front end question

[lorraine1]

do the 98 explorers have a bearing inside the front differential housing tube?if so ,how would one tell the difference between this and the differential if the front end was roaring and wasnt a wheel bearing or the front drive shaft?

 

[chefduane]

Can you jack it up and spin the front wheel only and listen for any strange noises? Wouldn't that help isolate any problem between the diff and the wheel bearing? This is a 4x, right? (just confirming as you don't have vehicle specs posted)

 

[delexploder]

Yes there is a small bearing in the tube

 

[lorraine1]

its an all wheel drive.5.0,sometimes it roars and sometimes it dont,when i get on the throttle sometimes it roars and when it coasts it doesnt roar,jut a tad of movement in the front driveshaft,and when it does this it feels like its under my feet on the drivers side,when i checked the front driveshaft i left it in gear with the engine off,thought about blocking the wheels and seeing how much mvnt there is in neutral.

 

[MAS Tequila]

A lot of the time the roar comes from the tires.

Mine has been doing that for a while now.

The Coopers are coming off and Michelin LTX MS 265/70/18 are going on.

The alignment went out and ruined the Coopers.

MT

 

[lorraine1]

not the tires i had michelins and it did the same thing,just not as often,new tires on it now,they whine but are different tread design will will have to do more trouble shooting.truck has 223,000 miles,if i dont find it i will drive it until it croaks,great little truck as i love the cast iron heads.which they should still make but dont

 

[MAS Tequila]

Mine was roaring and howling so bad that it would give you a headache.

I spent Sunday getting an alignment, having a tie rod end changed, and new Coopers (they Michelins weren't available).

After that I swapped out the passenger side wheel hub, all 4 brake rotors, and all of the brake pads.

It's as quiet as a church mouse now.

And it rides as smooth as a new car again.

Have the wheel hubs checked, they make a god awful noise when they're bad.

Good Luck

MT

 

[manimal]

I replaced both of my unit bearings last year, one was roaring and obviously bad. Since I was there I did both.

Both were original with 200k miles on them. Both were very loose and required almost no effort to turn, with one having a notchy feel to it and a rough noise, obviously bad.

I was surprised how tight the replacement bearings were. Both were NAPA Premium bearings, both had significantly more resistance to them - I. e. will turn smoothly but not spin freely on their own once released.

Frankly if either unit bearing spins freely if you "flick" it I would consider it worn out.

I have worn out TOYO ATs on mine, will replace this fall. I've always hated these tires. Even after the new bearings they transmit a large amount of road noise through the front end. Smooth road, silence. Rougher surface, roar.

I do have a full front end bushing job to do this summer, which may help, but no tires should transmit that much road noise on their own.