Wheel bearing replacement, wheel knuckle, by hand?

[pdizzle]

Just looking for some advice here..

I bought my 2010 TC a few weeks ago. I'm fairly certain that it needs 2 front wheel bearings. I get a loud noise in the cabin at 25+ mph, what sounded like a tire noise at first to me. Rotated the tires, still there. frequency is tied to wheel rotation. If i turn right, the left gets loud and vice versa.

Assuming this is true (and from what I can tell it will be at least a few times over the life of the car), I'm looking into ways to replace it. Option 1 is to have someone do it -- dealerships look to be around 400-500 per wheel, local garages 300-400.

Option 2 is to buy the bearings and do it myself by hand with some sort of hand bearing press, such as this one by ATD (http://atdtools.com/8625). I've read many threads that sometimes the amount of force required to remove stuck bearings is huge (20+ ton presses having a hard time), and it makes me think that maybe that wouldn't really end up being very reliable. Anyone have any experience doing this without the use of a hydraulic press?

Option 3 looks like just buying a couple motorcraft wheel knuckles and installing those myself. It will be a little more complicated, but should only require tools that I already have. A pair of wheel knuckles comes to about $500-600 from rockauto. Mine are looking pretty rusty anyway, and then I could replace the tie rod ends as well. I think I would then need to align the wheels again?

If its going to be something that needs to be done every 20-30k mi, it would make sense to me to be able to do it myself. That would only be possible without a hydraulic press though.

Any thoughts or experience are greatly appreciated!

[G B L]

The wheel bearings are more subject to water intrusion than mileage. One of the hardest parts of the Bearing replacement is the snap ring removal. The bearing press you are looking at will do the job if there is not a lot of rust.

There is another option. You pull the wheel knuckles and find a machine shop that will do the press work. this would save a lot of money.

Make sure the ABS side of the bearing is correct and take care when pulling the ABS probe.

[pdizzle]

Thanks for the response, I had considered having a machine shop do it (and could leave that as a last resort), but I'd prefer not to as I won't have a vehicle once my front end is in pieces. Also, if travelling I won't have as easy of a time locating machine shops as I do at home.

[G B L]

True, but if you are traveling the bearing press will most likely be at home. If good bearings are used they should last at least 40 to 60000 miles and will let you know when they start to go. If you have a long trip planed then you can Put the Front on Jack stands and Run the TC with the wheels up and listen to the hubs. if they are letting go they will let you know.

[pdizzle]

Alright thanks for the advice... I will probably have someone else do it this time around at least, just to save me the headache. Do you have bearings that you have found to be good quality? In the past I've had good luck with timken or skf for various bearings, I suppose I'll have to see what the garage can get.

[G B L]

The Napa kit comes with a new Snap ring and Nut. Around $66.00 that's there good bearing, there are some for less