getting a new power steering pump after an epic failure along with a new steering gear (was advised by numerous ford techs that it’s best if these items get replaced in pairs). I was poking around and noticed play in both front wheels. not fall apart loose, but need to replace before camping season gets in full swing come spring. these were installed early in 2017 so they are approaching 3 years old. was hoping I’d get a bit more life than that, but also recognize that we spend a lot of time on beat down dirt roads and my van is pretty heavy.

so my question is what hubs are people having good luck with? was just told to look into skf replacements. they’re priced even lower than the timkens on rockauto which makes me wonder about quality. any suggestions from the gallery?

[boywonder]

Not super relevant but over my career in the aerospace and medical device industries quality bearing manufacturers are Timken, FAG, SKF, Fafnir, Torrington and a few others that I can't think of.......


I think that the typical tapered roller bearing setups on front hubs (like my kingpin dana 60) should have a tiny bit of slop according to a few knowledgeable folks here (like Jacktuppvan I think).


I've always done the "snug it down then back off slightly to get the cotter pin or bent tab in place" method..

[shenrie]

^^^ was my motto too, but the non serviceable hubs have zero adjustment whatsoever.

I’ll see if I can find some of those other brands. was also told national was another quality bearing company.

[ShuttlePilot]

Originally Posted by shenrie

^^^ was my motto too, but the non serviceable hubs have zero adjustment whatsoever.

Just to avoid confusion through vocabulary, and encourage people to post some solutions for you. Are you referring to what is often called Unit Bearing Hubs?



- Eric

[shenrie]

^^^ thank you and yes.

That just happened to be what the last site I looked them up called the assembly’s. I find them under different names depending on where you look. rockauto lists them as wheel bearing and hub assemblies.

[carringb]

Unfortunately I'm not sure there's a "good" option for the pre-05' axles, aside from doing a Dynatrak hub conversion. It's the achilles of that generation axle, and paying more $ seems to only earn you a marginally longer life, if any. IMO - you might be stuck just going with what's readily available, and plan on swapping the every 5-ish years.

[UJOINT]

Spyntec makes a great hub conversion for the 99-04 axles.

Pic also has the SSBC brakes

[shenrie]

^^^ beautiful but out of my price range. dynatrac looks like a nice setup as well, but again out of my range.

If these units would have lasted 5 years I wouldn’t have started this thread. I didn’t even get 3 years. Is this just the price I pay for having a rig over 10k?

hell im just trying to keep a van, lol. it’s just a good thing I bought it when I did, cause there’s no way I’d be able to buy one now.

[UJOINT]

$1550 for the kit. Not bad but yes, a healthy chunk of $$. Make sure the vacuum lines aren't open, they can allow water to get in there and destroy the spindle bearings. I have good luck with the Moog unit bearings.

[shenrie]

^^^ ive heard moog moved their operation to mexico and their quality had gone down hill as well. I poked around looking for confirmation of both brands but just found opinions. moog and Timken are priced very closely.

what vacuum lines?? the breather tubes for the axles? I did do a bunch of water crossings earlier this year...