Felt Like I blew a Tire, But I didn't. Transmission?

[Thafisher]

I was driving at around 40-45mph when I believe I hit a small dip in the road. It felt like I blew a tire so I immediately started pulling over into the gas station I was passing. I rolled to a stop and hopped out to check the tires. None of them were blown..
I tried to start the vehicle and when I put it in drive I heard a grinding and the truck starts jerking and will barely move.
I'm thinking my transmission blew but I know nothing about transmissions..
It almost felt like something fell out the bottom of the truck.
It's a 2006 Mercury Mountaineer V8 4.6.
I left it there and got a ride home. I'm going to have it towed tomorrow.
What do you think this is?

 

[boominXplorer]

I've seen rear wheel bearings go from little noise to holy crap in 1 big bump. I'd advise taking it to a reputable shop for a diagnosis.

 

[Rcflyer330]

Could be the rear differential. Look under the rear at the diff for oil spots.

 

[Explorer_PL]

Get it to a shop, they need to put it on the lift, and turn everything. It should be obvious.

or

Get it home, put it on 4 jack stands safely, and, start it, put it in gear and see.

Like bX said, it could be rear bearing. It happened to me on a flat road, I hear a bang/pop and it started grinding like crazy. I just replaced the transfer case the day before so I thought I did not tighten the driveshafts or something, crawl under the car, but everything was solid. Then I kicked the tires, and the car moved sideways and the right rear wheel was 10 degrees tilted.
The grinding was the brakes scraping on the rotor since the caliper is fixed but the rotor moves with the hub.

 

[GeorgeH]

Get it to a shop, they need to put it on the lift, and turn everything. It should be obvious.

or

Get it home, put it on 4 jack stands safely, and, start it, put it in gear and see.

Like bX said, it could be rear bearing. It happened to me on a flat road, I hear a bang/pop and it started grinding like crazy. I just replaced the transfer case the day before so I thought I did not tighten the driveshafts or something, crawl under the car, but everything was solid. Then I kicked the tires, and the car moved sideways and the right rear wheel was 10 degrees tilted.
The grinding was the brakes scraping on the rotor since the caliper is fixed but the rotor moves with the hub.

What mileage did yours happen at?

 

[Explorer_PL]

About 200k IIRC but by then it was the second or third bearing in the rear. They usually last 70-100k miles. And with me towing from time to time does not help.

 

[GeorgeH]

About 200k IIRC but by then it was the second or third bearing in the rear. They usually last 70-100k miles. And with me towing from time to time does not help.

Yes, I was just wondering; I've never experienced a catastrophic failure of a bearing like that. I've had them go bad but it's always just a humming/grinding noise that got gradually worse. Did you have any warning signs?

 

[Explorer_PL]

In that case not really. All the other times, front or rear I heard it coming.
It could be my fault, when I got it home and took the wheel off, the 35 mm axle nut was backed out about 1/4 inch so somehow it loosened itself over time. Maybe I reused the old nut which is bad on my part, or did not tighten it properly. Now, I use torque wrench and brand new nut, and I double it with the old nut to lock the new one. Seems to work well, did not have to change any rear bearing in few years.

 

[Thafisher]

Well I just got back to the truck and looked at it. Now that I can actually see It turns out all 5 of my wheel studs have broken off of the back right tire. Somehow my wheel didn't go rolling down the road and stayed attached.
It looked completely normal when I looked at it expecting a flat. Then today I go to look at it and it's sticking outwards starting at the top of the tire. All the wheel studs are broken off pretty much flush with the rotor. I've had a few of them break off on the front tires less than a year ago and replaced them. But it's quite the pain.
Any recommendations for the easiest ways to get them out? Other than just knocking them out with a hammer.
Also, do you think this would cause a weird grinding noise and roughness when switched into gear?

 

[GeorgeH]

Did I miss where you described how you finally fixed your engine problems? You must have, since you were driving it?

 

[Thafisher]

Did I miss where you described how you finally fixed your engine problems? You must have, since you were driving it?

Yea somewhat. It had some loose connectors on the coils, and a few coils were actually loose on the plug. When I tightened all of this up it became driveable. I still felt some shaking while trying to simply maintain 45mph. It stops when I accelerate though, as soon as the rpms rise to around 2k it smooths out. Other than that, I spent at least 30$ on gas yesterday. And I'm still getting a misfire on #3 and random. Along with a few 02 sensor codes.

 

[kydirtscooter]

There is a small hole that in the dust shield that has to be knocked out with a drift or screwdriver. Then you can change the studs out easily.

If you foot was off the brake then all the power would spin the hub with the least resistance (ie the one with broken studs). The rotor probably is not being held centered so a whole number of things could be making noise. Inspect everything very carefully before just buttoning up.

 

[kydirtscooter]

Stay away from dorman. They sell almost all the studs available at auto stores. I would find elsewhere.

 

[GeorgeH]

You know its doubtful that all 5 studs broke at once. Depending on how many were already broke this could have been a source of some of your vibrations.

 

[Thafisher]

There is a small hole that in the dust shield that has to be knocked out with a drift or screwdriver. Then you can change the studs out easily.

If you foot was off the brake then all the power would spin the hub with the least resistance (ie the one with broken studs). The rotor probably is not being held centered so a whole number of things could be making noise. Inspect everything very carefully before just buttoning up.

For the front ones I believe I just rotated it into position so that they could slide straight out. I'm sure I'll see it once I get to the vehicle.
But just in case, it's the thin metal plate right behind the rotor that youre talking about? Correct?
Also, I had my foot on the brake when switching to gear. The grinding almost sounded like it wasn't coming from the back of the truck. I could be wrong though. The rotor being off center would be fairly easy to correct right? If I'm understanding correctly.

 

[Thafisher]

You know its doubtful that all 5 studs broke at once. Depending on how many were already broke this could have been a source of some of your vibrations.

Do you think that it would vibrate violently while just trying to maintain speed/rpms around 1400, then smooth out when I push past it and get around 2k rpm?
& Yeah that's what I was thinking. I'm sure a few broke off recently and I haven't noticed. I was also hoping that's the cause of my vibration I'm feeling.
I have a feeling there was only 2-3 studs on there and it probably finished them off last night.

 

[Thafisher]

Stay away from dorman. They sell almost all the studs available at auto stores. I would find elsewhere.

Would you recommend these? - https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NDP6414260

 

[07EddyB]

Well I just got back to the truck and looked at it. Now that I can actually see It turns out all 5 of my wheel studs have broken off of the back right tire.

It's probably your power steering pump.



I kid - I kid. Sorry - couldn't pass that one up
Glad you got it running.

 

[Thafisher]

It's probably your power steering pump.



I kid - I kid. Sorry - couldn't pass that one up
Glad you got it running.

Lmao! Well speaking of.. My power steering still doesn't work properly, and I do still believe the pump is going out.
It's manageable but It definitely still stiffens up mid-turns and it doesn't really correct itself after making a turn. If that makes sense.
Thanks though, me too. One step at a time. Although, It had me looking at buy here, pay here dealership inventory in the area last night..

 

[MotorCityFats13]

same thing happened to my brother he drove around with loose lug nuts for quite a while "who knows how long" and they all eventually sheared off causing a fair amount of damage.... his is a 2004 and we couldn't replace the studs with out getting the hub pressed out.... no clearance from behind so I made him replace the hub and bearing while the shop was doing the repair...... you could toss in 20 lbs of marbles in a tire and he wouldn't feel a problem until its too late and then call a tow truck for a jump start