Clicking Noise | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Clicking Noise

Justin Grant

New Member
Joined
January 2, 2018
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
City, State
Springfield, Missouri
Year, Model & Trim Level
1998 Explorer Sport
I just changed the front brakes on my '98 Explorer Sport and now the passenger side makes a clicking noise as I drive. I think the bearing may be bad, but not 100% sure. Any help would be appreciated
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





You can check the wheel bearing by jacking the vehicle off the ground (wheel you want to check), then grab the wheel and tire (still mounted to car) at the 12 and 6 o'clock position with your hands and try to rock the wheel, if you feel any movement or sloppiness , start with a slight amount of pressure, then work you way up to hard (dont cause car to fall of jackstands), if you feel play (should be none) then the wheel bearing needs adjustment and grease (tapered roller bearing kind), or the hub has to be replaced as a unit (sealed bearing hub kind).
 






Wheel bearings don't typically "click" when bad...they grind or howl. Besides, there is nothing you would have touched while doing brakes that would have altered the performance of the wheel bearing. Now, if you were getting noise before you did the brakes, that's another story. Go back in there and double-check that your pads/shims are installed correctly. Bent dust shield, maybe?
 






Wheel bearings don't typically "click" when bad...they grind or howl. Besides, there is nothing you would have touched while doing brakes that would have altered the performance of the wheel bearing. Now, if you were getting noise before you did the brakes, that's another story. Go back in there and double-check that your pads/shims are installed correctly. Bent dust shield, maybe?
You have to remove the wheel bearings on the Sport models to get the rotors off and the brakes are working like they're suppose to
 






To me it sounds like your brake pads are rattling. The pads have a little play so they can glide and there are metal spring clips that should keep the pads from rattling. If those clips are installed wrong or not at all or if they're designed wrong then your brake pads might rattle and make "clicking" noises.
 






To me it sounds like your brake pads are rattling. The pads have a little play so they can glide and there are metal spring clips that should keep the pads from rattling. If those clips are installed wrong or not at all or if they're designed wrong then your brake pads might rattle and make "clicking" noises.

But when I apply the brakes the noise should stop right? It happens all the time and the sound is consistent no matter what I do to the vehicle
 






But when I apply the brakes the noise should stop right? It happens all the time and the sound is consistent no matter what I do to the vehicle
Yes the rattling should stop then, at least when you brake harder.
But the clips themselves might also be making noises, although maybe not so commonly clicking but more likely squeaking and grinding noises, but it's not impossible.
When I replaced my brake pads I got a kit that had flawed anti rattle clips. I had them installed right and everything looked and worked fine, and on brand new or slightly smaller diameter rotors it might have worked. But on my car the new clips I put in with the brake pads would scrape on the rusty outside of the old rotors just very mildly and that would cause them to make an awful high pitch noise when driving.

From your sparse descriptions basically anything could cause such a clicking noise.

To narrow it down, listen to the noise and try to determine if the clicking sounds appears randomly or if it has a rhythm, possibly a rhythm changing with speed of the car etc.

An in the end you'll probably just have to jack the car up to get that wheel off the ground and rotate it by hand anyways. Check if it turns smoothly or has resistance, if the clicking noise happens at a specific position of the tire etc.
Also keep in mind that acoustics on cars can be quite fooling. It might originate from somewhere else even though it sounds like it's coming from the passenger side, don't stubbornly rely on the impression it might come from the passenger side if you cant find anything wrong there.

Years ago on a friends car gravel got caught inside of his cheap steel rim bouncing around between the rim and the plastic wheel cap would cause a weird annoying clicking noise. It annoyed him forever until he finally figure out what it was.
 






Since you removed the rotors, make sure one of the caliper bracket bolts hasn't backed out. They are torqued to 85 foot pounds (the big bolts for the bracket, not the caliper) and you should probably put some locktite on there as well.

Tighten your caliper bracket bolts!
 






If your Explorer is a 4x4, check the CV axle dust boots to see if they've split open and lost all their grease.
 






Does the frequency of the sound change with vehicle speed (tire rotation speed) ? Does the loudness change with changing directions (changing lanes, etc)?

I wonder if Collin is on the money, since clicking is more likely a CV joint, except on a 4x4 you shouldn't have to mess with the bearing to get the rotors off.
 






