I got wheel bearings 2 months ago with hub, today I felt some play so I checked and sure enough, right hub is burning hot. I did the entire front end within the past 6 months...strut assembly including mount, axles, ball joints, tierods, strut rod bushings (and the welding of bushing sleeves), stab links, to try and avoid one part wearing/pressuring another. Also got new tires and an alignment when they were all done.
Is there a certain brand bearing that is better quality? What would make a bearing go this quick? :confused: I've had Fords for several years and I know they can be front end eaters, but never had something wear this fast. Thanks for any help!

Did you every found out what the problem was?

Assuming the wheel hub and knuckle are in good order, I wonder if the wheel bearing was not installed or pressed correctly.

I am in the process of doing the same job. I have the same year model as yours, 1996. I got the same manufacturer of the original front wheel bearing, Timken. In addition, I am also getting a new wheel hub because the hub was trashed due to the worn bearing was not replaced sooner. I will be doing the passenger side first and the other side later.

I never found out, but I would guess it was pressed wrong, since this does not appear to be a common problem. I have been told one good pothole could damage a bearing, so who knows though.

My '96 has 213K miles on it.
At about 183K miles the factory original wheel bearing on the passenger side was replaced.
The driver side wheel bearing is still the original.
When I saw the title....the first thing I thought of was to replace the hub & bearing....which gives you new bearing race along with the bearing......so you don't have a worn race to damage the new bearing.

Otherwise
Maybe you got a dud?.....
Maybe something went wrong in the installation process? (although I don't know what would)
I had mine done for me.....and I don't know if they replaced the hub or not.

A new Timken wheel bearing cost $30.00, new Ford hub $86.00, installation of the wheel bearing to the knuckle and wheel hub by a machine shop $30.00, and $10.00 to resurface the rotor.

I also decided to replace the cv half shaft since the van is over 138k miles and I am already in the area. New cv half shaft $86 from Autozone- China made, and $9.00 for the new seal.

I am having to re-surface the rotor due to some damage to the rotor's surface as a result of the bad bearing.

Could have been a dud. The snap ring was on so it had to be pressed all the way. I thought maybe the spindle was out of round but so far, so good with this one!