Bad News

[taxx]

OK so I have this vibration.... and it turned into a horible grinding noise like a really bad bearing. However bearings are fine. Took it to the drive line shop and htey were convinced it was in the front diff, bad carrier or axle bearings. Took in the diff and they tore it apart. Called me with the bad news (normally good news), diff looks brand spankin new! Where's the problem? They want to look at my inner CVs so I am taking them over in an hour or so. THe grinding comes from the drivers side and that is a new cv (about 2 weeks old) so I don't think that is it. ANy thoughts? You can really feel it in the floor boards but with the drive shafts hooked up it echos through the whole system and it is worse when 4x4 is engaged....

Help Please!

 

[taxx]

anybody....????

 

[NoBoundaries]

Have you tried twisting your bars down to see if it goes away or changes? I'd do that first.

 

[taxx]

yes. really didn't make a difference.

 

[taxx]

BTT

 

[taxx]

bump

 

[Crankcase]

Maybe your front calipers are starting to stick in the "on" position?
It could be a bad engine mount or something, causing stress on the driveline???????

 

[JDraper]

Maybe your brand new CV is Fubar.

 

[taxx]

Originally posted by JDraper
Maybe your brand new CV is Fubar.

maybe or maybe the old one...??? they are at the shop today, I guess I will just wait to see. If that is not it, then I guess I am not taking my truck and boat this weekend on our little vacation , I will have to put it back together and take them the whole truck again

You know usually when a shop calls and says they have bad news for ya, it usually isn't to tell you there is nothing they can find wrong, like in the case of my front diff, both the manager, technician and myself were convinced it was in the front diff.

 

[taxx]

CV shafts checked out fine. Even ran them on the balance machine to test them. So everything in the front end is ok. Gonna put her back together tonight. Maybe it will dissapear , but I am not that lucky. We think now that is it my be the output shaft bearing on the transfer case. Going out of town so I will leave it with them for a few days and see what we find.

 

[taxx]

I left it there and they looked it over for a few days. Here is what we have found so far:

- Tore apart front diff - great condition no problems
- Tested CV shafts - great, no problems
- Put back together and ran on lift again, listened to bearings and they don't think there is anything wrong with them.

At 20 Mph the vibration/grinding is the worste. With or without the front driveshaft. With the auto 4x4 the transfercase is always spinning weather it is engaged or not. When engaged in 4x4 it is a lot worse. But that could still mean it could be anything since there is more pressure to go around with the front pulling too. One front outer bearing was swapped not too long ago and it was doing this before with the old bearing. One technician feels pretty sure it is in the t-case. They do not do tranies and t-cases there, but did try to find a break down of the t-case to find out what it is. There recomendation is to take it to a trany shop. What do you all think I should try now?

 

[taxx]

Please Help, I beg you...

Update: (I think I give up)

Once I put it back together (since they essencialy rebuilt the diff, with the same old parts) it was different. Still grinding/vibrating up front, but the noise isn't as bad. I took it the the tranny shop and in their infinate wisdom they calim it is a cv or something in the diff. They may be right, but I say in their infinate wisdom, because they jacked it up letting the front droop all the way. Well, I have nothing limiting, so they are running it at extreme andgles and you can see the cv bind. When at home on jack stands properly, it doesn't bind, just because I had nothing to lose, besides money, I swaped the cv shaft for a shiney new one. No change! , so I put the old one back in to save some money. Here is where I am now:

Gringing/vibration at all speeds (worse in 4x4), sometimes harmonic. feel it most in floorboards and some in steering wheel. CVs check out fine and they are new anyway, so I tend to agree they are fine. However, I don't think it is in the t-case since you can tell something is binding when I turn. I have run with the t-bars set for different levels to see if different angles (including no angle) in the cvs make a difference. No it doesn't! I feel it has to be in the front axle, am I wrong? Would the CV put more pressure on an axle bearing when you turn? I would thing it would? more pressure on a bad bearing could cause binding, right? The diff shop claimed the bearings are fine, and I know they know what they are talking about (mostly), but could they be wrong? At this point I am frustrated as all get out and I don't enjoy driving the X (yes you heard me right). I can't seel it, since I have so much in it, I just want to fix the problem.

