Front Suspension Wheel Bearing problems of the 2004 Ford Explorer

Every since we've fiananced this lousy SUV 08/2012 we've had a clicking noise from the rear and still cant figured out what that is,but the transmission has been slipping and shifting hard,we have replace front left wheel bearing and abs sensor just a few months ago and the bearing is bad again and the front right wheel has a bad ball joint and the visibility thru windshield is horrible,always have a hard time seeing, cna only see a few inches ahead!!! this car needs serious recalls the air conditioner stopped working in less then a yr!!! and we bought this car with only 68,506 miles!! we already spend over a grand for a fuel pump!!! this car sucks!!! plz help we still owe thousands and everytime we blink an eye it's not safe to drive because of wheel problems!!!!.

Rear wheel bearing on my 2004 Explorer were bad and on one side the wheel bearing was so bad that the rotor was moving with no effort to move it and the SUV only had 76,000 miles on it.

Wheel bearing failure, rear, both sides. At 40,000 miles, and again at 86,000 miles. Normal driving, primarily highway. This is dangerous and potentially life-threatening to occupants of the subject vehicle, as well as any vehicles in proximity during bearing failure. Loss of control can, and probably will result. Premature wheel bearing failure is common on these vehicles. The community at large is slowly spreading the word about the danger to self and family regarding this. I wish I had known earlier, I would not have purchased this vehicle. It is irresponsible of the manufacturer to sell a vehicle with this predisposition to failure. I work in aerospace, and this would never have gotten through failure analysis during the design phase. I will now begin attempting to contact anyone that this has happened to in an effort to get them to file a complaint as well. Eventually you will hear us. Maybe the media will get involved, they love this kind of stuff, especially if they can drag government indifference into it. I know you guys know about this. You just don't think enough people have complained yet, so it gets ignored. I'm going to start trying to change that. Maybe nothing will happen, maybe it will become a giant mess, who knows? either way, I can't let this go without saying something. This thing is marketed and sold as a family vehicle, and there is no way on earth I will ever put my wife and children into it again. And my conscience will not allow me to just trade it or sell it with this issue being exposed, just to get rid of my problem and pass the risk onto some other family. . Read more...

Two out of four wheel bearings are howling on this vehicle.

Wheel bearings going bad, from time to time.

Both front wheel bearings failed the week before last on the 2004 Ford Explorer XLT I bought new from Ford motor company about 2 years and 45,500 miles age. I replaced both after a diagnoses of failure by a Ford dealership by going to a private, non-Ford repair shop at a cost of just over $ 781. 00. The labor here was $ 142. 00 - the balance was local taxes and the replacement bearings which were only available from and purchased from Ford motor company. The dealer also diagnosed a defective ring and pinion gear which is not the case - yet. Didn't even get to the driver's front seat back which has collapsed without accident on the door side.

I purchased my 2004 Explorer and at about 36,000 miles I had to bring the vehicle in to have the wheel bearings replaced. Now at 65,000 miles once again the wheel bearings are going bad. I have never owned nor have I ever heard of a vehicle where the wheel bearings only lasting about 30,000 to 40,000 miles. The first time the dealer replaced the bearings however this time the vehicle is not under warranty. To buy a new vehicle and have to replace the wheel bearings every 30,000 to 40,000 miles is not acceptable.