Front differential bearings??

[job247]

I have a drive train noise on my 1999 Eddie Bauer explorer that has me stumped so thought I would pick you guys brains a little. I had a rumbling noise in the front that got louder with acceleration and changed pitch when turning in one direction or the other. Seemed a little worse when turning to the left. I read several post on here that pointed me in the direction of bad wheel bearings. I went ahead and replaced both hubs and bearings on both sides along with the right side axle assembly as it was leaking and had some play. The noise did not change at all and is still there. The noise seems to appear at about 15 or 20 mph and increase with acceleration but when I let off the gas and coast it will quiet down. Also it seems to quite down some when turning to the left. I have read as much as I could and was wondering if it could be the differential carrier bearings or some call them side bearings? If so is this a very difficult job? I appreciate any input at all. Thanks

 

[job247]

anyone??

 

[albi1cnobi1]

I would try the front u joint first. There is only 1 one the front shaft, at the axle end. The front diff carrier bearings are not in themselves a hard job, but the front diff has to be removed from the truck to do them. You may be able to just lower the diff, but if you're going that far you might as well make it easier on yourself and pull it.

 

[delexploder]

There are also small bearings in the housing tube

 

[albi1cnobi1]

There are also small bearings in the housing tube

X2! I forgot about those. They are in the ends of the axle where the CV shafts go in.

 

[delexploder]

Yea and they make alot of noise and when they go they can let the halfshafts flop when turning and break the housing, I know because my mountaineer did it, I think I still have the housing

 

[job247]

Thanks for the info guys. I didnt think about there being bearings in the housing tubes. Makes sense. Are these fairly simple to replace after the axle is out? The u-joints seem tight and dont have play but I guess they could be dry since there is no grease fittings on them. I am leaning toward the axle housing bearings for now as it still seems like it is coming from that area. Thanks again.

 

[delexploder]

Not sure about how hard it is to change them since my housing was bad I just swapped out the whole thing

 

[VCOSH28]

Did you ever get this figured out?

Hey, my '99 EB is doing this exact thing. If you ended up getting it fixed, what did it take?