humming noise

[redexplorer5.0]

while driving my 98 explorer 5.0 AWD bet 20 and 40 MPH i have a loud humming noise coming from the front end and my steering wheel wobbles a little bit could it be the wheel hubs are no good

 

[CrAzEd412]

Best way to tell if the hubs have gone bad is to get it up to speed for about 10-15 minutes, park it, then get out and put your hand near the hub itself. If it feels extremely hot to touch then they have gone bad. Had the hubs go bad on my 96 XLT, did that little test, and boy were those suckers hot!

 

[redexplorer5.0]

thank you on the input i have to check it out in the morning

 

[redexplorer5.0]

the hummimg gets louder and louder if i get past 40mph ++ my mechanic says its the front diff i need show much work i dont know if i should fix it or not

 

[intelisevil]

Your comment of "my steering wheel wobbles a little bit" could be a worn hub assembly.

When my first hub assembly went bad I didn't know much about 2nd Gen Ex's. I could actually feel the driver's side tire tilt (clunk) back and forth as I was driving on my local curvy mountain roads.

"my mechanic says its the front diff"

Have you checked the gear oil in the diff? Out with the old and in with some fresh new gear oil could quiet things down a little.

How is your Ex otherwise? If the body, engine and trans are still good you have a couple of options.

Do you need AWD? Get a used front diff from a junk yard, this looks to be a fairly simple unbolt and install solution. No special tools needed, one-two days depending on your wrenching abilities.

Might need AWD later on? Remove your front drive shaft. Reports vary but you might have to use your parking brake afterwards, your Ex might creep in Park.

Won't ever need AWD? Remove your front drive shaft, axles and diff. Only the outer stub of the axles need to be in place to hold everything together. Same comment as above on parking brake use.

Good Luck!

 

[CrAzEd412]

Your comment of "my steering wheel wobbles a little bit" could be a worn hub assembly.

When my first hub assembly went bad I didn't know much about 2nd Gen Ex's. I could actually feel the driver's side tire tilt (clunk) back and forth as I was driving on my local curvy mountain roads.

"my mechanic says its the front diff"

Have you checked the gear oil in the diff? Out with the old and in with some fresh new gear oil could quiet things down a little.

How is your Ex otherwise? If the body, engine and trans are still good you have a couple of options.

Do you need AWD? Get a used front diff from a junk yard, this looks to be a fairly simple unbolt and install solution. No special tools needed, one-two days depending on your wrenching abilities.

Might need AWD later on? Remove your front drive shaft. Reports vary but you might have to use your parking brake afterwards, your Ex might creep in Park.

Won't ever need AWD? Remove your front drive shaft, axles and diff. Only the outer stub of the axles need to be in place to hold everything together. Same comment as above on parking brake use.

Good Luck!

I agree with intelisevil. When the hubs went out on my '96 I could noticeably feel the hubs in it while driving, also could audibly hear the noise. It was more like very loud hum inside the vehicle, changed them out with some Timken hubs I ordered offline haven't had a problem with them since. Did have to replace the front diff after i had it looked at after I had my trans rebuilt. I had already replaced the CV half shafts, boots, etc. so i went ahead and located a used junkyard front diff with low miles on it. I don't know about the AWD but for the 4WD that i have it was a simple swap. I want to say it was about 3-4 bolts holding it in along with the front drive shaft, and cv half shafts. All in all it took a day to drop it out and put the used one in, thats after I had popped the cover off to ensure there was nothing wrong with the junkyard diff before i put it up in the truck and put some new gasket material on it.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

Any problems with your ABS? A bad front hub/bearing sometimes causes ABS issues. Also how many miles are on your truck, I think the hubs in these trucks tend to go around 150k.

 

[Mike65]

The vibration & the humming noise sounds to me like it is the hub & bearing going bad.

 

[redexplorer5.0]

thanks for the input guys had the it checked out today there was diff oil in there my mechanic and myself can smell the diff burning up and smoking under the truck
the rockers are starting to rust out the Exhaust Header Manifold both shot the egr tube is broke my cat bank 1 is no good my e brake don't work i bought the truck 4 years ago with 99K
i have 141K on it now its been a great truck the motor and tranny and transfer case and rear are in great shape
im a single father with two kids money is really tight i do all the work on my truck except the oils (big fines if you get caught) so im going to move on and find another EXPLORE or MERC 98-01 5.0 AWD model and use my truck for parts