I just wanted to share a little about my hub replacement that I had to do last weekend. The truck has about 45,000 miles on it and the front driver’s side tire was severely worn on the outer edge. During a brake job last week I noticed that when I spun the tire the bearing assembly was making a grinding noise. After reading a bit on the forums it was obvious that this is a common problem on these trucks. I was able to find a replacement Mopar assembly for $99 on eBay (local dealership wated $250 and AutoZone wants $218). After reading many horror stories on the forums about getting the old hub off I was worried that it was going to be quite the PITA. This truck has already seen three Michigan winters so I was assuming that the hub would be pretty well rusted to the knuckle. Here are a couple of quick tips to get the job done.

1. Lots and lots of penetrating oil. I used almost an entire can of Liquid Wrench (local store didn’t have PB Blaster) on it. I started by letting it soak over night and reapplying the following morning. Blasted both sides of the three bolts that hold the assembly to the knuckle as well as the large axle nut and on both sides of where the dust shield contacts the hub assembly and the knuckle.

2. You'll need a large 35mm deep well socket to get the axle nut off (1 3/8" will also work). The axle nut is supposed to be torqued to 185 ft. lbs. from the factory however mine was more like 50 and may have been the cause of the premature failure. The easiest way to get the nut off is by leaving the brake rotor and caliper on and inserting a strong flathead screwdriver into one of the vanes of the brake rotor. Once the screwdriver contacts the caliper it will stop the whole axle from rotating allowing you to really crank on it.

3. To get the three bolts off that attach the hub assembly to the knuckle you'll need an 18mm socket. Dodge's service manual states that you need to pop the upper ball joint off and remove the tie rod end in order to move the knuckle and gain access to the bolts. However this is not necessary. Once you have the axle nut off you can pound the axle shaft with a rubber mallet until it's flush with the front of the hub assembly. Start the truck and turn the steering wheel all the way to one side. This will allow you access to two of the three bolts, then turn it all the way to the other side to get the remaining bolt out. You may or may not be able to completely get the bolts out as they have a lip that can catch on the axle shaft. This is fine though you only need to unthread them from the hub assembly. This is the trickiest part of the job because as you're trying to gain access to the bolts the axle shaft wants to push itself back out slightly. I had to pound it in and hold it flush with one hand while working the socket wrench with my other.

4. If you're working on the front driver’s side like I was, you'll most likely have an ABS speed sensor to remove as well. This requires an allen wrench of the proper size, or a T30 torx will do the job too.

5. The only thing holding the assembly on now is rust. I've read that some people have had a hell of a time getting them off. One way to do it is to piece together some socket extensions between the back of the hub assembly and the frame and use the power steering as a hydraulic ram to push the hub out. Another way is to thread the bolts back in a few threads and with a socket on them smack them with a hammer or buzz them with an air chisel. Well it turned out that I was one of the lucky ones because all I had to do was smack the outer edge of the old hub assembly from a couple different angles and it came right out. I really think that the penetrating oil was the key here.

6. Put it all back together. I took the dust shield off and cleaned it a bit and put anti-seize on both sides of it where it contacts the knuckle and the hub assembly. I also had to clean the inside of the knuckle. There was a thick build-up of a hard white substance (probably corrosion from the dissimilar metals) that I cleaned up with a Dremel, though sandpaper would do the trick too. The three bolts get torqued to 120 ft. lbs. and the axle nut gets torqued to 185 ft. lbs.


Sorry for the lack of pictures but I’m usually elbows deep in grease and oil five minutes into a job. Hope this helps someone else’s job go a little smoother.

 

This is my next job, thanks for the write up!

 

What?!?!? No pics? WTF?

Pics man. We need pics....LOL

Seriously though, thanks for sharing. 4wd hubs can be a much bigger PITA than 2wd and you living that far up north only complicate things due to the salt and sand.

 

I understand about the Pics. I just got done doing the axle u-joints on my 3/4 ton.

just turned 139K and its seen michigan winters since day one, 5-1/2 years

I ended up pulling the bearing hubs apart using a Mother of a puller--leaves are an inch thick and the pusher bolt is and inch in diameter/ about 2 ft long.

Had to cut the top ball joint on both sides to drop the knuckle, and pounded what was left of the hub out with a 3 lb sledge

The ball joints all had to be replaced due in part to the pulling force I used to separate the hub.

Finally got down to the stock u-joints on the axles---piece of cake compared to where I had already been, then came the old ball joints, A BIG ball joint press and of course, a 3 lb slege

The whole mess cost me just under a $1000, but now its all greasable, National Hubs, Moog Ball Joints, Precision U-joints (greasable) throughout truck

Oh, and I ended up with 16 spare wheel studs------damn, what a price to pay for wheel studs.

The bearings in the u-joint, what was left where totally squared off, and on the passenger side, they had essentially all fallen out----Yes, I put it off for a while, it started the vibration and clunk a while back--and now wish I hadn't

The whole steering section of the truck looks like a Vegas bank vault with all the gold anti-seize that got painted on.

Oh, and I started on this on Saturday Morning, I just finished about 2 hrs ago

 

Thank you Dodgetimes2. I just did mine today, drivers side following your tutorial. Had to rent a slide hammer though. It was a bitch but it is done. Still get the rattle from the dust cover though.

This is why I join these sites. I would have never done this job myself, mostly out of laziness but a job like this is a little intimidating. I work on my dirtbikes no problem but trucks mmmm not so much. Thank you again.

 

Thanks DodgeTimes2, great write up! Followed your directions and no problems on the bearing replacement. Though I couldn't soak with PB blaster the night before, took a little more banging for me to get the old bearing out.

Thanks again for the great write-up!

 

Some great info here. I'm also due for a front hub/bearing at 94,000 km. Trying to find the replacement part is a bit of a pain. There are different listings for quad cab verus mega cab...2wd/4wd...4 wheel abs/2 wheel abs...holy.
The oem sticker on the window of this truck when I bought it new says.."4 wheel disc Rr anti-lock brakes" - there is clearly an electrical connector of some sort going to my front hub though ???? Is this a speed sensor of some sort ??
Confused...for the record this is a 08 ram quad cab 1500st 4x4...5.7 hemi. Would appreciate the help in finding the right part # from Timken, Raybestos or whomever.
THANKS !!!
Tedder

 

Bump for the helpful thread

Just had my driver's side done under warranty for $108 (deductible)

Got the other side for $118 on Amazon and just finished the passenger side. Timken

67,700 miles now. Had a drone for a few hundred miles now due to the driver's side. No play, no grit feeling.....just noise. Weird !