Does the frequency of the sound change with vehicle speed (tire rotation speed) ? Does the loudness change with changing directions (changing lanes, etc)?

I wonder if Collin is on the money, since clicking is more likely a CV joint, except on a 4x4 you shouldn't have to mess with the bearing to get the rotors off.
It's in rhythm with vehicle speed, but the sound is the same volume. On the Sport models for my year you have to take the cotterpin and bearings out to change rotors
 






It's in rhythm with vehicle speed, but the sound is the same volume. On the Sport models for my year you have to take the cotterpin and bearings out to change rotors

On all Gen II 2WD/RWD Explorers, Mountaineers and Sport Tracs you have to remove the front rotor (with bearings) in order to turn or replace it. The AWD'S/4WD's use a hat-style rotor that does not require removing the hub bearing. As far as the clicking noise, how tight did you make the axle nut when you replaced/reinstalled the rotors? They should not be very tight. There is a proceedure and torque spec for doing this. Also there are no CV axles used on the 2WD models.
 






On all Gen II 2WD/RWD Explorers, Mountaineers and Sport Tracs you have to remove the front rotor (with bearings) in order to turn or replace it. The AWD'S/4WD's use a hat-style rotor that does not require removing the hub bearing. As far as the clicking noise, how tight did you make the axle nut when you replaced/reinstalled the rotors? They should not be very tight. There is a proceedure and torque spec for doing this. Also there are no CV axles used on the 2WD models.
I have the numbers at home, it was something like 20ft/lbs, back off 1/4 turn, then torque to 25ft/lbs?
 






I have the numbers at home, it was something like 20ft/lbs, back off 1/4 turn, then torque to 25ft/lbs?

No no no. Inch pounds not ft pounds. No wonder your wheel is clicking. If you've re-greased the bearings (which you should have) you're supposed to tighten the axle nut down a bit and spin the rotor by had a few times. Then loosen the axle nut and tighten it to something like 37 INCH POUNDS IIRC. You basically want to end up with something that's slightly more than zero lash (no play).

I don't bother torquing the axle nuts, but I know about how much to tighten them. Too loose is better than too tight, so if you have to move the axle nut to get the new cotter pin in loosen it a hair.

The clicking may be the result of a damaged bearing cage. Best to check and replace.
 






RWD ONLY!!!

Yes inch pounds, and set the bearings on the loose side and over time you can iterate making it tighter (one luxury of DIY). The bearing tightness usually has to be adjusted after a few hundred miles anyway once the packed grease migrates out. Even Ford had to adjust mine when it was under warranty (see brakes below).

To check the bearing, jack the car up and rock the tire. If you have movement top to bottom AND left to right then the bearing is still too loose. You can probably hear a clink if you pull and push the tire from the bearing play. Just pop off the dust cap with the tire still on and tighten it one more notch. Easy. Check the rotor temps after driving (avoiding braking) to make sure the bearings aren't too tight/hot.

Symptoms of looseness:

With the car on the ground you can push the tire a wee bit to the side with your foot on the top karate style. Bearing is very loose.

Applying the brake feels weird. The brake caliper will grab the rotor and move the tire while driving since the bearing is very loose.

Driving down the road you can feel a tiny bit of side to side vibration in the steering like the tire is out of balance. The bearing is a bit loose.

Driving over a grated bridge deck the steering will want to "jump" at intervals instead of being smooth. The bearing is a bit loose and allowing the tires to track the grating.

These are my observations from doing my own bearings. I didn't have much luck getting it right the first time just by spinning the rotor, but I erred on the loose side and adjusted over time. Hope it helps!
 






No no no. Inch pounds not ft pounds. No wonder your wheel is clicking. If you've re-greased the bearings (which you should have) you're supposed to tighten the axle nut down a bit and spin the rotor by had a few times. Then loosen the axle nut and tighten it to something like 37 INCH POUNDS IIRC. You basically want to end up with something that's slightly more than zero lash (no play).

I don't bother torquing the axle nuts, but I know about how much to tighten them. Too loose is better than too tight, so if you have to move the axle nut to get the new cotter pin in loosen it a hair.

The clicking may be the result of a damaged bearing cage. Best to check and replace.

I did it right. Step 1 is ft/lbs and step 3 is in/lbs. It ended up being the crappy brake hardware from Duralast. Luckily I kept the original hardware and the noise is gone now
20180714_180637.jpg
 






Back
Top