3rd Gen Front Unit Hub 4x4 '05 Quad 2500

[hsleeper]

I am looking for a source of hubs with replaceable bearings. My front left is wearing out and I will replace both, but do not want to carry whole spare units into remote areas. If these are not available what is a good source/price of new or rebuilt units?

 

[BLoging]

do you want to have oe part's or do you want to upgrade to a free spin hub with lock out's like Dynatrac ?

 

[wcjp]

I bought my 06' unit bearing replacement from Rock auto.com. might have been $230? It's the OE unit from SKF. If the job takes more than one hour start to finish your doing something wrong.

 

[sag2]

My neighbor purchased a set from Rock Auto. He asked me if he should get the SKF's for a few dollars more, I said no, the Timkens should be just fine. They showed up a few days later. In the Timkin box were the hubs complete with SKF bearings!

 

[orhusky]

Are the hubs the same for the DRW truck??

 

[Motorhead]

I have been putting on a set of Dynatrac hubs today on my friends '02. He lives in Seattle so I was expecting the unit bearings to be a real hassle to remove (RUST). He had had his ball joints replaced and thank God the guy that did them was thinking of the NEXT guy that was going to work on it. He used a fair amount of anti seize on the bearings.
My $0. 02 worth says to go with the Dynatrac or some other free spin hub kit and have a truly re-greasable bearings. I have them on my '07 and have never regretted toe money spent.

 

[SierraRam]

I have been putting on a set of Dynatrac hubs today on my friends '02. He lives in Seattle so I was expecting the unit bearings to be a real hassle to remove (RUST). He had had his ball joints replaced and thank God the guy that did them was thinking of the NEXT guy that was going to work on it. He used a fair amount of anti seize on the bearings.

My $0. 02 worth says to go with the Dynatrac or some other free spin hub kit and have a truly re-greasable bearings. I have them on my '07 and have never regretted toe money spent.

We have pretty much the same trucks, I agree the free spin kits really beef up the wheel bearings.

 

[hsleeper]

Thank you all for the fine replies. I like the idea of the free wheeling hubs, but I am not big into making modifications. I have a mechanic friend who is still looking into unit types with replaceable bearings. Most likely I will go with SKF's and keep the good one from the right side in the shop for a spare. Thanks hsleeper

 

[04blackcherry]

I pulled a unit bearing apart. The way it was made, it was not serviceable. I have seen unit bearing hubs that are, and helped a friend with a KIA replace the bearings.

The unit bearing I took apart has no replaceable race for the bearing. From looking at the one I took apart the races are softer than the bearings. Mine had damage on the race surfaces so even if I could spec a bearing, it was not worth repairing.

 

[hsleeper]

To wrap up the story, I went with two SKF units. The logic was to replace both units at the same time and keep the "good" one from the right side as a spare. Once we got into the the right side it was clear that it was in worse shape than the left. The truck has just under 160,000 miles and has been driven mostly on two lane mountain roads and some off-road work in Baja. Not too punishing driving. So maybe if you have that kind of milage, and have some excessive noise in the front end you might have worn out the unit hubs. The job took about 3 hour for both hubs.

 

[jelag]

I have a group of unit bearings sitting at my home in Spokane... the unit bearings on the 05 that I own are the same no matter if its a single rear wheel or dual rear wheel...

If when you do brakes, you can pull the abs sensor you can lube these bearings. . I suggest if you try and lube these, that you use a full synthetic grease. The ones I purchased for stock I had lubricated with a full synthetic grease for what we hope is better life... I think between the Ford's and the Dodges I've sold maybe a couple hundred of these...

We have pressed them apart, cleaned them, lubricated them and reinstalled them in our own trucks... I've never done it for a customer, just sold him new ones... I do know from having them apart and back together, that lubrication through the ABS hole works. .

The only installation problems I've personally encountered were ones that were rusted into place... of course I've coated them with a never seize upon installation, and I've not been back to one of those trucks...

I hope this helps... .

BTW I agree with Rob above... . the can't be repaired but can be serviced and re-installed if the bearings and races are in good condition. But it takes a fixture and press... . but when you own several of these trucks and you have them apart for other reasons its a suitable answer to replacement if you have the time.

 

[wcjp]

So maybe if you have that kind of milage, and have some excessive noise in the front end you might have worn out the unit hubs. The job took about 3 hour for both hubs.

My passenger front went bad at 100k. 99% on pavement driving.

 

[Prairie Dog]

By 70K I had (and still have) some looseness in the drivers side bearing. I've always had a speed-specific (39mph) vibe up front someplace though, even after new tires and wheels. Now I'm wondering if an out of balance rotor has caused both the vibe and the premature bearing failure.

 

[rashwor]

I made it to 143k miles on my '05 before I had them replaced. I started having a light howeling in the front end when turning at highway speed... .