I have been told that at least 1 hubs needs to be replaced. I have a 97 4x4 SC with no ABS and man. engagment of the 4x4 system. Should they be replaced in pairs? How much should the parts and labor costs be? And should any other parts be replaced when this repair is done? The price for each hub I have been told is $265.00. I look forward to hearing all opinions and past experiences.
Thanks to all for your assistance!

 

You don't need to replace both when one goes out, just the one thats bad. The $265 is close to the right price. Most Ford dealerships charge that it seems. I was able to find mine through Jockos for $200 (NAPA was $320 plus special order fee and I had to prepay for the part). Nobody, not even Ford carried any on hand when I had to replace my first one. Installation at a dealership will cost you big money. I would guess a MINIMUM of $60-100 in labor alone, even though its a 15min job for a capable mechanic. I did the first one myself and it took 45 min to do that and crank my torsion bars, and I spent alot of time dinking around. The 2nd time I did it along side the road with a hilift jack and only 1/2 the tools I needed to do the job in only 15 min. All you need is a basic set of metric wrenchs, hammer, needle nose pliers, and a 1/2" torque wrench with a socket large enough to fit over the axle shaft king nut. I would highly suggest that if you have any mechanical ability that you do this on your own. The only parts you may consider replacing when you do this fix is your rotors. The reason being is that you need to take off the rotor on the side your changing and if they need replacing you might as well do it then while at least one is off. On a scale of 1-10 for difficulty I give this one a 3 only because you need to have a torque wrench and a large socket for the king nut.

 

What size is the king nut? I can't find a socket to fit.

 

Big, I know my socket was over 1". I kinda wanna say about metric equivalent of an 1 1/8 or 1 1/4.