Front right wheel binding when turning?

[Scurvy]

This is a repost from the transfer case/transmission forum. I haven't gotten any responses there so I'm going to post it here. I hope this is not against the rules...

My front right (passenger side) wheel seems to be binding or something, particularly when turning at slow speeds. It's most noticeable when parking/leaving a parking lot. It feels like the 4wd is engaged or something. The tire is pretty beat up compared to the other three.

I also have my abs light turning on sometimes (not always) recently.

Truck in question is a 2003 4.0L 4wd.

Any ideas what a likely cause of my trouble might be? I have a 2002 explorer sitting in my drive way that I pulled the seats from. It is destined for the junk yard but maybe it has whatever I need to fix my new truck?

Thanks guys!

 

[mountaineer2004]

I had the same symptoms at 200k, turned out to be the viscous coupling in the transfer case went bad.
My car is the Mountaineer, I think Explorer does not use viscous coupling, but maybe similar.

 

[MrPulldown]

Mine did similar. Wheel bearing on that corner went bad. Enough that the ABS was malfunctioning. Would engage the 4wd randomly and bind.
New wheel bearing with ABS sensor fix it.

 

[TechGuru]

Mine went away after getting a alignment.

 

[Scurvy]

I had the same symptoms at 200k, turned out to be the viscous coupling in the transfer case went bad.
My car is the Mountaineer, I think Explorer does not use viscous coupling, but maybe similar.

Is that the part that directs power to the front driveshaft?

It seemed odd to me that it only seems to be the one side that does it, regardless of which direction I turn...

 

[mountaineer2004]

Yes. When it detects slippage, it directs power to the front also.
Mine started binding, like it detected slippage, when there wasn't any.
I didn't do anything for a long time and my front driveshaft was destroyed too.
It happened only on turns. When the car drove straight it seemed ok.

 

[Scurvy]

Yes. When it detects slippage, it directs power to the front also.
Mine started binding, like it detected slippage, when there wasn't any.
I didn't do anything for a long time and my front driveshaft was destroyed too.
It happened only on turns. When the car drove straight it seemed ok.

Thanks. Did you notice it binding at slow speeds only, or at higher speeds too? How did you diagnose this as the problem?

 

[mountaineer2004]

Slow, only because I was worried I'd do more damage if I went fast.
I sorta just researched and figured it out myself. My mechanic fixed it.
It only happened at extreme turns.

 

[TechGuru]

It only happened at extreme turns.

That's alignment. If it's not perfect the ackerman steering geometry is off. Some shops adjust the camber in the wrong place causing it to be off. That bottom adjustment bolt on the passenger side really should not be used for anything.

 

[SparkyF250]

This is a repost from the transfer case/transmission forum. I haven't gotten any responses there so I'm going to post it here. I hope this is not against the rules...

My front right (passenger side) wheel seems to be binding or something, particularly when turning at slow speeds. It's most noticeable when parking/leaving a parking lot. It feels like the 4wd is engaged or something. The tire is pretty beat up compared to the other three.

I also have my abs light turning on sometimes (not always) recently.

Truck in question is a 2003 4.0L 4wd.

Any ideas what a likely cause of my trouble might be? I have a 2002 explorer sitting in my drive way that I pulled the seats from. It is destined for the junk yard but maybe it has whatever I need to fix my new truck?

Thanks guys!

When my 05 started doing that it turned out to be the hubs going bad.

 

[Scurvy]

Okay sounds like I have a few possible causes that I need to explore (no pun intended). I guess I'll start with the hubs and bearings as thats something I should be able to deal with for free by pulling parts off the old truck in my driveway.

Thanks for the insight everyone.