The Lemon Index$500 middle bill · most between $382 and $800
Lower than the $600 middle bill owners of all 67 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 75,000 miles (27 reports).
Ford Explorer owners reported paying a median of $500 for a wheel bearing replacement, with the middle half of bills between $382 and $800. That's from 31 owner reports (31 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $50039%
- $500–$1,00039%
- $1,000–$2,50016%
- $2,500–$5,0006%
- $5,000 and up0%
Share of the 31 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2000 Ford Explorer1too few for a middle
- 2002 Ford Explorer16$588 middle bill
- 2003 Ford Explorer6$382 middle bill
- 2004 Ford Explorer4$600 middle bill
- 2005 Ford Explorer1too few for a middle
- 2010 Ford Explorer1too few for a middle
- 2014 Ford Explorer2too few for a middle
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2002 Ford Explorer203 complaints name it6% of that year's complaints
- 2003 Ford Explorer51 complaints name it5% of that year's complaints
- 2004 Ford Explorer29 complaints name it2% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a wheel bearing. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Engines in these years
2.0 EcoBoost · 3.5 Duratec / Cyclone V6
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Keep going
- Ford Explorer reliability by year
- Wheel bearing replacement cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
Other repairs Ford Explorer owners reported
Transmission replacement (120) · Steering rack replacement (114) · Steering column repair (39) · Water pump replacement (34) · Differential repair (29) · Radiator replacement (25) · Engine replacement (22) · CV axle replacement (15) · Wiring harness repair (12) · Brake repair (8) · Strut and shock replacement (8) · Throttle body replacement (8) · Torque converter replacement (6) · Clutch replacement (5) · Transfer case replacement (5)
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11289761, 11289759, 10886241, 10652966, 10394355, 10361199, 10353520, 10349975, 10289319, 10288812, 10284681, 10259688 and more.
Quick answers
How much does wheel bearing replacement cost on a Ford Explorer?
Ford Explorer owners reported a median of $500, and the middle half paid $382 to $800, from 31 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a Ford Explorer wheel bearing replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The Ford Explorer middle bill of $500 is lower than the $600 owners of all 67 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these Ford Explorer repair costs come from?
From 31 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which Ford Explorer years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2002 (203), 2003 (51), 2004 (29) Ford Explorer named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.