Bad bearing-like noise in front end

[Dan Whitaker]

The Timken ones are $154 here From Autozone. The cheapest of any of the parts stores in Kansas City.

As bad of shape as my front end was in due to the ball joints being shot and tires being worn because of the ball joints, I'm sure this contributed to the pre-mature failure of the hub assembly.

 

[Hokie]

I went ahead and gassed up. We'll know in the next 50-100 miles if what I did tonight has made a difference. I'll be taking the truck up to Breckenridge (250-300 miles round trip) this weekend so that road trip will be a good MPG test.

I have never been so happy to see 15 and 16.7 MPG lol Not too bad considering its uphill (6000 ft elevation change to Loveland pass) with O/D off from Golden, CO to Friso, CO

On normal driving I should be back to the stock 15-18 MPG rating ~ which is fine with me as I have a lifted, 4.10 geared Mounty with more aggressive (and much heavier) 32" tires

I'll be cleaning, regreasing my rear caliper pins this weekend as well as cleaning/re-adjusting the rear parking brake. I'll make sure to take pics and post them on here so other's can look into this.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Have you eliminated your noise yet?

 

[mcpherson]

I seem to have a similar problem with the driver side making odd noises around 10-25mph speeds. When i get the time and funds, I am plaining on changing out the Bearing Assembly, I have access to a new one for $100.00

 

[Hokie]

Have you eliminated your noise yet?

No, I guess the next step is to get my rotors turned. The wheel bearings felt good the last time I had everything apart, so I'm out of ideas as to what could be causing my noise and roughness felt through the floor boards.

CV's?

 

[Turdle]

Cv's are what I thought when I turned Dan's by hand--there is a repeated "catch " type feeling-ever so slight but it is there.
It is either the hub or the axle shaft for sure.

 

[Hokie]

Cv's are what I thought when I turned Dan's by hand--there is a repeated "catch " type feeling-ever so slight but it is there.
It is either the hub or the axle shaft for sure.

Thats a good way of describing it... "catch"

That cyclical catch is what I think I'm feeling in the floorboard. I hate to just replace both $90 axleshafts on a whim... Of course if I put new CV's in, then the old shafts could become trail spares...

 

[Dan Whitaker]

I'm 99.9% sure mine is a hub bearing. I could feel & hear it in the hub itself.

 

[Hokie]

I'm 99.9% sure mine is a hub bearing. I could feel & hear it in the hub itself.

Ugh... I guess I can pull the front end apart and take the hubs off, again. I'd have to do that to replace the CV's anyway

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I have a junkyard CV, not sure which side, I could send it to you and let you test drive.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

I replaced the left hub yesterday. The one that was less than a year old was bad. I could hear a clicking/bad roller. The vibration in the floor board is gone.

However it did not eliminate the noise completely. I'm positive I have a bad output bearing on the left side. It is some what quiet until driven a few miles then it starts to make noise.

I'm going to check the diff lube level to see if it is low. It is leaking around the output seal.

 

[Hokie]

I replaced the left hub yesterday. The one that was less than a year old was bad. I could hear a clicking/bad roller. The vibration in the floor board is gone.

However it did not eliminate the noise completely. I'm positive I have a bad output bearing on the left side. It is some what quiet until driven a few miles then it starts to make noise.

I'm going to check the diff lube level to see if it is low. It is leaking around the output seal.

Sigh, my wheel bearings felt great in March. Is it really possible to frag a wheel bearing in that short period of a time with nothing but highway driving? I guess I get to remove the brakes, the spindle nut and remove the wheel bearing to check and see how it feels. When I replaced them on my Sport they were nice and tight (no wheel play) but when you spun it it felt "gritty"

Evan, thanks for the offer. It probably wouldn't be worth shipping the CV.

 

[ironbandit]

Tire Noise?

Y'all may have seen, I've got a 4WABS Retrofit going on my 1992 XLT from a 1994 XLT in a boneyard. The frontend needed work badly, and we did that to a tee. Replaced all of the bearings and bearings, Pass side radius arm and bracket, have 75W90 Amsoil in both pumpkins. The only things not fully replaced were tierods and tires. Big pieces were cleaned and painted, wearables replaced.

Had a lot of tire noise that I thought was bearings (even after replacing), the front tires were worn diagonally, camber was WAY to the outside after the rebuild. Put the worn fronts on back after adjusting the camber to barely inside, moved rears up. Replaced the badly worn fronts (rears now) with new, quieter tires and rotated the new ones back to the front. Noise is still there, but I still need to replace the other 2 worn tires and get the F/E aligned by a shop.

The F/E is solid now. Only thing NOT replaced with new was the rotors, found them on the 1994 in the boneyard and machined them true. Once I have all of the tires replaced, and the alignment done, my noise might go away, but I'm not holding my breath - I'll report back....

 

[Hokie]

Sill frustrated...

So after chasing something causing my brakes to hang up on the drivers side, I went ahead and replaced the DS caliper, rubber hose and fluid.

In the process I pulled off the wheel bearing and spun it by hand... a smooth as butter

Here is what I know is NOT contributing to the noise/bearing rumble
- wheel bearing
- t-case
- d-shaft/u-joints
- tires

So I'm down to the CV's or the front diff

How the heck would you diagnose if a bearing was bad in a diff or if a CV was bad? This diff only had about 45k miles on it when I installed it in the Mounty in late July. I had a similar noise (but not near as loud) before installing the diff (the old diff had a bad pinion bearing, thus me changing it). But its gotten louder after I installed the new(er) front diff and 32" tires

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I had a bearing "feel" fine on mine when I bought it, but it made noise, so I changed it. Even when I had it out, I couldn't feel anything wrong with it. But it did make the noise go away. MadScottsMan has two bearings he is selling, it would be a relatively easy swap just to see and it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a spare.

 

[carguy101]

ok i have a quick question. i have been having this moaning from the front as well, it is especially heard under 10 mph and typically tight turning at slow speeds. i dont have any leaks b/c i had the front diff seals all replaced about 6k miles ago. is this cv's or from not using the 4wd its (always in auto), sorry if i missed it somewhere in the thread already but ive takin it to a shop and they couldnt recreate the problem bc it only happens occasionally and typically when th Ex is cold.

btw its a 98 xlt if that helps any help will be greatly appreciated

 

[steventadams]

Hey Dan or Hokie, did either of you ever got this problem resolved? When I bought the truck almost a year ago it was making this noise and I figured it was a bearing somewhere but never got around to looking into it. Now 25,000 miles later the sound has gotten a little worse and I have a break from school so I want to get rid of the noise... Thanks.

 

[steventadams]

Anyone?

 

[Hokie]

Nope... i'm beginning to wonder if its the T-case. I originally thought it wasn't b/c the noise remains when the front d-shaft is pulled but it feels like it is coming directly underneath the driver's heels ~ which is right where the t-case is.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Is your case or shifter touching the body?