JB7795
Member
- Joined
- December 10, 2019
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
- 1
- City, State
- Noblesville, IN
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2004 Explorer XLT 4.6L
I just bought an 04 4.6L AWD Explorer in May and have since rebuilt the entire engine top to bottom and put a new transmission in among a few other things. No problems with the engine or trans, both work perfectly but I’m experiencing this strange rubbing/growling sound at low speeds while turning like in and out of a parking spot. It doesn’t sound like it’s a grinding noise though. I bought the thing for $500 after it’d sat in my friends parents garage for the past 5-6 years not running because of a bad timing chain and transmission being shot, needless to say the tires were in desperate need of replacement too dry rotted pretty severely. Fast forward to after I get all this work done, I go to drive it just around the area I live considering the shape of the tires (I know terrible idea on 6 year old dry rot) but I had an appointment to get new tires the following day so I wasn’t too worried about it and that’s when I noticed this sound when turning. I just thought maybe it was the tires because the tread was starting to separate etc. Next day I get new tires and an alignment and the truck still makes the same noise. Everywhere I’ve searched prior to making this post says something about tires or wheel bearings, but I’ve had wheel bearings go out on vehicles before and they’ve all pretty much made the same noises and behaved the same way. This isn’t a grinding noise, and it only happens at low speeds not when I’m turning on an interstate ramp or something. It sounds like the tires are rubbing on something but they aren’t I’ve looked up underneath for rubbing marks on the tires and chassis. Also it feels/sounds like it’s coming from underneath the whole truck front and back wheels, it’s not just isolated to the front driver or back passenger. I find it highly unlikely that all 4 wheel bearings have gone bad at once and make the same uniform sound. The only suspension work I’ve done is replace both front upper and lower ball joints, but the technician at the tire shop said my suspension was nice and tight so I doubt this really has anything to do with my suspension. I’ve never experienced this before so I’m stumped, usually a bad wheel bearing is easy to isolate to whatever wheel it’s coming from and makes the infamous clicking/grinding noises primarily when turning. Like I said before the closest thing I could relate the sound to would be like the tires rubbing on the fender or the steering knuckle. Hopefully you guys have some ideas