Hey guys and gals, I need the attention of everyone that owns a F250/350 from 1999-present.
Edit: this procedure requires a special axle nut tool. I bought mine from Advance Auto.
I recently noticed a diff oil leak on my right rear wheel. It was light but progressively got worse. So today I decided to pull it apart and put a new seal in it. It’s not a tough job and there are some pretty good videos on it.
When I went to tear it apart, I found the rear wheel bearings were loose and there was play in the hub. Since we have a full floating axle, we have tapered roller bearings and hubs back there. I pulled it apart, replaced the seal, and reassembled everything. Then I got to thinking, maybe I should check the other side.
So I pulled the wheel, pulled the caliper off, pulled the rotor, then pulled the axle out the end. Sure enough, that wheel bearing set was flopping around too. So that bearing had to be tightened back up as well.
Now I started searching on line and apparently this is something that needs to be checked and adjusted periodically. I had no idea, and had never done this.
Moral of the story here is, plan to adjust your rear wheel bearings every now and then. I think it’s like 50k mile intervals. If you don’t adjust these, the inner bearing race will spin on the hub and eat it up, then you have to replace the hub on the axle housing.
I know this is a lot to read. I’ll post the procedure for doing this in the next post. I found a good write up on one of the ford truck forums.
And now the obligatory picture:
Edit: this procedure requires a special axle nut tool. I bought mine from Advance Auto.
I recently noticed a diff oil leak on my right rear wheel. It was light but progressively got worse. So today I decided to pull it apart and put a new seal in it. It’s not a tough job and there are some pretty good videos on it.
When I went to tear it apart, I found the rear wheel bearings were loose and there was play in the hub. Since we have a full floating axle, we have tapered roller bearings and hubs back there. I pulled it apart, replaced the seal, and reassembled everything. Then I got to thinking, maybe I should check the other side.
So I pulled the wheel, pulled the caliper off, pulled the rotor, then pulled the axle out the end. Sure enough, that wheel bearing set was flopping around too. So that bearing had to be tightened back up as well.
Now I started searching on line and apparently this is something that needs to be checked and adjusted periodically. I had no idea, and had never done this.
Moral of the story here is, plan to adjust your rear wheel bearings every now and then. I think it’s like 50k mile intervals. If you don’t adjust these, the inner bearing race will spin on the hub and eat it up, then you have to replace the hub on the axle housing.
I know this is a lot to read. I’ll post the procedure for doing this in the next post. I found a good write up on one of the ford truck forums.
And now the obligatory picture:
