best wheel bearings?

[svtmc-g]

Hey fella's...part two of my rattle here

I know NADA on bearings as far as what to buy. Pretty sure I need new ones for the front axle. good 'ol Federal Mogul? Should I replace both fronts while I'm at it? advice needed! thanks guys!

Mc-G

[beerkat]

Go to NAPA and get your bearing. Do both sides. Make sure when you pack them with grease that you use a high temp. wheel bearing grease. Do not over tighten the axle nut when reinstalling.

[svtmc-g]

do you know the torque specs for the axle nut? Thanks for the help!

[beerkat]

According to the Ford shop manual you torque it to 258 ft. pds. I thought that was high so I checked another manual, Haynes, and they had a range of between 221 and 295 ft pds. I know on my Lightning that you go through a process of spinning the wheel and tighten the axle nut by hand.

[Parsons]

I just replaced both front hub assemblies on my '96 Cobra. It comes as one assembly. No need to pack the bearings or anything. Ford recommends against re-using the retaining nut and seal so you'll need to get two retainers and two hub seals at the same time.

The torque specs listed above are correct and you'll need a 32mm socket for the retainers.

The hub assemblies were $77.58 each, retainers were $12.87 each and the seals were $5.87 each at my local Ford dealers parts counter. The total was $166.03 including tax and about two hours work on a Saturday afternoon.

Edit: If you're going to replace one then you might as well replace the other while you're at it. Just make sure that you need to before you do though. I knew I needed to replace the driver's side bearings when I made a right turn into a parking lot and it sounded like metal being ground on a bench grinder.