How to Change the Front Wheel Bearings on a 2002 F-250

The F-series began in the 1948 model year, as the F-1, F-2 and F-3. Five years later, in 1953, Ford changed the naming in the lineup to the F-100, F-250 and F-350. This places the F-250 at the top of Fords list, alongside the F-350, as the makers longest produced vehicle. The 2002 F-250 came standard with a 260-horsepower, 5.4-liter engine and two-wheel drive. Changing the front wheel bearings on the 2002 F-250 with two-wheel drive is a straightforward task that requires partially disassembling the front brakes.

Instructions

Slide wheel chocks under the rear of the rear tires. Loosen the front lug nuts with a ratchet and socket and lift the front of the F-250 with a floor jack. Slide jack stands under the trucks frame rails and lower the F-250 onto the jack stands. Remove the lug nuts and pull the wheels from the front of the truck.

Remove the brake caliper bracket bolts, using a ratchet and socket. Pull the caliper, bracket and brake pads from the steering knuckle as one assembly and hang them from the front coil spring, using a bungee strap.

Pry the grease cap from the center of the rotor, using a flat-head screwdriver, exposing the bearing-retaining hardware. Pull the cotter pin from the spindle shaft, using needle-nose pliers, and pull the spindle nut retainer from the spindle shaft.

Remove the spindle nut, using a ratchet and socket. Pull the rotor outward slightly to free the outer wheel bearing and washer. Pull the outer wheel bearing and washer from the spindle shaft.

Tighten the spindle nut onto the spindle shaft just a few threads. Pull the rotor outward until you feel the inner wheel bearing contact the spindle nut, then pull the rotor outward sharply to remove the inner wheel bearing and grease seal from the rotor.

Remove the spindle nut, rotor, wheel bearing and grease seal from the spindle shaft.

Set the rotor onto two 4-inch-tall wood blocks with the wheel studs facing downward. Insert a drift punch into the hole in the center of the rotor so it contacts the innermost lip of the outer bearing race. Tap around the perimeter of the bearing race, using the drift punch and hammer, to remove the race from the rotor. Flip the rotor over and repeat this step to remove the inner bearing race.

Repeat steps 2 through 7 to remove the bearings on the other side of the truck, if needed.

Clean the inside of the rotor and the spindle shaft thoroughly with parts cleaner and a clean, lint-free cloth.

Reposition the rotor on the wood blocks, so the wheel studs face upward. Set a new outer wheel bearing race on the hole in the center of the rotor. Position a bearing race driver on the race and drive the race in, using the driver and a hammer. Using an L-shaped 0.0015-inch feeler gauge, verify that the gap between the innermost lip of the race and the races seat is less than 0.0015 inches. Drive the race in farther, as needed. Repeat this step to install the inner bearing race.

Apply a generous coat of multipurpose grease meeting Ford specification ESA-M1C75-B.

Fill a bearing packers reservoir with multipurpose grease meeting Ford specification ESA-M1C75-B and set one new wheel bearing into the packers reservoir. Using the packers plunger, press the bearing downward with one stroke to pack it with fresh grease, then remove the plunger and bearing. Set the bearing on a clean, lint-free cloth. Repeat this step to pack the other bearing.

Set the new inner wheel bearing into the rotor. Set a new grease seal in place over the inner wheel bearing, then drive the seal into place with a grease seal driver and hammer. Guide the rotor onto the spindle shaft.

Slide the new outer wheel bearing onto the spindle shaft and into the center of the rotor. Guide the washer onto the spindle shaft until it contacts the face of the outer wheel bearing. Hand-thread the spindle nut onto the spindle shaft

Spin the rotor forward, as you tighten the spindle nut to 30 foot-pounds, using a torque wrench and socket. Loosen the spindle nut two full turns, then torque it to between 17 and 24 foot-pounds as you spin the rotor rearward. Loosen the spindle nut about a half turn, then tighten it to 17 inch-pounds, using an inch-pound torque wrench and socket, as you spin the rotor forward.

Install the spindle nut retainer over the spindle nut, so one of the valleys in its castellated top aligns with the hole through the spindle shaft. Slide a new cotter pin through the hole in the spindle shaft and bend the cotter pins legs in opposite directions with needle-nose pliers to lock it in place.

Position the grease cap on the rotor and tap it with a rubber mallet to seat it into place.

Remove the caliper, bracket and pads from the bungee strap and reinstall them onto the steering knuckle. Hand-thread the caliper bracket bolts, then torque them to 166 foot-pounds with a torque wrench and socket.

Repeat steps 1 through 10 to install new bearings on the other side of the truck, if needed.

Reinstall the front wheels onto the F-250s front hubs, then hand-tighten the lug nuts. Raise the truck off the jack stands with a floor jack and remove the jack stands. Lower the F-250 to the ground and tighten its lug nuts, in a crisscross pattern, to 165 foot-pounds.