I have a 1998 F-150 standard cab long box 2WD leaking passenger side wheel bearing I believe. It was 40 C here fir a week and at work casual 50 km round trip a day on a rough road. I noticed some oil one day and looked over the truck really well and saw no other source of the oil so I’m there bong having some some reading it’s the front wheel bearing seal. I am only working casual but need the truck for work so I’m stuck with little money and a need to fix this. I live in an apartment and can’t work in my parking lot. I got a lot of part numbers from ford but they don’t know the cotter pin size or wheel nut size. I watched a reasonable YouTube video and it doesn’t seem that hard with the parts and tools I need. Amy help would be appreciated. The truck has over 345000 km on it but I’m not financially able to get anything else at the moment.

I will try and cut and paste what ford says I need abs upload as an image as well as the photo of what it looks like from the outside.

ill need a few tools but I still think if I can find a place it will be less then my lowest quote of $500 before tax. Jack stands, Wheel chocks, sockets, breaker bar, bearing grease, brake cleaner, silicon break lubricant.

Thanks for any advice.





Ford tells me I need:

 

Make sure it isn't brake fluid. You can use the factory jack to jack up the front wheel and anything solid for wheel chocks.

 

how do I determine if it’s brake fluid?

thank you.

 

Check the master cylinder reservoir to make sure the level isn't going down. Remove the wheel and inspect.

 

Don't buy parts from a Ford dealer on a cash sale basis. Find someone who has an account with them and buy using their name and pay on a cash ticket made out to the account holder or go to an aftermarket parts dealer and let them look up their parts. Ford is notorious for reaming off the street customers w/o lube.

 

The wheel bearing grease is gonna be pretty thick. If it's runny and thin, I'd say brake fluid.
In any case, if you go to replace a caliper, you're almost there to getting the hub and rotor off. You can use a crescent wrench to remove the hub bolt from a 4x2, it's not tight at all. 4x4 is another matter, it's a big socket, a big breaker bar, and some big guy like me jumping on the breaker bar.
A couple recommendations:
One, run the front up on ramps to crack the caliper *bracket* bolts loose. You need not separate the caliper from the bracket, but if you're just doing pads, that job is easier that way. Crack them loose and just snug them gently, then back off the ramps and lift it with a jack and jackstands. They're a bear to crack unless you crawl underneath and pull hard, I refuse to try that even on jackstands.
Have some bailing wire at hand to suspend the caliper and bracket from the frame or upper control arm, do not let it hang by the hose (ask me how I know).
Anyway... plan on changing the rotors. On a 4x4, they come right off once the wheel and caliper/bracket are removed... theoretically. Some of them require persuasion. You will not need to pull the hub nut or mess with bearings.
On a 4x2, Murphy's law applies, so have new bearings, inner wheel seals, and hi temp grease on hand. Pull your cotter pin, use the crescent to undo the nut but don't force it at all, not even a tiny bit. If it's stuck you can use the crescent to measure it for the right socket.
Next a flat washer comes off, exposing the outer bearing. At this point a tiny bit of abuse should get the rotor off. I had trouble getting the caliper off of a deeply worn rotor, but gently pried it off with a cheap tire iron. My rotors have always come off easily enough though.
If you're re using the rotor and brake shoes, pull the outer bearing any way you can. Flip the rotor over and repeat with the seal and inner bearing. Run a finger along the bearing races on the rotor to ensure they are smooth, if not, replace the rotor.
If you're replacing just the brake shoes, now is the time to have the rotor turned. If you're replacing the rotor, set all that aside to use as a model for reassembly. Replacing bearings is optional if they're not causing problems. At this stage in the truck's life, I would.
With a new or turned rotor, turn it nose down and drop the inner bearing in for a fit check. It may come with an outer raceway, if it does you won't need that. Lose the raceway and fit check the bearing. Now remove the bearing and coat the exposed rollers with new high temp grease. If you have clean neoprene gloves, use them to avoid getting grease all over your hands. Work the grease into the rollers then drop the bearing into the raceway that's in the rotor. It goes in with the narrow side towards the opposite bearing. Repeat this process for all four wheel bearings (two per rotor) and remember to tap a new seal in place over the inner (larger) bearings.
Now to the brakes. If you are replacing the rotor or shoes, leave the old shoe on the side with the pistons and use a c clamp to compress them. The old shoe will compress both at once. You may need to suck a little fluid out of the master cylinder first.
With this done, carefully replace the rotor on the spindle and follow it with the flat washer and the spindle nut. Use the crescent wrench to lightly tighten the nut just until the bearings seat and there is no wobble. It may help to rotate the rotor while you do this. Once the bearings are seated, loosen the spindle nut, then re tighten it *by hand only*. Do *not* use a wrench at all! Once it's hand tight, turn it 1/4 turn tighter, install the castle lock, and install your cotter pin.
Work the brake components back into place, tightening the caliper bracket bolts just lightly. Reinstall the wheel. If the tire has been leaking, plug it first, then reinstall the wheel and run your lug nuts hand tight.
Remove the jack, jackstands, and chocks, put the truck back on the ramps, chock it, and start torquing. Torque on the caliper bracket bolts is 136 ft lbs, spindle nut is hand tight plus 1/4 turn, lug nuts is 105 ft lbs if the stud+threads is 12mm or 150 ft lbs if the stud + threads is 14mm. Remove the chocks and drive off the ramps. Check your brake fluid, fill as necessary, then test drive the vehicle carefully. If you or I messed something up and it doesn't stop correctly, I promise to never bother you again.
Almost forgot, on the 4x2, the spindle cap can be persuaded to come off with channel locks and a small but sturdy flat blade screwdriver, just don't crush it.