AU Falcon - Front Wheel Bearing Replacement At Home

[Moorabinda 168]

Hi everyone,

 

I just changed the front wheel bearings on my AU2 XR6 ute and am sharing some photos/my experience for anyone who might be interested.

 

It's a simple job in that it's essentially undoing bolts/nuts, pulling off a part and replacing with new.  However there's nuance to every step, which I'll try to go through.

 

Before doing the bearings, the ute was very noisy - I had initially thought it was coming from there rear bearings, but got good advice that it was from the front.  Jacking the ute up, the driver side wheel had a little bit of slop when shaking it.  That was the bearing I tackled first.

 

After completion, the ute was much quieter, though still a little noisy so I changed the LHS bearing - now it is SO much quieter - these things can creep up and I certainly didn't notice the noise until it was quite intrusive.

 

So here are the pics - feel free to reach out if you have any questions or observations or corrections on my terminology or technique!

 

Cheers, Nick

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 1

 

Here is the ute - a worldly AU2 XR6 that is about to hit 300k km.  It's generally just driven around, doing odd jobs and stuff.  Nothing heavy.

 

I have blocked off the number plate - not really sure why - everyone else seems to do it...

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 2

 

Jack it up and take the wheel off.

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 3

 

Take the brake caliper off.

 

2 x 15mm bolts behind the brakes.  I had thread locker on mine and they took a bit of effort.  When removing the brake, I left the caliper on the disc and so kept them as one.  

 

I put the caliper and disc on a tool box so I didn't stretch the brake line.

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 4

 

Remove the dust cap - harder than I expected - used a flat head screwdriver and hammered it in to separate it from the hub.  Eventually got it out - it's just pressed into the hub - no threads or any clips - but it's a tight fit!

 

It revealed a bit of rust on the axle stud, which was a surprise.

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 5

 

Axle nut off - it needed a 36mm socket, and I had a 1" set lying around so it was perfect.  I did find that using a longer breaker bar would have been useful but would get caught under the guards.  Might be worth turning the front wheels slightly to improve access - for both the breaker bar and removing the brake caliper.

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 6

 

Removing the bearing - I'd seen videos on YouTube showing the bearing coming off with a mallet so that is what I used after trying a pry bar.  

 

I needed to hit it from behind at all angles to even out the force.  Eventually it came off, though left the inner race on the stud.

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 7

 

The inner bearing race is stuck to the stud, and this is what it looked like.

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 8

 

I had one of these kits - Bearing Separator - bought from Online Auto Parts - around $45 from memory.

 

Can't imagine having the patience to pull off that inner race without one of these kits.  Made it quite easy.

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 9

 

To fit the bearing separator, I removed the ABS sensor - it usually sits on the LHS of this stud.

 

Inner race removed and stud cleaned up - I used some very fine grit sandpaper to tidy it up a little after a wipe down.  Just to take off any surface rust.

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 10

 

I added a little copper grease to the stud to prevent it seizing again.  Made installation a little easier too.

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 11

 

I added the bearing.  It needed a little encouragement at first, so I added the wheel nuts and gave it a few hits.  It went on easily after that.

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 12

 

Wheel bearing all the way on.

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 13

 

Axle nut on.  I used medium thread locker and tightened it as far as reasonably possible - I didn't use a torque wrench.  

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 14

 

Brake caliper back on - medium threadlocker on the two bolts.

 

 

[Moorabinda 168]

Step 15

 

Wheel back on.

 

All up it took me around 1.5 hours for one side at a time - it would have been far less had I done them both together as I spent a lot of time collecting various tools from the shed and bringing them into the driveway where I was conducting this operation!

 

I used genuine Ford parts from Jefferson Ford.  Bearings were $112 each from memory.

 

Road noise is significantly reduced - it's actually quiet now!

 

If there are any questions, please let me know, otherwise it's a pretty straight forward exercise that went relatively smoothly.

 

Cheers, Nick

[bear351c 10,701]

Well explained for those who haven't done it on AU's. If you're gunna work on cars for the rest of your life, (like most of us), those bearing pullers are a worthwhile investment. 

I'm sure there's a torque setting for the axle nut, once you've driven it 100kays or so, might want to check its seated the bearings properly.  I always plop a spoonful of grease in the cap, just to keep the stud/axle nut/threads lubed up. 

 

Nice photos. Mate had an XR6 ute years ago, flogged the sh!t out of it, wouldn't die..!! His was red, Vixen.?? anyways, nice car. 

[deankxf 21,723]

This is a great write up with photos showing all that's needed.

I'd feel confident tackling this job now after reading this. 

Thanks for the tips with the calliper resting, I usually tie them up with wire to the spring or similar but i hadn't even thought of that toolbox idea. 

I wonder if I have a 36mm socket? Maybe if that's what the x series caster rod nut size is..