Any ideas?
Drive it till the front end explodes?
Take it to ford? (they will probably just say it is the lift/tires/cv angles...., maybe)

 

[Fischer]

I have the same vibration/sound. I freaked out for about 2 months when I first got it. Took it to Avenger in Colo. Springs. Drove it around. Grinding noise from what seems to be the front end. They prematurely replaced my front drivers bearing-hub assembly and I drove it and said "WTF this is not helping at all" then I said I did not approve this and you were only supposed to check into it. They refunded me my $$, Props to Avenger for making me a very happy customer.

Well back to the issue. They said it may be the "input bearing" on the T-Case. Then they brought in a Excursion with the same noise, his made it too but much louder. Scoped the thing on the rack...no avail. I am waiting for a problem. 6 mos later and some road tripas skiing, wheeling and still fine.

I wrote it off as tire noise mixed with a noisy front end and t-case. Now I am not sure but I think that the chain in the t-case can get noisy at times. I just live with it now.

Good Luck!!

 

[Opera House]

I have the same problem with my 97. For the past 17K since I bought the car it has made this noise like a wheel bearing in the 25-40 mph range. Even get that once per rev like a CV is bad. Jack it up and everything feels fine. Have taken several tirps where I drive 13 hours straight and no problems or heating of bearings, CV and diff. Wish this was like my 92. Hate having to tear apart the whole front end. Guess I'll just wait and see. With Explorers you don't have to invent problems.

 

[Yomie]

I have the same problem that yall described

 

[taxx]

Yeah the driveline shop thought maybe a bad bearing on the t-case too, but didn't know enough about the t-case to solve it. The strange thing is that it does it whether the front shaft is connected or not? Would the t-case still grind in the front with no shaft? Not like that. Besides the binding I am getting somewhere can't be in the t-case (I don't think). oh well, guess I will live with it, but it is reall really bad. But since everything checks out it isn't going to cause me to reck or roll, just maybe end up on the side of the road not being able to drive.

 

[yob_yeknom]

What happens if you disconnect both driveshafts and rev the engine while in gear? That should make everything in the t-case turn, even though you're not moving, so you can check it.

 

[CowboyPinky]

Grinding

I had to change a front tire on my '91 that I inherited from family. They had some hub work done on the auto hubs and when I pulled off the tire, the hub came off with it. I haphazardly slid it back on where it would line up and put the tire back on. I got going again and had a malicious grinding in that wheel. I suspected that hub so off the tire came again. I watched how it came off and turned it one set of bolt holes. It didn't slide, so I turned it one more. It slid on so I put the wheel back on and started down the road....no noise. whether it was in the hub or somewhere in the wheel I don't know. But thats what I did to fix it. Have you had any hub work done lately?

 

[DeagleDave]

what about your U-joints? i had a grinding noise and a bad vibration that started with a flat. some news tires and some sweat later found out it was the U-joints...see if that helps?

 

[JDraper]

Re: Grinding

Originally posted by CowboyPinky
I had to change a front tire on my '91 that I inherited from family. They had some hub work done on the auto hubs and when I pulled off the tire, the hub came off with it. I haphazardly slid it back on where it would line up and put the tire back on. I got going again and had a malicious grinding in that wheel. I suspected that hub so off the tire came again. I watched how it came off and turned it one set of bolt holes. It didn't slide, so I turned it one more. It slid on so I put the wheel back on and started down the road....no noise. whether it was in the hub or somewhere in the wheel I don't know. But thats what I did to fix it. Have you had any hub work done lately?

The newer Explorer's don't have disconnect hubs like the old ones do. They are set up more like a front wheel drive car (ugh!!) with axle ends and CV joints.