Howl and Vibration above 40 MPH - NOT Wheel Bearings

[bk10s]

'06 Explorer, V-6, 170K. Have replaced the wheel bearings front and back. Above 40 mph get a fairly loud howl and vibration that seems to be coming from the front. Does not change if I turn the steering wheel right or left or apply the brakes. When I was replacing the driver's side front wheel hub/bearing (Motorcraft), I grabbed the axle shaft and rotated it. Is the axle shaft supposed to rotate smoothly on an AWD? I would describe the movement as "crunchy". Tires are new. Help!

 

[Stynx]

Crunchy sounds bad. Did you open up the diff?

 

[bk10s]

Crunchy sounds bad. Did you open up the diff?

I did not open the differential. Maybe "crunchy" is a bad description. "Choppy"? Definitely not smooth.

 

[Rcflyer330]

sounds like you have something going on in the differential. you should check the fluid level and condition first through the fill hole. If the fluid it low/ empty, milky, rusty, or looks like antiseize you have problems. The fill hole is a 3/8 drive plug on the front cover also check the rear diff.

also how is the wheel alignment? and what kind of tire did you get?

 

[bk10s]

sounds like you have something going on in the differential. you should check the fluid level and condition first through the fill hole. If the fluid it low/ empty, milky, rusty, or looks like antiseize you have problems. The fill hole is a 3/8 drive plug on the front cover also check the rear diff.

also how is the wheel alignment? and what kind of tire did you get?

Dealer changed all of the fluids in February - Transmission, front/rear differential, etc. I will check this am. I did not get an alignment, but it does drive very straight. Upper and lower ball joints appear to be original but tight. New Firestone Destination tires.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

were they balanced? do the tire "look" aligned? if these have cvs whats the condition? most probably a diff issue unless its binding aomewhere?

 

[bk10s]

were they balanced? do the tire "look" aligned? if these have cvs whats the condition? most probably a diff issue unless its binding aomewhere?

Tires were balanced when new, and "look" aligned with no abnormal wear. Wondering about the cv axles and maybe u-joint in the driveshaft?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Tires were balanced when new, and "look" aligned with no abnormal wear. Wondering about the cv axles and maybe u-joint in the driveshaft?

both could cause that issue! i would also suspect diff issue too, but these two may be easier to check... still check diff fluid thoufh and how were the other 3 hubs?

 

[bk10s]

Update: Rotated the tires all the way around to rule out imbalance. Front differential fluid clean and full. Still howling!

 

[Fix4Dirt]

if its AWD, could it have somethin to do w/ tcase? not good w AWD

 

[94Eddie]

Update: Rotated the tires all the way around to rule out imbalance. Front differential fluid clean and full. Still howling!

Is the tread depth the same for all your tires? Fix4Dirt brought up a good point about the transfer case and AWD.

 

[bk10s]

Is the tread depth the same for all your tires? Fix4Dirt brought up a good point about the transfer case and AWD.

Tires were all new at the same time, and they still look the same/new after only 4K miles. Going to get back into it tonight. Getting worse.....I'll report back -

 

[bk10s]

And the winner is..........U-Joint on the front driveshaft!!!! Thank you all -

 

[Fix4Dirt]

And the winner is..........U-Joint on the front driveshaft!!!! Thank you all -

yeah!!! glad to get a resolution, we dont always get that here glad to hear its resolved!