Front end growl / vibration fixed! Finally!

For more then a year I’ve been putting up with an annoying and sometimes loud growl or rumble and vibration from what I thought was the front left side of my 2000 Mounty 5.0 AWD. I was absolutely convinced it was a bad wheel hub, and since I have 120k on the truck and no front end work had ever been done I dug in. I replaced both Hubs, CV axles, outer Tie Rod ends, upper and lower ball joints and shocks all around. (5th shock too!) I was very discouraged when I got the truck back on the road only to hear the familiar noise.

So I turned my attention the the front drive shaft. The shaft had no discernible play, the U joint looked to be intact and the boot on the CV was sound but I dropped the shaft anyway and took her for a "2WD" drive. The noise was gone! (I guess I should have done this first!) I popped in a reman Cardone 65-9294 driveshaft and the truck is as good as new! Why is it always the last thing you do that fixes the problem?

Next project, the Heater core......

TonyV2000 said:

Why is it always the last thing you do that fixes the problem?

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Because you'd be an idiot if you fixed the problem but kept trying new fixes afterwards.

Troubleshooting - The act of determining the cause of a problem before you throw unnecessary parts at what your attempting to fix.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...r5TOahjbB1PSnLXiA&sig2=oOJk-99G1eVv29pMQ1GlgA

TonyV2000 said:

Why is it always the last thing you do that fixes the problem?

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This question was really meant as a rhetorical question.

Well at 120,000 miles it's not a waste to replace those parts

curt1007 said:

Well at 120,000 miles it's not a waste to replace those parts

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Yes Curt, that's exactly how I consoled my self! But really, the ball joints were shot as were the shocks and one of the CV boots had a small tear. It was time.

Don't feel bad, I have done both axle halfs, both wheel hubs, bearings in transfer case, and I am still living with the noise! I can just not bring myself to replace something that I can not physically see a problem with. I am going to have to check into the driveshaft because at 80+ mph she is shaking so bad that you can't see anything out of the rear view mirror!

I thought I remembered this thread.

jremington59 said:

Tony. you might want to look at your front driveshaft and see if the CV is shot. With an AWD it's always cheapest to remove the front shaft and take it for a ride. It can narrow the problem down a lot.

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TonyV2000 said:

Thanks jremington59 I will check it out!

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no it was always the first thing you looked at you just staqrted from the wrong end lol

jremington59 said:

I thought I remembered this thread.

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Yes jremington59 and thank you. At that time, I already had most of the other parts already on the shelf. Except of course the driveshaft!

Lanky said:

Don't feel bad, I have done both axle halfs, both wheel hubs, bearings in transfer case, and I am still living with the noise! I can just not bring myself to replace something that I can not physically see a problem with. I am going to have to check into the driveshaft because at 80+ mph she is shaking so bad that you can't see anything out of the rear view mirror!

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hey there i had that same problem i replaced both front hubs and fater had a aweful shake i thought something was loose maybe wheel alighnment i had the frount wheels balenced and it was gone

Rumble in the jumble 99 Mounty

I have some rumble in what seems like the front end of my 99 Mounty AWD but was thinkg it was the snow tires. I'll have to pull the front driveshaft to verify that.

Thanks for the tip!

My problem turned out to be a wheel hub. I swapped the hubs and my noise and vibration got worse on drivers side. Replaced with timken hub and all is well. Now I am looking at selling my Ex and getting an Expy. A 2006 Expy gets 14/17 mpg which is about the same as my V8 Ex. Not to mention a smoother ride and more room and third row seating!

Lanky said:

Don't feel bad, I have done both axle halfs, both wheel hubs, bearings in transfer case, and I am still living with the noise! I can just not bring myself to replace something that I can not physically see a problem with. I am going to have to check into the driveshaft because at 80+ mph she is shaking so bad that you can't see anything out of the rear view mirror!

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Lower ball joints, jurt went threw it!!!