Hello fellas! I recently had my upper and lower balljoints replaced at a local shop. Howerver my passenger side lower was not replaced because the shop informed me they couldn't get the hub off. Apparently the bearing was siezed I was informed the tool the shop was using was going to break the studs off, so I told them not to try any further. The techs buttened up the passenger side as is. Now I can feel the bearing is loose because I can move the tire (on jacks). I took a peak at it the other weekend, removed the tire, break caliper and caliper bracket, and retaining nut. I then tried to pull the hub off but it wouldn't come off. Is there something I'm missing? Something else I need to remove? I have a cheap repair manual but those aren't very detailed. Any suggestions would be Greatly apperciated!!

BTW I have a '97 F150 4x4 Offroad.

 

Yes there is more to do. If you have 4 wheel ABS disconnect the wire. The connector is on the innter fenderwell inside the engine compartment. Then there is a small bolt holding it onto the knuckle. The main thing you're missing is there are 3 bolts behind the bearing assembly. Another question for you, are you SURE your upper ball joints were actually bad? They very rarely go out since they're not load bearing like the lowers are. My feeling is that the shop said to replace them and given how you described they were trying to remove the hub they're not very knowledgeable. There may be some corrosion in the bearing assembly causing it to sieze in there, but its usually not that hard to get out. Any competent shop could remove it without causing damage to any components. First thing would be to try some good penetrating oil and if that doesn't work some heat will usually burn out most of the corrosion. The whole hub is junk anyways so there is no need to worry about damaging that. The only thing that needs to be watched is the CV joint.

 

Thanks for your advice Powerstroke!

I am not 100% sure if the upper balljoints were bad, but both sides were replaced and the lower on the driver side. My cost was on excess of $700. I assume the Tech's new what they were doing as they were ASE certified, and they did do both the upper and lower ball joints on the driver side.

I know I have ABS, but did not know to remove the related ABS parts you spoke of. Additionally, I seen the three bolts directly behind the hub, but was not sure if I needed to remove them. I'll try again this weekend to remove the hub and replace the wheel bearings, wish me luck!

 

Big mistake, certifications don't necessarily guarantee they know what they're doing. I've got a few techs in my store that are like that. Quite a few MCSE and printer certifications but honestly sometimes I swear my 12yr old cousin could do better.

Hate to say it, but all that can be done for about $500 in parts if you replaced both bearing assemblies. Labor should only be slightly over 1 hr for a good ASE certified tech.