I'm stumped, front differential? Wheel hub? Sensor?

[jd92887]

Ok, I have been tracking down this humming noise for about 2 months.
It sounds like it is coming from the front. I have an abs light on sometimes, and when the abs is on the 4x4 high will flash.
I replaced the driver side wheel hub, because I figured it had to be one of them, because of the abs light(rear wheel hubs dont have sensor) the noise was still there.
I then took it to a mechanic, and he told me it is most likely to be the front differential and it is 400 for parts, 450 labor.
It feels like it is locked in 4x4 high because when I turn at slow speeds it feels like it is binding.
The problem then could be either the front differential? Or the other front hub?
The reason I believe it could be the hub it because of the noise, although it doesn't change when turning or swerving. But it has the speed sensor attached which would give me the abs light, and cause the 4x4 to kick in because of a different speed reading?

The other thing is the front tires are more worn on the inside on both front.

Any ideas? Or suggestions please

 

[FordFool2]

I would do the other hub. Hubs going out on these are much more previlent than a differential. You would not be the first to get fooled initially on which hub was actually causing the problem.

 

[KPPCExplorer]

See if you can get someone with an ABS code reader to find out why your light is on. If it says "speed sensor failure" for the wheel you did not change, than it is more than likely that hub. When the hub goes bad, it scores the inside of the speed sensor shaft, thus throwing a speed sensor failure code. If you jack that tire off the ground, remove the speed sensor, and rotate your tire while looking into the hole, you may see that there are gouges in the metal track that the sensor picks up. If so, your hub needs to be replaced.

 

[jd92887]

I had the mechanic who told me it was probably the front diff, and he didn't really specifically say what it was, just said sometimes the speed sensors read different speeds and cause an abs light