Mulestang

Spent some time reading through many posts on the Centric kit that upgrades our 2WD's brakes to the 4WD 2-piece design. Most of the threads were a bit older, so I'm looking for opinions from people running that kit today. I think I have a bad front bearing, and with 75K on the truck, I'm at the decision point for new brakes. I like the convenience of the 2-piece design, even if it is a bit more costly up front, vs the cost of a 1-piece design. Are you still happy with the quality? Anything you wish you had done differently? Can equal or better performance be found with a less expensive combo. After all the miles you've put on your Centric conversions, I'd like your input.
Oh...what pads do you recommend? Daily driver, pull a 5000lb horse/trailer 2-4 times a month. Thanks.

mustang7173

Hello Mulestang,

I have a 2007 F150 Crew cab 2 wd with the Centric Hub/rotor upgrade kit. My biggest issue so far is having to replace the hubs. I am on my second set due to buzzing of the bearings feed back on my steering wheel.

http://www.centricparts.com/files/F1...20Retrofit.pdf

I am really disappointed with the hub/bearing set. I am almost at the point of just adding back the original setup.

I kept my first set of hubs and bought replacement bearings. I have not figured out what is holding the bearing assembly on the hub.

mustang7173

CKsBAT

My Centrics have been flawless , but only have 22k on them. Rotors are beefier and warp free.

mustang7173

Hello CKsBAT,

Good to hear. Yes, the rotors and hub combo are nice to have. No issues with warp-age at all. Just the darn bearings I can feel in the steering wheel, drivers side.

mustang7173

izzysplace

Mustang, how many miles did you get before the bearings started to fail in the hub? Did you need to replace both sides or was it one side that has failed more than the other?

I just purchased this setup for my 05 and will be installing it sometime this week. I was under the impression the Hubs had a warranty.

mustang7173

Hello izzysplace,

I am working with Centric Tech support on my bearing issues. Here is an excerpt of my email back to them.

The buzzing via the steering went away after I installed the second hub assembly. According to my notes, I installed the original hub conversion on 12/30/2011 with 117, 074.1 miles. The left hub was changed on 10/04/2014 with 160,300 miles. (43,226 miles). The second hub assembly , left side, is now humming with mileage 172,950 miles. (12,650 miles)

As you can see, my second set, drivers is buzzing again with less than 13,000 miles.

Here is the second response from Tech Support,

Unfortunately, with that many miles the units are out of warranty. The bearings are integral to the hub and are not replaceable with OE style bearings....the races are ground directly into the hub forging and then induction hardened. The hub needs to be replaced as a unit.



So, if the bearings crap out, you have to spend another $85.00. To me, this is a bad design.



I am looking seriously to going back to the OEM rotors.



mustang7173

mustang7173

All,

The centric Hub kit warranty is
We publish a 90 day/3000 mile warranty on every part we sell...some dealers will extend that, but they take the liability on themselves if they choose to do so.

Wow, this is not really that good!

mustang7173