Front Suspension Wheel Bearing problems of the 2003 Ford Explorer

2003 Ford Explorer. Consumer writes in regard to malfunction to company's rear wheel bearing.

The contact owns a 2003 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the front and rear wheel bearings deteriorated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who replaced the rear driver's side and the rear passenger's side wheel bearings on two occasions. The remedy failed to repair the vehicle. The contact stated that there was an abnormal noise coming from the front and the rear of the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 98,000.

2003 Ford Explorer front wheel bearings make a loud grinding sound. Common problem in all 2003 Ford Explorers. It ground down the wheel lugs from the inside and the tire came off on the freeway doing 60mph. The rotors got eaten up on the inside too. Ford needs to address this issue before someone gets killed.

My 2003 Ford Explorer has only 70,000 miles on it and three out of the four wheel bearings have had to be replaced, at a total cost of over $1,100. The mechanic told me that this could cause a dangerous situation such as abnormal tire wear or the wheel coming off during driving. This potentially unsafe situation warrants a recall by Ford.

The front bearings on my 2003 Ford Explorer have gone out in the past two weeks. The vehicle has 75,000 miles on it. The car stopped steering and I had a very difficult time driving it to the nearest repair station. Had I been on the highway it would have been a disaster. The right front bearing went at the beginning of the month and the left at the end of the month. The mechanics that worked on the vehicle stated that they see many of these. Additionally we had to replace the rear strut assembly since the spring actually snapped. This too was familiar to the mechanic. When researching this issue I have found that many owners have the same problems. The mechanics I have spoken to stated that wheel bearings should not go that soon and that this is a hazard that should be fixed.

Both front and rear wheel bearings failed on my 2003 Ford Explorer at 67,000 miles. The vehicle is only driven on paved roadways and has been maintained by both myself and Ford. Under normal operating conditions all 4 of these bearings should not have failed.

While driving loud grinding noise followed by a pulling to the side. A dangerous and possible catastrophic event. This is apparently a common problem with Ford Explorers. Had car towed and new wheel bearing placed. A very expensive and should be unneeded repair.

I bought my 2003 Ford Explorer in sept 2007. After driving it to and from work I noticed a loud humming sound up front @ 94,000miles. When I finally had it looked at 2 months later, I had to replace the drivers side front side wheel bearing. Now a few months later the passenger side front bearing is humming even worse so I had that one replaced. 10,000 miles later the drivers side has started doing the same thing again. I do not live on a dirt road, there is no reason for this to happen in such a short time. I have never had to replace a $400. 00 wheel bearing (each) in my life on any truck or car that I have owned until now on a Ford explore.

On 7/15/08 we brought our 2003 Ford Explorer to the dealership for a tune-up. We then found out our front wheel bearing needed replacing. Other problems occurred too. The lower ball joints and upper control arm also needed to be replaced. We also had a front pinion seal leaking. The cost of the tune-up was $555. 54 while all the other problems costs us $1402. 30. We were prepared to pay for the tune-up but not for all the other problems. We asked if Ford could help out before this work was done but the dealership said we were out of warranty so we had no choice but to pay and have it fixed because the dealership told us these were safety issues. Soon after we left the dealership we noticed a loud noise coming from the front. We thought it was the tires. We brought our Explorer back to the dealership on 7/31/08 only to find out the other front wheel bearing had gone. They told us it would cost another $365 and again we asked if Ford could help out and they said we would need to call Ford ourselves. Which we did in the waiting room of the dealership. Ford did not want to help at all. I explained to Ford all the complaints I found on the NHTSA site as well as the technical service bulletins on the same exact problem we were having with our Explorer. Ford finally said they would cover $265 but we would have to pay $100 as a deductible. We said no and tried to explained to Ford that these parts were defective and that Ford should cover all the expenses. Ford said it was up to the NHTSA site to issue a recall and until that time Ford will not pay for these defective parts. The service manager then said he would cover the $100 but we would have to go after Ford on our own for the past expenses. We had the part fixed but we want Ford to step up and do the right thing and admit these parts are defective and cover the costs. Our Explorer has only 73000 miles and we feel these parts should not have gone. Ford should care more about their customers safety.

Wheel bearing needs to be replaced after 50k miles which seems to be very common on 2000+ model year Ford Explorers.

The contact owns a 2003 Ford Explorer. At 50,000 75,000 and 80,000 miles, the wheel bearings failed. The two front and the rear driver side wheel bearings were replaced several times. At 30,000 miles, the contact took the vehicle back to the dealer for the state inspection and they stated that four wheel bearings needed to be replaced. The dealer further stated that the frequent failures of the wheel bearings may be due to driving on a dirt road. The manufacturer stated that there was no recall for the failure; therefore, he should take the vehicle to the dealer. The contact will have the wheel bearings replaced, but he feels that the manufacturer should be responsible for the cost. The dealer information and purchase date were unavailable. The current mileage was 130,000 and failure mileage was 60,000.

