Ford Super Duty
Needle Bearing Replacement
2004 F250 4x4 XLT Sport Crew Cab
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While I was replacing my ball joints, I decided to replace a few other things while I had it apart. One of those items was the needle bearing that is on the inside portion of the main wheel bearing/hub assembly. This bearing contacts the front axle, so if it fails, or gets low on grease, it can damage the axle shaft. Anyway, at around $11/ea (in April 2009), I decided to just replace mine while I was in there.
There's an excellent tech article about this on Guzzle's Powerstroke Tech Articles. I only put this page together to add some additional pictures of the process since I replaced it and Guzzle's article mainly talks about servicing (regreasing) it.
If you plan to replace this bearing, you will need to buy Ford part number C6TZ-3123-A.
First, disassemble the front end as described in my ball joint replacement article, until you remove the wheel bearing/hub assembly. There you'll find the needle bearing on the backside of the assembly.
A closer shot of the needle bearing. You can see its a bit dry but it still felt pretty good. It probably didn't need replaced but since I had bought new ones I put them in. If you don't have new bearings, then you would simply re-pack the bearing with a good quality bearing grease and reinstall the hub assembly on the truck in the reverse order it was removed.
I used a soft brass punch to remove the old bearing. Just line it up on the bearing, coming in from the opposite end as shown below, and tap it out. Tap it from different spots around the perimeter of the bearing until its removed.
Almost out....
Here's the new bearing. I used Valvoline durablend grease and packed it full after taking this pic. The side with the writing faces outward when reinstalling this bearing.
I used my press to install the new bearing but it could easily be installed using a seal driver or *very* careful use of a small hammer.
There you have it, new needle bearing installed.
Questions or Comments? Email jmray@frontiernet.net
