1998 AWD explorer bad front bearings or axle?

[bigtank3802]

1998 AWD explorer bad front bearings or axle?

1998 ford explorer AWD 5.0 L:
When maintaining speed i hear a roar from L/F tire. If i let off gas, noise goes away and if i speed up it quiets down. If im at highway speeds if i let off the gas pedal completely, i feel a rumble/friction/vibration from the tire, though if im doing under 40 - 45 mph it doesnt really do it. its not enough to feel through the steering or vibrating the truck, i can just feel it through the gas pedal. The faster im going the more i feel the rumble when i drop my foot off the gas pedal. it almost gives the signs something is slightly out of balance (axle, tire, etc), but its not a constant shimmy AND ive rotated the tires around with not affect, so im thinking its not the tire itself. Had ford dealer replace the ball joints a few months ago, and this had the slightest hint of starting afterwards so went back a little later to check it out. Said saw nothing but it has ever so slowly gotten a little worse since. Im wondering if its the hub bearing or front axle. First awd/fwd truck so dont know whats usual or normal yet. Ive done the wheel looseness check and all seems tight. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks i advance

 

[drbenz]

I would check the joints in the front drive shaft, it's right under your feet and since the vibration changes with the load it sounds like a good possibility. It has a u joint in the front and a cv type joint in the rear (if that proves to be the problem check with rockauto.com, that rear joint is pricey).

 

[95Blitz]

You can get the rear joint from Ebay also about 100 bux.

I would check the wheel bearings first, I got mine from ebay 40-50 buxs each.

 

[bigtank3802]

Im bout ready to burn this truck. After my post i took the front wheel off the see if anything was loose. Simple procedure. Remove lugs, remove tire, visual inspect, then replace tire. NOW both front tires have a vibration when turning at slow speed or sitting still. So i lifted the whole front end off the ground and turned steering back and forth. The front tires started vibrating so bad i had to shut the truck off. Only vibrates when engine is running. If its off it acts fine. Feels like a out of balance pulley but all those look good as i checked while had someone turn wheels back and forth. WTF??!!

 

[drbenz]

Bigtank if you have a vibration with the truck not moving it's not the tires! I'll bet you turned the steering with the engine shut off and got air in the p/s fluid. Start the engine and turn the wheel almost all the way either left or right and shut the engine off and look at the p/s fluid to see if there are a lot of bubbles coming up in the reservoir. If there is let them all rise and then start the engine and turn the wheel the other way and shut it off and let the bubbles rise. You may have to do this a couple of times to get all of the air out.