Buzzing / Vibration From Front End

[Racer10]

For a while now my 1998 Explorer Sport 4x4 (SOHC 4.0, 200k+ miles) has been making a buzzing noise and vibrating (front end) at the same rate of speed that I'm going. Faster speed, faster buzzing / vibrating. The noise and vibration are there when going straight, worse when turning left (sweeping corner), and go away completely when turning right (sweeping corner) (testing @ ~ 40 MPH)

It sorta "feels like" I've got a bad spot on a tire (left front) but I've rotated the tires and the problem remains.

It's also got new ball joints. The problem was there before AND after ball joint replacement. It actually may be a little worse after new ball joints, but I wouldn't say that for certain.

I thought it sounded like CV Joints but my (shade tree / part time) mechanic said it sounded like wheel bearings. He looked at the wheel bearings today and said they look OK and doesn't know what the problem is.

Can anyone offer some suggestions or troubleshooting tips ?

Thanks !

 

[Equnoxe]

tires can be out of balance, (get them rebalanced and check for and correct ROADFORCE if any) if you have really aggressive tread this may not help and cant be avoided.

check your wheel bearings and tie rod ends for play

take out your CV half shafts and check the joints for proper smooth movement

make sure your diff has enough fluid in it

take out your front drive shaft and make sure the U joint is good, and that the joint on the rear end of that shaft(either a double ujoint or a CV style joint) is in good condition.

check you U joints on the rear drive shaft as well.





i think its just bad tires, the belt has probably shifted. you can tell if the tire has any odd bulges or certain parts of the tread are raised and others are lower. getting them balanced with a machine that can measure ROADFORCE will tell you right away.

second guess is the u joint on the front shaft.



hope that helps

 

[Racer10]

Thanks for your ideas.

I've rotated the tires and problem doesn't change any so I don't think it's in the tire. The noise / vibration is on the LEFT front of the vehicle, so I'm filtering out front drive shaft too.

So .. I guess that kinda leaves us with CV joint on the left front ?

 

[my pos mounty]

Im laying my money down on the hub/bearing. Explains the noise changing/disappearing when turning the opposite direction. It is pulling on that bearing when doing that, changing where it is riding and thus, quieting it.

 

[MarkieMark703]

check your breaks/break pads/calipers that could be the problemi had to change the break & everything else that has to do with it so it my friends 99 explorer. does it shake when you speed up or slow down?

 

[Racer10]

Im laying my money down on the hub/bearing. Explains the noise changing/disappearing when turning the opposite direction. It is pulling on that bearing when doing that, changing where it is riding and thus, quieting it.

Bearings have been checked (see original post)

Thanks

 

[Racer10]

check your breaks/break pads/calipers that could be the problemi had to change the break & everything else that has to do with it so it my friends 99 explorer. does it shake when you speed up or slow down?

No "shake" but it the noise and slight vibration does change at the wheel rotation rate.

Thanks

 

[my pos mounty]

I thought it sounded like CV Joints but my (shade tree / part time) mechanic said it sounded like wheel bearings. He looked at the wheel bearings today and said they look OK and doesn't know what the problem is.

Thanks !

He looked at the bearings, and you consider that checked? ok, I'll shut up here.

 

[Racer10]

He looked at the bearings, and you consider that checked? ok, I'll shut up here.

You're point is well taken. I didn't specifically ask how he determined that the bearings were ok

 

[my pos mounty]

Well, if you don't mind having some quality wrench time with your ex, and are still convinced it isn't a hub/bearing.. Go ahead and swap sides with them. If the sound moves, VIOLA, you go it.
You can isolate the noise further by removing your front driveshaft and going for a short ride, this will rule out/in the driveshaft.
It can only be so many things, if it isnt those, then it could be the axle bearing that the CV slides into in the differential, or the actual differential bearings that the carrier spin on.
Try the driveshaft (before removing it, grab it and give it a wiggle, shouldn't move back and forth or up and down) then go buy a hub bearing. If it isn't the problem and you are going top keep this truck for too long, it will need one sometime anyway, and if it was good, you got a spare.

 

[Racer10]

I talked to the mechanic tonight, he says he put it up on stands and moved the wheel left / right / up / down / around etc and if it was a wheel bearing he would have seen the problem doing that. He's got a lot of experience so I'm inclined to believe him.

Is CV joint an uncommon failure ?

 

[Racer10]

Could need of an alignment cause my symptoms ? It's never had one (in all it's 200k miles), but I've never had a reason to think it needs one. Doesn't pull in any direction although it does wear a little faster on the inner tread on the front end (as though it's toed out a little)

 

[Convict1997]

I noticed the same problem on my truck after changing my upper/lower ball joints yesterday. When I put it back together I was getting the same kind of sound from the front right side. I went in for an alignment this morning and the guy said it seems like the caliper on that side is dragging. I noticed the brakes looked pretty bad and tomorrow I'm going to be replacing the front pads rotors and calipers. I'll let you know if it works. Something to check would be if the sound goes away or lessens when you hit the brakes.

 

[Equnoxe]

you should just take your entire truck apart and replace everything


also just because the wheel bearng doesnt have any play in it right now doesnt mean its still good lol. it could just be on its way out. as someone said you could switch sides, or take it out and replace it. the symptoms your say are a telltale sign of a wheelbearing dieing

 

[Racer10]

I noticed the same problem on my truck after changing my upper/lower ball joints yesterday. When I put it back together I was getting the same kind of sound from the front right side. I went in for an alignment this morning and the guy said it seems like the caliper on that side is dragging. I noticed the brakes looked pretty bad and tomorrow I'm going to be replacing the front pads rotors and calipers. I'll let you know if it works. Something to check would be if the sound goes away or lessens when you hit the brakes.

Thanks for your comments. It's actually got new brakes and rotors on it, so unless one of the rotors was bad (possibility, i guess) I don't think my problem is there. I'll check for unusual wear marks on the rotor.