Bought my 2003 Ford Explorer in June 2005. After lengthy trip home I noticed a loud buzzing sound up front. When we finally had it diagnosed about 6 months later, we had to replace the passenger front side wheel bearing. Now the driver's side front bearing is buzzing even worse so we will need to replace that one as well. We have 66,000 miles on the vehicle.

Loud roaring sound inside of car. Turned out to be the front drivers side wheel bearing. Replaced now the rear is doing the same thing. My vehicle doesn't have enough miles for these failures to happen.

My 2003 Ford Explorer limited, with 59k miles, developed a loud roaring road noise that seemed to be coming from the tires. Inspection by the Ford dealer identified 3 defective wheel bearings. The right front and both rears. I know that wheel bearings should not fail with such low mileage so I instructed the dealer to replace the 4th bearing which they said was not making noise because I wouldn't risk a failure while driving. I kept the old bearings and it is not possible to determine which one they thought was good. They are all extremely difficult to rotate and there is very obvious roughness during rotation. My extended warranty covered the cost of the first three. My primary concern is the short lifespan of bearings. The front bearings were so bad that I feel sure an extended trip would have caused catastrophic failure. My second concern is that Ford has not acknowledged this problem. On-line research has confirmed that I am not the first to have bearing failure before 60k on a 2003 Explorer.

Catastrophic failure of the front hub/wheel bearing assembly.

I was advised by the dealer investigating a "squeeking" complaint that my left wheel bearing needed replacing at a cost of over $300. 00. At the time, it had around 38,000 miles and was "out of warranty". My regular non-dealer mechanic told me that it was a very common problem with Explorers, and the cost was about right. I purchased 2 bearing assemblies and replaced the left one. Now, only a few thousand miles later, the right one is making so much noise I can't hear the radio, so I will have to replace it. I hate to think about spending $500. 00+ every couple of years replacing these bearings when every other vehicle I have ever owned, all gm by the way, went over 100,000 miles with no problems. The dealer never mentioned, and actually denied, any TSB's or problems with the bearings.

Ford has defective hub assemblies on the 2003 Explorers. Leading up to the defective hubs going out, there is a very loud roaring noise coming from what ever wheel the bearing is going out on. No accident was involved but it was defective and waiting to happen. Wheels do come off of vehicles when the bearings go bad. Ford is aware of this problem they have. I replaced both front hubs 9-15-05 with 41,000 miles on them. Have just had to replace the left front hub again this week with unfortunately 15,000 miles on it which they only warrant it to 12,000 miles. I have corrected the problem at a big expense to me. At this time, I just cringe waiting to hear another one start roaring and going out. I do have all three wheel hubs that the bearing has gone out.

I was having a roaring noise in the front end of my vehicle. I rotated my tires, purchased a new set of tires and the noise was still there. I took it back to the dealer and they inspected it and said that I needed both , left and right front wheel bearings replaced. I had them repaired and I kept the old parts and they are available. This corrected my problem. It is faulty parts that Ford should have recalled. My car was out of warranty, so the expense was all on me. Cost me $572. If both had to be replaced, its obvious they were defective. I had 41704 miles at the time I had them replaced. I contacted Ford , they took my information, but said they could not help me, there had been no other complaints.

Dt: consumer states he took his car to candy Ford because he heard a noise coming from the front of the vehicle. Another dealer had mentioned to him that it might be a wheel bearing. He asked candy Ford to check out the car before putting a wheel bearing on the car. The dealer replaced the right front wheel bearing on the car without first checking the car to be sure that was what it needed. A man that works at candy Ford told him that on the work order it was listed that they had changed the right front wheel bearing without checking the car out. He was charged $280. 00 for something that is not fixed. He is still having the same problem; and it is getting worse. The dealer asked him to leave their premises. The manufacturer said that they would file a complaint against them.

I purchased a 2003 Ford Explorer 2wd , I recently found out that both front wheel bearing need to be replaced on this vehicle. There is possibly a defect with these parts.

A roaring noise was coming from the front of my 2003 Explorer and an inspection at the dealer came up as poor tire wear. The tires were rotated but the noise never went away, it was just slightly quieted then became progressively louder over the past eight months. I had it into an oil change station and a tire dealer before taking it back to another Ford dealer and was told on November 22,2004 that the problem was a front wheel bearing gone bad. I now need that part repaired and my vehicle is out of warranty. I have not had the work done yet but the estimated repair cost is $400. I do not feel this part should be in need of replacement at this time. The vehicle is less than two years old.