Round 2 on the front wheel bearing/hub. First time was at 39,000 miles left front bearing was replaced. This time at 52,000 miles both right and left front bearings/hubs were replaced. How many more times will this happen?? I am so happy that I got the extended service. But jeez how often should a front wheel bearing/hub be replaced????

I used to do just about all my vehicle service and I have never had wheel bearing issues like this Explorer. :(

I am debating whether I should just sell this vehicle while its still worth something. And then go buy a Honda pilot. I own a Ridgeline and have only seen one complaint here on this web sight about it.

I have felt a slight buzz in the steering wheel above 50 mph for the past few weeks. Took it to the Ford dealer who provided the local village idiot to tell me that the Explorer felt normal, gave up on that route. Checked the front end and all seemed ok, no play detected in the front wheel bearings. Rather than risk a front wheel making a break for freedom at 80 mph while on I-95, I decided to replace both front hubs/bearings today; when the hubs were removed I could feel significant roughness in the drivers side wheel bearing. The steering wheel buzz has gone with the installation of new hubs/bearings. Thankfully it is a simple job, and took two hours with only a medium amount of bad language required.

The design of the hub is poor, the wheel bearing seems insufficient for the required load. It looks as if the wheel knuckle would take a bigger ( deeper by 0.5 inches) bearing with a slightly shorter drive shaft. Ford need to come up with a recall/fix for this POS design.

I purchased the "EXPLOSION" at 53,000 miles thinking it would be very dependable - Always change the oil every 3 months or 3,000 miles, regular tune-ups, Tires replaced, balanced, etc. However, in approximately January, 2008, I started hearing a slight noise in the front end. I am very aware of how vehicles work and knew this was not normal. I mentioned it to my husband who said it could be the Tires making noise, so I just let it go. I asked my brother in law to take a look at the Brakes to make sure they were not rubbing or needed changing. He changed the front Brakes (although they did not look worn) and the noise continued. It reached a point that it sounded like I was riding on huge TRACTOR TIRES! I told my husband that it had to be the Right Wheel Bearing because that is where the noise is coming from. Fortunately he is very Mechanically inclined; purchased the part and replaced the Right Side. I drove it that afternoon and the noise did get better, but not completely gone. When I drove it the next day it now sounds like it is coming from the LEFT side!!!!!!!! Well here we go again! BOTH AT ONCE?????????? I am completely discouraged now (especially after reading all of the other complaints). Guess I should tell my husband to start saving money to replace his on his Truck.

First off...as I looked at the complaints I noticed a majority were American cars and coming from Detroit...I laugh when people bitch about loosing their jobs in automotive...what do they expect when they produce crap. Front and rear wheel bearing shot at 65K miles and finally fixed the front ones at a cost of $750 bucks. The rear ones are next on the agenda...I will never, ever buy a Ford again...their cars suck and so does their football team...both Ford products...but what would you expect in the way of quality...they reward the Lion's President Matt ' I Haven't got a Clue" Millen with another 5 year contract for having the worst record in Football in his first 5 years, so why would they make a better decision when producing cars? I worked at Ford for a while and I have never seen such incompetence in my entire life. And their company worth is reflected in their stock price...in the toilet. The best thing that could happen to America is they go out of business so they can't peddle their crap...and did I mention the paint flying off my hood because the bozo's don't know how to prep galvanized steel before painting...oh yeah...and the air conditioning compressor went out after 3 years of owning it and I lived in Michigan at the time...where the weather sucks as bad as the auto manufactures do...This is the same company that killed their customers with bad tires and covered it up (and I was a cop and worked a fatality of an 18 year old girl that was killed in a rollover, tire failure accident and comforted her while she lay dying in a flipped over Explorer) and they killed cops when their cars blew up from being rear ended (while other manufactures cop cars weren't) and covered it up...this company should be in front of Congress and then closed down for it's shoddy workmanship and leadership.

Just put Explorer in the shop, for a noise in the front end, found that both the front wheel bearing were bad, back in February had it in the shop to replace both back wheel bearings, the mechanic told me the front needed replacing also, I told him he was full of crap because there is no way all 4 wheel bearings could fail at one time. Now guess what, 3 months later I am replacing both the front wheel bearing, at my expense.

What are the odds of all 4 wheel bearings failing on a "QUALITY" vehicle. Ford tells me I have to pay for repairs, $500, seems like there is a problem with the wheel bearings, I would understand if I was driving through water and mud, but that is not the case. A poor product and Ford should stand behind their product, but in this case they do not.

"Ford Quality"--hardly the case.

"Ford, a better idea"--Hardly the case.

I purchased this 2003 Explorer because I own a Ford Ranger and I have had great

service out of it. But the Explorer is crap. It started making a noise in the front end

about 20,000 mile ago and the only answer I got was it is the tires. So I put a new

set on it. It was a little quieter but got louder. We had it fix but feel like the

front end bearings were poor design on Fords part. I am in the market now for a car

to replace the Explorer. I will tell you this I will never own a Ford again.

I bought this SUV in 2006. Its a 2003 with 30,400 mi. On Mother's day of 2007, I was on the parkway going about 65. I heard a loud sound and then we almost tipped over. I swerved all over the road and almost hit two different cars. Thank goodness the exit was right there. I got out and looked around to see the blowout. All the tires were filled. No blowout. I started looking at the tires closely. My rear passenger tire had no bolts on it. I called a friend. He came and lifted the car up with a jack. The tire fell right off!!! We couldn't believe it. There was nothing there to hold it. I had to have it towed and everything. It was very scary!!! I can't believe they know what's going on, and not fixing the problem. I had to have all the tires fixed. I can't believe they are risking peoples lives for money!!!! I bet they are NOT driving their FORDS!!!