front wheel bearing failures on open track cars?

[Tobias]

Hi guys, I am new to the open track addiction and I wanted to ask have any of you had any front wheel bearing failures on the 99 & up mustangs?

I bought my car used (7100miles) from a guy who tracked the car unmodified and I have gone to one weekend of racing. When I put the car on the alignment rack today, both front wheel bearings were loose. Just a klunk while driving, no growl.

 

[Cobra-R]

Yep, replacing front wheel hubs are a part of normal maintainance. Replace the hubs every 20 or 30 track days if you are an advanced driver.

Brian

 

[99COBRA2881]

Are the NAPA hubs good enough or should this be a Ford only part?

 

[nightstalker865]

This is a really good subject. I am looking forward to everyones opinions.

 

[ac427cobra]

Are the NAPA hubs good enough or should this be a Ford only part?

Anthony:

The NAPA hubs are what I run. They are the indentical Koyo unit you get at the Ford parts counter. If you get a nice discount at the Ford counter you'll pay more at NAPA for it. But, you know what the really good news is about the NAPA part?! It comes with a lifetime replacement guarantee. I've used it a couple of times already. I just take it back with the balls rolling around in the bottom of the box and they ask "What's wrong with it?" I tell them "I think it must be defective?" :dw:

If you don't drive too hard you can get about 4-5,000 track miles out of your left front hub. You can get about 2-4,000 if you're a mildly hard charger and if you're a track dawg with R compounds or slicks you'll tear it up in 1,500 or so track miles. Right side hubs typically last twice as long?

Some guys just replace them every year as a maintenance item. If you're cheap like me you'll just keep a real close eye on them everytime you rotate tires.

YMMV

:thumbsup: :coolman: :beer:

 

[TroyV]

interesting.. I usually replace hubs at the start of the season, and the Ford ones I get say Timken on them. I'm not sure that makes a difference..

I run a lot of negative camber and use sticky tires so just for peace of mind, I do the fronts once a year and the rears every other. I keep the previous ones in the spares bin for a season then put them in the basement for parts emergencies..

 

[ac427cobra]

interesting.. I usually replace hubs at the start of the season, and the Ford ones I get say Timken on them. I'm not sure that makes a difference..

I run a lot of negative camber and use sticky tires so just for peace of mind, I do the fronts once a year and the rears every other. I keep the previous ones in the spares bin for a season then put them in the basement for parts emergencies..

Troy:

All of the Ford hubs I've seen have all been Koyo's. My 2000 R originally came with Koyo's and the Ford replacements were the same.

I was actually quite surprised to see the NAPA as Koyo's as well?

The last Ford one I bought was about three years ago actually.

FWIW
:thumbsup: :coolman: :beer:

 

[TroyV]

I'm sure they are of equal quality.. I just never saw that brand before..

 

[dtheo]

I don't think the hubs have been replaced on my car in a long time, maybe a trip to Napa!! How much roughly are they?$$

Dave

 

[Cobra-R]

Just for the record, Bruce is running two piece brake rotors. A few years ago there were some one piece rotors that were breaking, it was suspected that front hubs contributed to the problem. That is part of the reason some people are scared into replacing hubs more often, ecspecially if they are a hard driver running on sticky tires.

It is one of those safety items that I feel I would rather error on the side of caution since I have removed my two piece rotors and went back to the standard one piece brembo's.

Brian

 

[TroyV]

Amen.

 

[nightstalker865]

Anyone have a ball park on pricing? NAPA Vs FORD

 

[ac427cobra]

Wow, look at the weight saving though!!!1 :lol:

Anyone have a ball park on pricing? NAPA Vs FORD

I used to pay approximately $45.00 from Ford with my discount.

The NAPA unit I bought was $72.00 originally but on my last replacement I see they are up to $82.00 or so.

:thumbsup: :coolman: :beer:

 

[STAMPEDE3]

Wow, look at the weight saving though!!!1 :lol:

:thumbsup: :coolman: :beer:

Now that's funny!:lol: :lol:

 

[99COBRA2881]

Anyone have a ball park on pricing? NAPA Vs FORD

I priced one out today at NAPA P# BR930250 $86.60

Im going to contact Steve @ Tousley Ford to see about a price from them and a possible group price on hubs. There was a group buy on here a few years ago and its about time for another. Mainly because I need new hubs!! :-D

Anthony

***Edit*** I also found the front hubs on RockAuto.com for $58.79 but Im unsure of the quality or brand of bearings used.

 

[PETSNKE]

There was a group buy on here a few years ago and its about time for another. Mainly because I need new hubs!!

+1

 

[99COBRA2881]

I called Steve @ Tousley Ford he quoted me $62.60 each, list is $95.00. There's no group discount but for that price I'm not complaining! He also said he could accomodate any amount of orders and that he had several in stock. Easiest thing to do would probably be to just call Steve @Tousley Ford 1(800)328-9552 and order them yourself. When you call tell him this is for the SVTPerformance Hub Group Buy.

Thank you,
Anthony

 

[bdcardinal]

i have a random question similar to this. would there be any advantage to making a knuckle that used the stock type rotors and everything but allowed for a rebuildable hub?

i do brakes all day and am really impressed with a lot of japanese trucks that have seperate huge that have normal repackable tapered roller bearings. if anything it might be cheaper to replace and give the option to repack.

also what is the stock knuckle made of? i might have a source on some decent sized blocks of titanium (friends at engineering firms) would there be any strength advantage? or would the cost to weight/strength tradeoff not be worth it?

 

[93SVTCobra]

Put me on the list that replaces hubs every year. For how important they are and how inconvenient it is to replace them at the track (although it's really not hard if you carry around the right socket) I'd rather just put them on the maintainence list and be done with it.

 

[ac427cobra]

Put me on the list that replaces hubs every year. For how important they are and how inconvenient it is to replace them at the track (although it's really not hard if you carry around the right socket) I'd rather just put them on the maintainence list and be done with it.

For as much as I rotate tires, it's really easy for me to catch the hubs in plenty of time. I constantly check my front and rear wheels for play.

Even though I'm getting them replaced for free, it's much easier to take them back to the NAPA store with the balls rolling around in the bottom of the box.

"Hey, looks like another defective one here guys?!?!" epper: